NFL Week 4 Picks: Matchups Guide, Advice and Early Score Predictions

The NFL season is still relatively young, but there are already a handful of important games with playoff implications on the Week 4 docket.

The 2016 campaign will be a quarter of the way over for most of the teams in the league when the New York Giants and Minnesota Vikings wrap up their Monday night showdown on Oct. 3, so it is not too early to start looking at critical head-to-head matchups when projecting toward the postseason.

With that in mind, here is a look at a full matchup slate and score predictions for every Week 4 game before delving into some advice for a couple of contests in particular that will shape playoff races moving forward.

Date	Matchup	Time (ET)	Prediction
Thursday, Sept. 29	Miami Dolphins at Cincinnati Bengals	8:25 p.m.	Bengals, 31-17
Sunday, Oct. 2	Indianapolis Colts at Jacksonville Jaguars (in London)	9:30 a.m.	Jaguars, 24-21
Sunday, Oct. 2	Tennessee Titans at Houston Texans	1 p.m.	Texans, 20-7
Sunday, Oct. 2	Cleveland Browns at Washington	1 p.m.	Washington, 30-14
Sunday, Oct. 2	Seattle Seahawks at New York Jets	1 p.m.	Jets, 24-17
Sunday, Oct. 2	Buffalo Bills at New England Patriots	1 p.m.	Patriots, 20-13
Sunday, Oct. 2	Carolina Panthers at Atlanta Falcons	1 p.m.	Panthers, 31-20
Sunday, Oct. 2	Oakland Raiders at Baltimore Ravens	1 p.m.	Ravens, 27-20
Sunday, Oct. 2	Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears	1 p.m.	Lions, 28-14
Sunday, Oct. 2	Denver Broncos at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	4:05 p.m.	Broncos, 21-17
Sunday, Oct. 2	Los Angeles Rams at Arizona Cardinals	4:25 p.m.	Cardinals, 31-10
Sunday, Oct. 2	New Orleans Saints at San Diego Chargers	4:25 p.m.	Chargers, 27-13
Sunday, Oct. 2	Dallas Cowboys at San Francisco 49ers	4:25 p.m.	Cowboys, 24-21
Sunday, Oct. 2	Kansas City Chiefs at Pittsburgh Steelers	8:30 p.m.	Steelers, 28-20
Monday, Oct. 3	New York Giants at Minnesota Vikings	8:30 p.m.	Vikings, 17-10

Los Angeles Rams at Arizona Cardinals

Bill Wippert/Associated Press

The Arizona Cardinals reached the NFC Championship Game last season, where they lost to the Carolina Panthers. They returned many of the same key pieces, including quarterback Carson Palmer, running back David Johnson and wide receivers Larry Fitzgerald, Michael Floyd and John Brown.

As for the Los Angeles Rams, they looked completely helpless and overmatched in their season opener against the San Francisco 49ers and lost 28-0. Even in their first win of the season in Week 2, the Rams failed to score a touchdown and needed a strong defensive performance to beat the Seattle Seahawks 9-3.

However, it is the 1-2 Cardinals looking up at the Rams in the NFC West standings following Los Angeles’ 37-32 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 3. The 32 points allowed are likely concerning for Rams fans, but they still got a fumble return for a touchdown from Ethan Westbrooks and an interception from Mark Barron.

The real issue for Los Angeles is quarterback play, and that will prove costly against the Cardinals.

According to Mike Sando of ESPN.com, Case Keenum was 31st among all qualifying quarterbacks in Total Quarterback Rating (25.7) after Sunday’s action. Sando said, “The Rams can be good enough on defense to overcome terrible quarterback play some of the time, but it’s not a battle any team can win over the long term.”

Even with 37 Rams points in Week 3, Keenum had pedestrian numbers at 14-of-26 passing for 190 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. The Cardinals can stack the box to stop running back Todd Gurley and will have more success than a Tampa Bay team that allowed 24, 40 and 37 points in the first three weeks of the season, respectively.

Arizona will slow Gurley to make the Rams one-dimensional and put up enough points with its own offensive weapons to handle Los Angeles with relative ease.

Order will eventually be restored in the NFC West, and it will start on Sunday. 

Prediction: Cardinals 31, Rams 10

Kansas City Chiefs at Pittsburgh Steelers

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The Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers were the two AFC wild-card teams last season, and they each won a postseason game once the playoffs started.

They again appear to be playoff contenders this year at 2-1, so Sunday night’s head-to-head showdown could carry tiebreaker weight throughout the season. It is not a stretch to envision the result impacting home-field advantage in a postseason meeting or even determining a spot in the playoffs for these teams.

Their records are the same, but the Chiefs and Steelers enter Sunday’s contest from opposite ends of the spectrum.

Pittsburgh is licking its proverbial wounds after the Philadelphia Eagles destroyed it in Week 3, 34-3. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger didn’t find the end zone and threw an interception, while running back DeAngelo Williams was held in check for the first time all season with 21 rushing yards on eight carries.

Williams had 237 rushing yards, 66 receiving yards and three total touchdowns in the first two weeks, which were both Pittsburgh victories.

As for Kansas City, it forced a head-turning eight turnovers during a 24-3 win over the New York Jets on Sunday, six of which were interceptions from Ryan Fitzpatrick. The defense outscored each offense in the game, with Demetrius Harris running a fumble back for a score and Derrick Johnson notching a pick-six on one of the interceptions.

The Chiefs defense was also strong in the team’s only loss (19-12 to the Houston Texans), but it will be tested against Pittsburgh, especially since running back Le’Veon Bell is set to return from his three-game suspension.

Bell is a dangerous runner (1,361 rushing yards in his last full season in 2014), but his presence will be equally as important for Pittsburgh’s aerial attack. Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com noted he was “almost like a glorified slot receiver” when he amassed 83 catches for 854 yards and three scores in 2014.

That type of pass-catching impact from the backfield will give Roethlisberger another proven target to throw to outside of just Antonio Brown. According to Fowler, the Steelers quarterback was 12-of-18 for 140 yards when throwing to Brown in Week 3 but just 12-of-26 for 117 yards and an interception when throwing elsewhere.

“It’s going to be huge. It changes the passing game,” center Maurkice Pouncey said of Bell’s return, per Fowler.

The Chiefs defense has proven itself as one of the best in the league in the early going this season, but it won’t be able to contain Pittsburgh’s new-look attack in Week 4.

Prediction: Steelers 28, Chiefs 20