NFL Week 4 Sunday: Derrick Henry's monster game gives Bills their first loss

CNN
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There was plenty of drama throughout the 13 games in Week 4 of the 2024 NFL season.

From standout individual performances to late heroics, fans were treated to action from start to finish.

Here are the key storylines from Sunday's games:

“King Henry” gives Bill his first defeat of the year

From the first moment of the game against the Buffalo Bills, the Baltimore Ravens led the duel of AFC titans – and it was all thanks to Derrick Henry.

Henry sprinted through the heart of Buffalo's defense on Baltimore's first offensive play of the game before galloping 87 yards for a touchdown.

It was the longest touchdown run in Baltimore history, but only the third longest in “King Henry’s” storied career. It was his seventh rushing touchdown of 70 or more yards – tied with Adrian Peterson and Chris Johnson for the most in NFL history.

The monster rush set the tone for the game, with Henry finishing with 199 yards and two touchdowns on the ground on 24 carries as the Ravens emphatically defeated the Bills 35-10.

After being traded to Baltimore from the Tennessee Titans in the offseason and experiencing some growing pains in the first two weeks, this is Henry's second 150-yard game in as many weeks as the Ravens recover from an 0-2 two-game start have recovered in a row to get back on track.

The star RB was supported by a solid performance from Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, who accounted for three touchdowns – two passing and one with his legs – to give Baltimore an impressive win.

Henry then explained that the Ravens' offense is picking up steam after some time.

“We got going. There are still things we can get better at, things we will focus on and improve, but it is a long season,” he told reporters.

“We got off to a great start last week but didn't finish the way we wanted. Then we got the momentum we needed in this game tonight and were able to finish the game. We’re still making progress, still working, still trying to get better.”

It was a disappointing game for the Bills after being arguably the hottest team in the league for the first three weeks.

There was still a touch of positive for the Bills through the play of quarterback Josh Allen – including a 52-yard pass to Khalil Shakir in the second half – but Buffalo struggled on both sides of the ball against an overpowering Baltimore team .

The margin of victory was so large that both Allen and Jackson were substituted late in the game to avoid injury.

Bills head coach Sean McDermott praised his opponent after the loss.

“I give credit where credit is due. The Baltimore Ravens came out and beat us. They have surpassed us. They overtook us,” McDermott told reporters. “We have to identify the problems and fix them. … We have to make them quick and go from there.”

After a breakthrough performance last week, Jayden Daniels continued his remarkable rookie season with another outstanding performance on Sunday, this time in a comprehensive 42-14 win over the Arizona Cardinals.

The No. 2 overall draft pick was once again incredibly accurate in Arizona, completing nearly 87% of his passes and throwing for 233 yards, one touchdown and one interception. He also ran for 47 yards and a score.

This latest victory means Daniels has achieved a completion percentage of 82.1 through four weeks of the season, the highest mark for a player in a four-week period since 1950. It broke the previous record set by Peyton Manning in 2008, one Season in which the two-time Super Bowl champions won the MVP award.

The all-time rookie single-season record is 67.8% by Dak Prescott in 2016, while the all-time record in general was set by Drew Brees in 2018 at 74.4%.

The 23-year-old also became the first player in NFL history to complete at least 85% of his passes in consecutive games, according to the NFL.

Daniels is a key reason the Commanders are now 3-1 this season and have picked up impressive back-to-back road wins over the last two weeks. They first traveled to Cincinnati and surprised the Bengals in Week 3 before traveling to Arizona this week and dropping 42 points to the Cardinals.

It was a vendetta for Washington offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, who returned to Arizona for the first time since leaving as Cardinals head coach in 2022; and the Commanders OC devised a perfect game plan, balancing making plays and asking Daniels to throw the ball.

Washington had 449 total offensive yards, including 233 through the air and 216 by rushing, allowing four touchdowns on the day.

The defense also did its job against Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray, recording four sacks and limiting his ability to run.

The Commanders are now atop the NFC East with a record of 3-1, and with Daniels at the helm, things are looking bright in the nation's capital.

There were plenty of games on Sunday that came down to the final moments; At the start, five games were decided by four points or fewer.

Two of the most dramatic results came in Atlanta and New Jersey.

In Atlanta, a 58-yard field goal by Younghoe Koo with just two seconds left gave the Falcons a thrilling 26-24 victory over their arch-rivals, the New Orleans Saints.

It wasn't a classic, but Koo made four field goals – including the game-winner – as the Falcons improved to 2-2.

“There’s a lot to fix,” Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins ​​said, via ESPN’s Marc Raimondi. “And so you come and say, 'I'm so glad we won,' but I'm going to record some thoughts on the way home to the coaches and say how I need to get better and how we're doing. You have to build on that .”

In East Rutherford, Aaron Rodgers and the New York Jets suffered a disappointing 10-9 home loss to the Denver Broncos.

In extremely rainy conditions there wasn't much offense from either side. But the Broncos took a one-score lead midway through the fourth quarter thanks to a 47-yard field goal by Wil Lutz.

Denver had a chance to extend its lead with 91 seconds left, but Lutz's 50-yard field goal sailed left, opening the door for the Jets.

Rodgers was able to lead New York to the Denver 32-yard line with time running out to set up Gang Green's own 50-yard field goal, but Greg Zuerlein's attempt went right and the Broncos held on for the win.

“I can’t say I played a spectacular game,” Rodgers told reporters after the loss. “I missed a few shots. The weather was lousy, but some of my casts were bad too. We had some chances, but way too many mental mistakes, too many bad throws, and then we just missed some easy things, some defensive things that should have been easy, some route adjustment things that should have been easy should. Our focus wasn’t as sharp as it was in the first three weeks.”

The game played out in such a way that, according to the NFL, Broncos quarterback Bo Nix became the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era to average less than 2.5 yards per pass attempt in a game his team won. Nix threw 25 times for 60 yards in the win.

CJ Stroud scored a touchdown late in the fourth quarter as the Houston Texans defeated the winless Jacksonville Jaguars 24-20, while a wild second-half comeback by the Steelers narrowly failed to inflict a 27-24 defeat on the Indianapolis Colts to Pittsburgh – their first loss of the season.

Away at Home (winners in bold)

New Orleans Saints 24-26 Atlanta Falcons

Cincinnati Bengals 34-24 Carolina Panthers

Los Angeles Rams 18-24 Chicago Bears

Minnesota Vikings 31-29 Green Bay Packers

Jacksonville Jaguars 20-24 Houston Texans

Pittsburgh Steelers 24-27 Indianapolis Colts

Denver Broncos 10-9 New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles 16-33 Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington commanders 42-14 Arizona Cardinals

New England Patriots 13-30 San Francisco 49ers

Kansas City Chiefs 17-10 Los Angeles Chargers

Cleveland Browns 16-20 Las Vegas Raiders

Buffalo Bills 10-35 Baltimore Ravens