NFL winners and losers, Week 4: Ravens show how quickly things can change

Each week of the NFL season, The Baltimore Sun will recap the best and worst from around the league. Here are our winners and losers from Week 4:

Winner: Ravens

Never underestimate how quickly things can change in the NFL.

After starting 0-2 with a dumbfounding home loss to the Las Vegas Raiders , the Ravens looked lost. Penalties kept piling up , the offense couldn’t find its identity and the defense suffered from glaring lapses in communication. Even a bounce-back win over the Dallas Cowboys didn’t feel good after Baltimore gave up 19 straight points in the fourth quarter and nearly coughed up a huge lead.

So what happened when the league’s hottest team came to M&T Bank Stadium on Sunday night? The Ravens dominated, of course.

After all the agita about Derrick Henry’s role in the offense through the first few games, the four-time Pro Bowl selection exploded for 199 rushing yards in a 35-10 win over the Buffalo Bills , highlighted by an 87-yard touchdown run — the longest in Ravens history — on the team’s first play from scrimmage. Through four weeks, pending Monday night’s doubleheader, Henry leads the league in rushing yards (480) and is tied for first in rushing touchdowns (five).

During their slow start, it was fair to wonder whether the Ravens belonged in the NFL’s elite tier. This was a team that lost several key players and coaches from last year’s 13-4 group and was starting to feel the effects of quarterback Lamar Jackson’s big contract extension. The roster simply wasn’t as good as it had been in years past, and maybe the rest of the league was catching up to them. A noticeable step back by kicker Justin Tucker, tight end Mark Andrews and linebacker Roquan Smith from their heights as some of the best players at their respective positions didn’t inspire much confidence, either.

Now, that all seems silly. When the Ravens are clicking, with Henry and Jackson gashing the defense on the ground and through the air and the defense harassing the front-runner for NFL Most Valuable Player into one of his worst performances in years, they look like a Super Bowl contender.

Consider this: Before Sunday night, the Bills hadn’t lost by more than six points in a regular-season game since 2021, the longest such streak in NFL history. Safety Kyle Hamilton said the Ravens didn’t win the Super Bowl on Sunday, but they certainly took a big step toward doing so.

Loser: New York Jets

The Jets allowed negative passing yards at halftime and still lost. Let that sink in.

In a sloppy, rain-soaked game, New York’s offense was simply dreadful. Breece Hall, the running back many picked near the top of their fantasy football drafts, had 4 yards on 10 carries. Garrett Wilson, blanketed for most of the day by Broncos star cornerback Patrick Surtain II, had five catches for 41 yards. Aaron Rodgers averaged just 5.4 yards on 42 passing attempts and was sacked five times.

Give credit to Denver’s defense, which is shaping up to be one of the league’s best. Coordinator Vance Joseph is blitzing at one of the league’s highest rates and getting home, as Denver ranks second in the league in sacks (16) behind only the Minnesota Vikings. The front seven, led by breakout star Zach Allen at defensive end, has been disruptive.

But the Jets can’t lose to a team with an offense as anemic as Denver’s, no matter the circumstances. Rookie quarterback Bo Nix didn’t have a completion longer than 2 yards until his first pass of the second half, and the Broncos went 3-for-14 on third down while averaging just 3.3 yards per play.

Somehow, the Jets were just as bad, getting three field goals from Greg Zuerlein until he missed a potential game-winning kick from 50 yards with 47 seconds left. New York committed 13 penalties for 90 yards, and that was with nine days to prepare.

It looked like the Zach Wilson-led Jets, which is probably the worst thing you could say about a team with Super Bowl aspirations.

Winner: Washington Commanders

Jayden Daniels has arrived.

In his return to Arizona, the former Sun Devils star picked apart the Cardinals’ defense, completing 26 of 30 passes for 233 yards with a touchdown and an interception while rushing for 47 yards and a score in a dominant 42-14 win.

The rookie has been one of the league’s most efficient quarterbacks, and he’s only four games into his pro career. In fact, Daniels’ 82.1% completion rate is the highest mark in any four-game span in any player’s career since 1950.

And this might be the best stat of the season so far: Through four games, Daniels has led the Commanders on more scoring drives (23) than he’s thrown incompletions (19).

Offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury deserves plenty of credit for tailoring his scheme to Daniels’ skill set. After his failure as a head coach in Arizona, Kingsbury took time away from the game and came back rejuvenated, much to the delight of his players and fellow coaches. Washington seems to finally have some belief not only because of its franchise quarterback, but the infrastructure around him.

It’s early, but it’s not crazy to think that the Commanders (3-1) could contend for the NFC East title and make the playoffs.

Loser: Jacksonville Jaguars

It’s getting harder and harder to believe that the Jaguars can turn this season around.

Coming off a 47-10 blowout loss to the Bills that dropped them to 0-3, Jacksonville put together perhaps its best performance of the season. It forced the Texans to punt on five straight possessions in the second half and led 20-17 with 3:51 to go. Surely this was the moment.

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Then the Jags gained just 1 yard and burned 57 seconds off the clock before punting the ball away. Houston answered with a nine-play, 69-yard drive, taking the lead for good on a 1-yard touchdown pass from C.J. Stroud to Dare Ogunbowale with 18 seconds left.

Jacksonville had a chance to extend the lead in the fourth quarter after a 58-yard run by Tank Bigsby to the Houston 4-yard line, but two runs by Bigsby, an incomplete pass by Trevor Lawrence and a run for no gain by Lawrence turned the ball over on downs.

Coach Doug Pederson brushed off questions about his job status after the game, but it feels inevitable that there will be a change of leadership soon. Pederson was brought in to get the most out of quarterback Trevor Lawrence, but the 2021 No. 1 overall pick has regressed and is missing throws he should make given his talent level.

The 1992 San Diego Chargers are the only team to come back from an 0-4 start to make the playoffs, so the season is effectively over. Now it’s about figuring out which players and coaches deserve to stay on the next iteration of the team.