Final NFL Week 4 Observations ... With Dolphins Angles

Things continue to go south for upcoming Miami opponents from the South, and it's particularly ugly when it comes to Jacksonville

Maybe the Miami Dolphins, or at least their fans, should have warned the Jacksonville Jaguars that hiring Urban Meyer as their head coach wasn't going to work.

But what's going on in Jacksonville these days is making Nick Saban's tenure in Miami look glorious by comparison.

The Dolphins will face those Jacksonville Jaguars in London a week from Sunday and at this point it's not even ridiculous to wonder whether Meyer will even still be their head coach by then.

It's not just the product on the field, of course, because even though the Jaguars are 0-4, they looked like a very competitive team in the Thursday night game at Cincinnati in Week 4, but rather it's the whole mess with the viral video of Meyer in a bar around a young lady who's not his wife.

The video led to the head coach apologizing at a press conference Monday and led to team owner Shad Khan issuing a statement of support Tuesday.

pic.twitter.com/5xDtupdi7B

— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) October 5, 2021

This, of course, followed the earlier statement from the Jaguars vowing that things would get better in the aftermath of their decisive home loss against the Denver Broncos in Week 2.

Things have gotten better on the field, and who knows whether Jacksonville would have beaten the upstart Bengals had they decided to kick a field goal near the end of the first half when the Jaguars were leading 14-0 instead of being greedy and going for the touchdown.

On to other Week 4 observations:

THE BIG WINNERS

-- Point blank: The Buffalo Bills look scary good right now and might have the AFC East clinched by Thanksgiving the way things are going. It's one thing for their offense to be back on track after the rough opener against Pittsburgh, but they now also have the No. 1-ranked defense in the NFL. Sure, the opponents (Pittsburgh, Miami and Houston among the four) have something to do with that, but understand that Buffalo doesn't necessarily need to play GREAT defense to be a Super Bowl threat, just good defense.

-- Speaking of division titles that could be wrapped up quickly, looks like it might happen in the NFC East too with the Cowboys. And it's also major improvement on defense that's going to put this over the top — along with the offense being back in great shape. It's remarkable what hiring somebody like former Atlanta head coach Dan Quinn can do for a defense.

-- It was a big Sunday for the teams that have New York in their name without playing in that city or that state, and it had way more to do than the mere fact that the Jets and Giants both won on the same day — and both in overtime, no less. Rather, this was about Daniel Jones having a breakout game for the Giants and showing that maybe he indeed is the answer at quarterback for that team, and it was about Zach Wilson making the kind of throws he was expected to make coming in as the second overall pick in the draft — check out this beauty to Keelan Cole in overtime.

There's a lot to polish in Zach Wilson's game, but 3rd down corner throw in overtime with a lineman in your lap?

That'll play. pic.twitter.com/scgdStalcB

— Benjamin Solak (@BenjaminSolak) October 4, 2021

QUICK HITTERS

-- Time for my periodic rant about instant replay, using two examples from Week 4. The first involved the Patriots fumble by Jakobi Meyers that was overturned after review ... when it still looked like a fumble. And then there was the case involving former Dolphins first-round pick Minkah Fitzpatrick and his touchdown against Green Bay after a blocked punt that was nullified by a dubious offside penalty on Joe Haden. But, of course, offside penalties aren't subject to review. And, no, this is not a plea to make penalties reviewable because there are enough delays as it is. It's a simple observation about the fact that certain bad calls can get overturned and others can't, but mostly an overall plea to dump instant replay (which likely will never happen ... sigh).

-- After facing the Jaguars in London, the Dolphins will be back in Miami the following week to face the Atlanta Falcons, who have given up an average of 35 points in their three losses, the latest a 34-30 setback against Washington in Week 4. Meanwhile, tight end Kyle Pitts has a mere 15 catches and no touchdowns through four games. Almost makes you think the Falcons would have better off using the fourth overall pick on  either Justin Fields as their QB of the future or on a cornerback like Patrick Surtain II to help their defense.

-- The last play of that game was a failed Hail Mary attempt by quarterback Matt Ryan that involved two former Dolphins defensive backs now playing for Washington. One was safety Bobby McCain, who was credited for the pass breakup on the play; the other was cornerback Torry McTyer, who unfortunately sustained a torn ACL on the play.

-- Lastly, guess now we see why the Arizona Cardinals took Kyler Murray with the first pick in the 2019 draft, later dumping 2018 first-round pick Josh Rosen to the Dolphins. The question actually was posed after Week 4 whether the Cardinals were for real! Really? Let's see, the only unbeaten team in the league, spanked the Rams (in L.A.), opened the season by spanking Tennessee on the road. Yeah, the Cardinals are for real. That said, guessing here we won't make it to the halfway point of the season until we clinch another season where the 1972 Dolphins maintain their claim as the only perfect team in NFL history.