Three NFL teams are staring at a crucial Week 4, and each one is already in a spot it can’t afford to make worse.
The Los Angeles Chargers are the loudest surprise on that list. No one saw Jim Harbaugh’s team opening 0-3, but that’s exactly the hole they’re in heading into Sunday.
The task doesn’t get any friendlier, either, because the 2026 schedule won’t get any easier. This weekend, the Chargers go on the road to face the Seattle Seahawks, where they’ll be serious underdogs.
If Los Angeles is going to keep its season from slipping away, Justin Herbert is going to have to carry the load and “put on his Superman cape this weekend.”
Houston is in a familiar kind of trouble. For the second straight year, DeMeco Ryans has watched his team stumble to an 0-3 start, and all the preseason buzz around the Texans has done nothing to solve their September problems.
They still have a path back, and last year showed they can rebound and make the playoffs. But if they drop to 0-4, that conversation gets a whole lot harder.
That makes Sunday’s matchup with the Dallas Cowboys a straight-up “must win” game.
Then there’s the Los Angeles Rams, who entered the season as the overwhelming Super Bowl favorites after adding Aaron Donald, Myles Garrett and Trent McDuffie to an already loaded roster. Instead, they’re sitting at 1-2 as they prepare to face the Philadelphia Eagles.
With the Buffalo Bills coming in Week 5, Sean McVay’s team badly needs to get back to .500 now. A loss to Philadelphia would leave the Rams in danger of falling seriously behind in the NFC West.
In Other News...
Rams Enter Eagles Test With A Sudden Special Teams Problem
The Rams head into their Week 4 matchup with the Eagles carrying the usual injury baggage, but the special teams picture changed in a hurry this week. Los Angeles put tight end Terrance Ferguson on injured reserve, waived punt returner Xavier Smith and promoted running back Dean Connors to the active roster, a set of moves that puts extra attention on how the Rams handle the kicking game going into a matchup that already has plenty of personnel questions on both sides.
Philadelphia is dealing with its own absences, including DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert, but the Rams immediate concern is more basic: who handles returns and how cleanly the operation holds together. Those decisions tend to matter most when the games get tight, and with another short-week style test looming against a banged-up opponent, Los Angeles suddenly has one more area to sort out before kickoff. [Read more 🡒]
Rams Just Watched A Massive Eagles Threat Suddenly Leave The Game
Saquon Barkleys afternoon against the Rams changed in an instant in Week 4, when the Eagles star suffered a right hamstring injury on a non-contact run and headed to the sideline. Barkley was listed as questionable to return after leaving the field favoring his leg, and Philadelphia had to quickly reshuffle its backfield with Tank Bigsby and Will Shipley stepping in.
For the Rams, the timing mattered as much as the injury itself. Barkley is the kind of player who can force an offense to stay on schedule and stress a defense every snap, so his exit immediately altered how the Eagles had to approach the rest of the game. Any setback involving a threat of that caliber is the sort of development a defense notices right away, even before the full impact becomes clear. [Read more 🡒]
Puka Nacuas Return Still Leaves Rams With One Big Concern
Puka Nacua was back on the field for the Rams in Week 4 against the Eagles after sitting out two games because of a pre-hernia injury that involved hip and groin soreness, a reminder of how careful Los Angeles has been trying to be with one of its most important receivers. Sean McVay has already clarified that Nacua does not have a full hernia, and the teams approach has been to manage the issue rather than push it.
Nacuas return mattered because he had already led the Rams in receptions and receiving yards in Week 1, and he still found a way to contribute against Philadelphia. The bigger concern now is less about whether he can play through it in the short term and more about how the Rams balance his value on the field with the risk of the injury lingering over the rest of the season. [Read more 🡒]