Through four weeks of the NFL season, the league is starting to see the contenders and the pretenders. The San Francisco 49ers, Buffalo Bills, and Philadelphia Eagles certainly fall into the Super Bowl contender category while the Detroit Lions and Baltimore Ravens are establishing themselves as the top contenders in their respective divisions.

As for the pretenders? The New York Giants, Chicago Bears, and Las Vegas Raiders are certainly on that list. The Pittsburgh Steelers are trying to find their way on there, ditto with the Atlanta Falcons.

As the league is starting to separate the good teams from the bad, let’s discover some trends we’re starting to see with each team. Here’s one thing we learned from each team after this week’s games:

Arizona Cardinals
Michael Wilson is becoming a top weapon: Give credit to Wilson for continuing to progress in his rookie season, especially given Josh Dobbs wasn’t on the team at the beginning of training camp. Wilson finished with seven catches for 76 yards and two touchdowns in his return to the Bay Area (played college ball at Stanford) — matching his catch total from the first three games. Wilson is averaging 16.9 yards per catch and has 237 yards receiving through four games (162 the last two). The Cardinals passing game looks a lot better thanks to Wilson’s development.

Atlanta Falcons
Does Kyle Pitts exist: Pitts had another subpar game in Sunday’s loss to the Jaguars, finishing with two catches for 21 yards. He only out-snapped Jonnu Smith by six snaps and was out-targeted by Smith (who had six targets to Pitts’ four). The Falcons obviously target tight ends since Smith had six catches for 95 yards to lead the offense. Pitts has just 11 catches for 121 yards in four games on 21 targets. Don’t know how Pitts can get more involved in the offense at this point without a change at quarterback.

Baltimore Ravens
They’re the best team in the AFC North: Baltimore flexed its muscle against its divisional foes, winning games on the road against Cincinnati and Cleveland. The Ravens were able to accomplish this with multiple starters out on both sides of the ball. Lamar Jackson has a 74.3% completion rate and a 104.2 passer rating, while also rushing for 220 yards and four touchdowns. The defense is top three in points and yards allowed, making a statement against the Browns offense Sunday (sans Deshaun Watson). This is the team to beat in the division after the first month of the year.

Buffalo Bills
Josh Allen turnover woes appear to be behind him: Allen has just one turnover in the past three games after a highly scrutinized Week 1 with he threw three interceptions and fumbled twice. No surprise the Bills have won in convincing fashion in each of the past three games, outscoring opponents 123-33. In this stretch, Allen has completed 76.6% of his passes for 812 yards with eight touchdowns to one interception (125.8 rating), while also rushing for two scores. When Allen doesn’t turn the ball over, he’s an MVP candidate and the Bills arguably have the best offense in football.

Carolina Panthers
Bryce Young had his best game, and the offense still didn’t score: It’s tough to watch the Panthers offense, but at least they can take solace in Young going 25 of 32 for 204 yards with a 93.2 rating. The Panthers still have problems getting the ball downfield and creating yards after the catch, which puts even more pressure on Young to perform — especially with a poor offensive line. The offense didn’t score a touchdown and only put up two field goals on nine drives. Some changes need to be made regarding the play calling.

Chicago Bears
The coach is a bigger problem than Justin Fields: Chicago wasted a strong performance from Fields as he finished 28 of 35 for 335 yards and four touchdowns to just one interception (132.7 rating). A team that is struggling on offense can’t waste a performance like that, but Matt Eberflus did. Eberflus decided to go for it on fourth-and-1 in a tie game from the Broncos’ 18, but kept the ball out of Fields hands as Khalil Herbert got stuffed. The Bears ended up losing the game and falling to 0-4. Eberflus doesn’t appear to have control of his team on the field and in the locker room. Hard to see him in Chicago past this year.

Cincinnati Bengals
Run defense has been a major disappointment: Joe Burrow takes the spotlight in Cincinnati because of his contract and his calf injury, but the run defense has been atrocious. The Bengals gave up 173 yards on the ground and 5.2 yards per carry to a Titans offense that dares a team to stop the run. The run defense has given up 170-plus yards in three of the four games this season and ranks 31st in rushing yards allowed per game and 30th in yards per carry allowed (5.1). This was a top-10 run defense last year, but can’t seem to find its footing in 2023. The Bengals have multiple problems they need to address.

Cleveland Browns
The bye week comes at the best time: A Week 5 bye isn’t ideal for most teams, but the Browns could certainly use it after Deshaun Watson missed Sunday’s game with a shoulder injury. Head coach Kevin Stefanski said Watson was medically cleared to go, but the decision was made by Watson to give himself a week to heal. The Browns could have used him after only gaining 166 yards of offense, averaging 2.6 yards per play, and turning the ball over three times. Watson should be healthy when he returns in two weeks, and the Browns can get the running game going again (93 yards and 3.7 yards per carry) as well.

Dallas Cowboys
Red zone issues weren’t corrected: The red zone problems were mentioned last week, but they didn’t improve against the Patriots in the blowout victory. Dallas went 1 of 4 in the red zone, one week after finishing 1 of 5. For those counting, that’s 2 of 9 in the red zone over the last two weeks. The play calling in the red zone is baffling and the ineffectiveness of Tony Pollard down there is noticed (27 carries, 59 yards, two touchdowns). The Cowboys are 30th in the NFL in red zone conversion rate (36.8%), but first in third down conversion rate (51.6%). Utterly confusing indeed.

Denver Broncos
Rookie running back ignites running game: The Broncos only rushed for 97 yards, but 72 of them came from rookie Jaleel McLaughlin. After Jamaal Williams’ injury, McLaughlin had 72 rushing yards on seven carries (10.3 yards per carry) and had a receiving touchdown. McLaughlin’s 31-yard run has been the Broncos’ only rushing play over 16 yards this season. Sean Payton has been slow with his rookies, but McLaughlin needs to play more going forward — and may have to.

Detroit Lions
David Montgomery makes this team elite: Montgomery has been a battering ram for the Lions in the three games he’s played in Detroit, showcasing what he brings to the offense in Thursday’s blowout win over the Packers. He rushed for 121 yards and three touchdowns on 32 carries — giving him 69 though three games. When Montgomery plays, the Lions average 395.7 yards per game. They can score without Montgomery on the field, but Detroit is more complete on offense when he’s healthy. Montgomery’s presence is why Detroit is the best team in the NFC North.

Green Bay Packers
They have a good opportunity to get healthy: Green Bay has injuries on the offensive line an din the secondary, which has affected them through the first four games. Good news for the Packers is this. They have 11 days between the Week 4 game and Week 5 matchup with the Raiders (Monday night) than go on their actual bye in Week 6. One game in 23 days is a good opportunity to get Aaron Jones, Christian Watson, Elgton Jenkins, and David Bahkitari healthy. They need these guys for the rest of the year.

Houston Texans
C.J. Stroud is making his receivers better: Stroud just continues to impress week after week, but his yards per attempt of 10.2 just demonstrates how in tune he is with offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik. Stroud found Nico Collins for 168 yards and two touchdowns this week, one game after getting five catches for 145 yards and a touchdown from Tank Dell. Stroud is seeing the whole field and trusting the matchups given to him. All of a sudden the Texans offense is good, something that wasn’t even considered prior to the start of the year.

Indianapolis Colts
Shocking performance by the run defense: The Colts run defense didn’t allow a 100-yard rusher all season, until Sunday. Kyren Williams had 25 carries for 103 yards and two touchdowns — leading the 164 yards the Rams got on the ground. Over the last two weeks, the Colts have given up 350 rushing yards after only giving up 157 yards in the first two games. They need DeForest Buckner healthy and not on a snap count, as no one was able to fill the void.

Jacksonville Jaguars
Offense finally showed some progress: The Jaguars offense hasn’t looked like the unit that finished last season, getting off to slow starts in games. They finally scored a first-half touchdown in Sunday’s win over the Falcons, but still only had three offensive touchdowns in three games. The numbers weren’t impressive (300 yards, 36% third down rate), but the four-minute offense in the fourth quarter was executed well, running 23 plays for 109 yards which led to two field goals and sealing the victory (Jacksonville went 3 of 5 on third down on two time-consuming drives). While it wasn’t pretty, Jacksonville did enough late to show positive signs they can move the ball consistently going forward.

Kansas City Chiefs
Isiah Pacheco finally got going: Pacheco wasn’t much of a factor the first three games (155 yards, 4.4 yards per carry), but broke through in Sunday’s win over the Jets. He finished with 20 carries for 115 yards, which included a 48-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. The Chiefs were explosive in the opening 15 minutes, accumulating 200 yards and 17 points, as Pacheco had five carries for 59 yards (he had just 15 first quarter rushing yards in the first three games). A good start for Pacheco ignited the Chiefs offense, which needs to happen more efficiently if they are going to get off to fast starts.

Las Vegas Raiders
Offensive line failed Aidan O’Connell: Having a bad performance up front isn’t going to help any rookie quarterback making his first career start. The Raiders offensive line allowed 15 pressures and five quarterback hits in the game, causing O’Connell to lose two fumbles and throw an interception. O’Connell was 1 of 5 for two yards under pressure while being sacked seven times. The Raiders didn’t do O’Connell any favors by picking the game to have their worst performance on the offensive line all year, but some of that could be contributed to O’Connell’s inexperience as well.

Last year, Brian Daboll and Daniel Jones were one of the league’s true feel-good stories. This year, they’re throwing tablets in disgust and getting booed off the field. The Giants arrived early last season. They won close games, avoided mistakes and got some bounces en route to the postseason. Those qualities are nowhere to be found in 2023.

Last year, the Giants kept things close, allowing them to stick to their game plan and capitalize on opponents’ mistakes. This year, they’ve been outscored by 68 points in the first half, tied for the worst by any team through four games since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
Last year, the Giants were 11th in turnover margin. This year, they’re tied for 30th.
Last year, Saquon Barkley — the Giants’ only above-average weapon — missed just one game (resting in Week 18) and recorded 1,650 yards from scrimmage, seventh in the league. This year, he has already missed two games — including Monday night — and is 108th in yards from scrimmage. He’s still the team’s only above-average offensive weapon.
Another thing that hasn’t changed? Jones remains historically awful in primetime. He was pretty terrible — Witherspoon took a not-so-subtle jab — but his supporting cast and especially his banged-up offensive line were even worse.

The NFL is a game of tiny margins … until you start making Giant (pun intended) mistakes. The Giants are finding out this year is not last year. Not even close.

The NFL gifted the New York Giants three prime time games in four weeks to start off the 2023 season, and they responded by getting outscored 94-15 in those three contests. The most recent demolition came on “Monday Night Football” to close out Week 4, where the Giants were defeated by the Seattle Seahawks, 24-3.

Just about everything that could have gone wrong for the Giants did. The offensive line allowed 11 sacks, Daniel Jones turned the ball over three times, including a 97-yard pick six, and the special teams were anything but special. Plenty of boos were heard in MetLife Stadium on Monday night, and Giants head coach Brian Daboll said he can’t even blame his supporters’ anger.

“I’d be upset too if I was a fan,”Daboll said after the game, via NFL.com. “There’s a lot of things we’ve got to do better, and that’s what we’ll try to do.”

The 1-3 start for this Giants team is a tad surprising. New York went 9-7-1 last year, made the playoffs, won a playoff game while Daboll won NFL Coach of the Year and then the Giants added talent on both sides of the ball in the offseason. However, it would appear New York has taken a step backwards.

Jones was given a four-year, $160 million deal this offseason, and has responded with two touchdowns compared to six interceptions in the first four games of the season. New York has the second-worst offense in the league in terms of total yards per game (252.0), and has scored the fewest amount of points (46).

“I mean obviously I didn’t play well enough,” Jones said after the loss to Seattle. “It was unacceptable and I let the team down, so I’ve got to fix it. I’ve got to work hard to get it right and I’m going to do that.”

Daboll was asked late Monday night if he anticipated making any changes. He responded saying “no.” The Giants will look to turn things around Sunday against the 3-1 Miami Dolphins.

Neither the Bears nor Commanders are thought of as offensive powers, but both teams scored four touchdowns last week leading into their Week 5 matchup of Thursday Night Football. The Bears fell to the Broncos, 31-28, and the Commanders nearly upset the defending NFC champion Eagles before losing in overtime, 34-1. Can both teams put together another strong offensive performance for NFL DFS lineups on Thursday Night Football? Kickoff is set for 8:15 p.m. ET at Washington’s FedEx Field.

Bears quarterback Justin Fields struggled to begin the season before completing 28 of 35 passes (80%) for 335 yards and four touchdowns last week. Can he repeat this performance and be trusted in NFL DFS lineups on sites like FanDuel and DraftKings? DJ Moore had his best game in Chicago with eight receptions for 131 yards and a touchdown, so can daily Fantasy football players feel confident to use those two in NFL DFS stacks given their NFL DFS matchups? Before locking in any NFL DFS picks for Thursday Night Football, be sure to check out the NFL DFS advice, strategy, and stacks from SportsLine daily Fantasy expert Mike McClure.

McClure is a legendary professional DFS player with more than $2 million in career winnings. He uses a powerful prediction model that simulates every snap of NFL action, taking factors such as matchups, statistical trends, and injuries into account. This allows him to find the best DFS values that he shares only with members at SportsLine. His methodology has led to enormous cashes on FanDuel and DraftKings.

He took down two high-stakes tournaments on FanDuel in 2020 and recorded a pair of top-10 finishes in tournaments with over 130,000 entrants on DraftKings. His lineups also finished inside the top 1% in more than a dozen other tournaments. Last year, he won the DraftKings Millionaire Maker twice and the FanDuel Million once.

Now, McClure has turned his attention to Bears vs. Commanders on Thursday Night Football and locked in his top daily Fantasy football picks. You can only see them by heading to SportsLine.

Top NFL DFS picks for Commanders vs. Bears
One of McClure’s top NFL DFS picks for Thursday Night Football is Commanders receiver Terry McLaurin. The 28-year-old is coming off his best game of the season with eight receptions for 86 yards against a strong Eagles defense. McLaurin had his third straight 1,000-yard season for Washington last year and has emerged as the unquestioned WR1 for the Commanders.

The Bears have allowed at least 27 points in each game this season and teams are scoring 34.3 points per game against them this year, the second-most in the NFL. This should allow plenty of opportunities for McLaurin to produce against a defense allowing 383.3 yards per game, the sixth-most in the league. Washington has scored at least 30 points in two of its last three games and all this lines up for a huge day from McLaurin.

Part of McClure’s optimal NFL DFS strategy also includes stacking McLaurin with quarterback Sam Howell. The fifth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft has thrown for at least 290 yards in two of his four games this season, including completing 29 of 41 passes for 290 yards and a touchdown last week against the Eagles. He also added 40 rushing yards in his best running game of the season, adding additional Fantasy football value on the ground.

The Bears have allowed the second-most Fantasy points to quarterbacks this season. They’ve allowed three passing touchdowns in three of four games this season also and Howell has four touchdown passes this season. Russell Wilson completed 75% of his passes (21 of 28) for 223 yards and three touchdowns last week against Chicago. This is a strong matchup for Howell against one of the worst pass and scoring defenses in the NFL. See the rest of McClure’s NFL DFS player pool here.