A pair of reigning playoff teams from the AFC needed to get up off the mat in Week 4. One side did so in resounding fashion while the other suffered the kind of loss that could effectively end its hunt for a return to the postseason. The New England Patriots took down the conference's best team for a get-right win, and the team they beat in last year's divisional round, the Houston Texans, fell to 0-4 to continue a miserable start to the season.
That dichotomy underscores how high the stakes are as the 2026 season enters its first month. This is one of those weeks when the NFL learns which teams are for real and which are bound to compete at the bottom of the league ladder. The separation built between Super Bowl hopefuls and No. 1 draft pick contenders on Sunday was eye-opening.
Week 4 has also been a brutal one from an injury standpoint. Players, unfortunately, get hurt every week. But the name value of those who dropped out of action this weekend was as significant as that of any of the previous three slates of games.
Here are the NFL's biggest winners and losers from Week 4.
Winner: Drake Maye and the Patriots
There might have been no bigger disappointment across the NFL through three games than Drake Maye, whose regression from MVP runner-up to the league's second-worst quarterback by passer rating was a puzzling fall from grace. The 2025 version of Maye reappeared in the New England Patriots' 29-26 upset of the Buffalo Bills. He passed for 269 yards and three touchdowns and led the Patriots in rushing with another 54 yards.
Losing A.J. Brown to a high ankle sprain in Week 1 seemed to throw Maye off. His return is near, but importantly, Maye might have finally found a groove with his other targets. He spread the ball around to seven receivers on Sunday, tossed a pair of touchdowns to Romeo Doubs and got a little help from Efton Chism III on a one-handed catch for what proved to be the game-winning score. This should be a major confidence builder for a quarterback who could not get out of his own way to begin the year.
Maye's rounding into form is, of course, a crucial development for a Patriots team that could have ill-afforded to drop into a 1-3 hole. Getting up off the mat on the heels of a blowout loss was important, and doing it against the Bills was a best-case scenario, considering Buffalo is arguably the best team in the NFL and the Patriots' stiffest AFC East competition.
Loser: Texans
Since the Houston Texans reversed course last year to reach the playoffs after an 0-3 start, hardly anyone fully counted them out when they lost the first three games in 2026. But now? A 34-30 loss to the Dallas Cowboys leaves minimal room for optimism.
Defense was supposed to be Houston's calling card this year. It certainly was not on Sunday when it surrendered three touchdowns to Javonte Williams in the second half alone and had no answers for CeeDee Lamb. The Cowboys' star wide receiver racked up 17 catches to finish just one grab behind Jason Witten for the single-game franchise record, and he did it against what should be one of the NFL's stingiest defensive backfields. The Texans were no stalwarts on that side of the ball in any of their previous three losses, either.
Houston should finally grab its first win of the campaign next week when it meets the Tennessee Titans in a matchup of two winless AFC South teams. It might, however, already be too late to save a disastrous start to the year.
Loser: Commanders' quarterbacks
Fans in London did not have much reason to cheer for the Washington Commanders in Sunday's international game. The Indianapolis Colts pulled away from them in a 30-13 rout at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and did so comfortably as it was clear the Commanders would not be able to maintain pace once Marcus Mariota went down with a game-ending knee injury. Washington took a 6-0 lead with him on the field and was outscored 30-7 from that point forward.
Rookie Athan Kaliakmanis, out of Rutgers, stepped into action and completed just 15 of 33 passes with a touchdown and an interception in his professional regular-season debut. He also took a sack and sustained multiple hard hits. The Commanders are stretched so thin at quarterback that if Kaliakmanis left the game for any reason, tight end Colson Yankoff would have had to step in as the emergency signal-caller.
Moving forward, the Commanders will either have a backup quarterback on the field or a less-than-healthy Jayden Daniels. There is no telling how effective he will be when he comes back from his elbow injury, which will require offseason surgery and which forces him to play with a brace on his non-throwing arm.
Winner: Jets defense
Coach Aaron Glenn, the New York Jets defensive personnel and their frustrated fanbase can finally sleep easily. To whatever extent possible, at least, in the wake of a 23-12 loss to the Chicago Bears. They undoubtedly would have preferred a win, but they did get a huge monkey off their back in the second quarter of that defeat when five-time Pro Bowl safety Minkah Fitzpatrick picked off Tyson Bagent for the franchise's first interception in 637 days. At long last, the drought is over.
The 20 games New York went between interceptions was an NFL record. It was a defining element of the team's defensive ineptitude last year and carried over into the first month of 2026, even as the unit showed modest signs of improvement. What remains clear is that there is still a lot of work to be done on that side of the ball, considering the takeaway was not enough to keep Chicago and its backup quarterback in check.
Loser: Eagles' third-down offense
The Philadelphia Eagles made the wrong kind of franchise history in Week 4 with the worst third-down execution in their 94 years of existence. Never before had the offense gone 0-12 in third-down situations until Sunday's 24-20 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Making matters worse, the Eagles found it difficult to move the chains on fourth down, too, with just one conversion on four tries. Those three turnovers on downs were costly in their scoreless second half.
First-year offensive coordinator Sean Mannion was always going to be heavily scrutinized this season because of the high-pressure situation he walked into. Sunday's performance was no resounding endorsement of his scheme nor his play-calling abilities. Perhaps it speaks more to Jalen Hurts and his shortcomings, though. Or maybe it was a product of Saquon Barkley missing nearly the entire game with a hamstring injury.
Regardless of who is most to blame, the Eagles cost themselves this game. They held a 10-point lead with four minutes to play and lost because they could not tack onto their advantage in the second half and could not stay on the field to drain the clock in the final period.
Winner: 49ers pocket protection
Brock Purdy is in the midst of his best football to date, which is a primary reason why the San Francisco 49ers are off to a perfect start. It is a whole lot easier to play the quarterback position at a high level when you do not have to worry about defenders invading your space, and Purdy can speak to that. The 49ers are the first team since the 2005 Indianapolis Colts to open a season at 4-0 without allowing a sack.
That caliber of offensive line play (plus quarterback escapability, wide receiver route-running and everything else that goes into sack prevention) is notable in a vacuum. It is even more impressive considering the caliber of opponent San Francisco faced in Weeks 1-4. They defeated the Denver Broncos on Sunday, 24-14, and held a defense that last year posted the fifth-most sacks in NFL history to zero.
Loser: Superstar health
Barkley is not the only household name who departed from action in Week 4. Lamar Jackson also missed the second half of the Baltimore Ravens' victory with an ankle issue, and Ja'Marr Chase suffered a concussion in the second quarter of the Cincinnati Bengals' loss. And on defense, Patrick Surtain II sustained a non-contact ankle injury and did not return for the Denver Broncos in their loss to the San Francisco 49ers. Each of those players is at least a top-three player at high-profile positions and was not on the field for most of the day. That is a tough blow for them, their teams and every football fan everywhere.
It is not immediately clear whether Barkley or Surtain will miss additional time. Chase will have to clear the NFL's concussion protocol before he returns. Jackson is considered day-to-day in the early aftermath of his injury, which is a promising update that could make him available in Week 5.
Winner: Will Reichard
The special teams and defensive units held up their end of the bargain and made up for the Minnesota Vikings' offensive shortcomings in a win over the Miami Dolphins that was closer than they would have preferred. Kicker Will Reichard was the only Viking to score in the 15-10 victory and did so with five made field goals. He converted kicks of 47, 50, 33, 41 and 29 yards to set a career high for successful field goals. His previous best was three.
This is quickly becoming the story of the Vikings' season. Since Week 2, Reichard is accountable for 35 of the team's 47 points. The punt return team has a touchdown in that stretch, too, while the offense has only one of its own. Most impressively, Reichard's five conversions increased his streak to 31 consecutive made field goals.
