The NFL has finished Week 4 of operations, and just like any other week, there are plenty of storylines to go through.

In the 'good old days' of a 16-game season (so the 2020 season and before), this used to be seen as the 'quarter way' point of the year, with teams able to break their games into blocks of four and assess where they are after each one.

Now with the season consisting of 17 games, the maths is slightly off, but there are a lot of people who still use Week 4 as the first crucial cutoff point, time to assess what has gone right and what to keep doing, what's gone wrong and what to improve on.

But whilst some reflect on the season as a whole and where teams are, we're going to keep things limited to just what has happened this past week, a week that provided us with plenty of talking points, but we're going to keep it to just five.

5 - Finally time for Kenny Pickett’s Charge

Having been rather coy about what the situation was regarding the quarterback situation with the Pittsburgh Steelers, head coach Mike Tomlin finally gave into the demands of a lot of fans, and sopme within the media too, and handed the role to Kenny Pickett during their loss against the New York Jets.

Now whether what happened in the second half was as a result of the ‘new quarterback bounce’ (similar to the ‘new manager bounce’ in soccer), or just that he’s more suited to the Steelers’ offense than Trubisky, you can’t deny that he gave them a much-needed spark, going 10/13 for 120 yards and 2 rushing touchdowns (the interceptions are negligible, seeing as two hit receievers hands, the other a hail mary).

Reports are that Pickett is expected to start moving forward, and if he can kick start the team in the long-run the way he did on Sunday, then the Steelers might be on track to sort their offense out at last.

4 - Is Jerry Jones set to get his quarterback controversy afterall with the Dallas Cowboys?

A couple of weeks ago, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hinted that a quarterback controversy (meaning a discussion on whether or not franchise quarterback Dak Prescott shoudl come back into the side following his injury as a result of Cooper Rush playing well in his absence) would be a good thing for the team because it would mean they’re on a winng streak.

Well, it looks as if he’s got his wish as the Cowboys picked up their third win in a row this Sunday with a 25-10 win over the Washington Commanders, with Rush again pulling off the role of ‘game manager’ incredibly well, not making mistakes and guiding them to a win.

Reports are hinting that Prescott could be back as soon as this week, but with Rush having the hot hand, head coach Mike McCarthy has a big decision on his hands regarding who he goes with. Whether or not it derails the Cowboys’ good forn, we’ll just have to wait and see. 

3 - Buffalo Bills showing another way to win

Winning ugly is often a pretty good sign when it comes to being a champion. It’s all well and good for you when you can steamroller teams on a weekly basis, but when the going gets tough and you’re up against a team that makes it hard for you, can you overcome all of that and still get the win even if it’s by a narrow margin?

The Buffalo Bills proved on Sunday that they can do exactly that with a 23-20 win over a very talented and equally high-powered Baltimore Ravens side, having been down 20-3 at one point in the game. The resilience they showed in getting the win shows that they can dig deep and pick up wins even when their backs are against he wall, especially on the injury front.

That’s a true sign of a champion. 

2 - Los Angeles are re-Charged

You might have thought after their Week 2 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, the injury to Justin Herbert and the hammering by the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 3, that the Los Angeles Chargers were on their way to having their season spiralling out of control. 

But with their 34-24 win over the Houston Texans, racing out to a 27-7 lead at halftime, off the back of a great passing game from Herbert and a strong run game from Austin Ekeler, they proved that their talented offense can still cause problems on any given gameday.

If they can keep this up throughout the season, then they should finish strong in the AFC West and make noise in the playoffs, but as we know with the Chargers, IF is a pretty big word in staying consistent, both in play and keeping players healthy. 

1 - Is the coaching ‘hot seat’ already getting warm?

Before the season started, Indianapolis Colts head cpach Frank Reich was spoken about as being under pressure to finally turn this side into a contender given the talent he has on both sides of the ball, and bringing in former MVP Matt Ryan to help guide the offense. 

There was already talk of a potential dismissal a few weeks ago, but after their showing in recent games, you have to imagine that levels of trust in him can’t have gotten much greater, and if results don’t start to improve, you have to wonder if a change is going to take place in season rather than having to wait until the end of it.

This roster is stacked on both sides of the ball, but if they don’t have the right captain to steer the ship, then change has to come soon to avoid all of it wasting their prime, or in the case of Ryan, final, years in the league.