New England suffers first loss, St. Louis drops fourth straight

Shocking. That was week four in a nutshell as the St. Louis Rams dropped to 0-4, the New England Patriots suffered their first loss, the Baltimore Ravens embarrassed the Denver Broncos on national television and even the Detroit Lions won a game. And that wasn't even the half of it.

Any NFL fan who thought they had a preliminary playoff picture in mind after week three has a lot of rethinking to do after last weekend, as the many supposed playoff contenders dropped games to the league's cellar dwellers.

Perhaps the most surprising game was the Rams loss to the Dallas Cowboys. Though the Rams started the season with a miserable 0-3 record, many believed that the former NFC Champions would eventually turn their year around. Losing to the Cowboys, a team that dropped its season opener to an expansion team, the Rams proved that it may actually take a miracle to turn things around.

Now that they've lost to the Cowboys, the Rams dynasty can officially be labeled as done. The story isn't going to get any better in St. Louis either, as in addition to losing another game, the team lost quarterback Kurt Warner for eight to ten weeks.

While there isn't much hope for the Rams, the loss of Kurt Warner shouldn't be too devastating for the team. Warner is in the midst of his worst season ever, as he has thrown for only one touchdown, while tossing eight interceptions.

Though the Rams are clearly not playoff bound, many Denver fans believed their team was ready to regain their status as an NFL contender. Denver followers may have to reconsider after the Broncos were embarrassed in the Monday night spotlight by the formerly winless Ravens. Going into the game the Ravens were amongst the laughing stock of the NFL, scoring only one touchdown in their two games this season while losing both.

Wherever the offense was hiding for the Ravens, they seem to have found it in their bye week as they came out and stunned the Broncos, scoring 31 unanswered points in the second quarter. Not only did the Ravens offense come alive, but the defense seemed to regain its formerly revered ability as well, sacking Broncos QB Brian Griese three times.

Leading the way for the defense was none other than Ray Lewis, compiling a season-high 18 tackles on the evening and one interception.

Also on the list of Super Bowl contenders that suffered an upset last week were the Patriots, the Miami Dolphins and the New Orleans Saints. The Patriots suffered their season's first loss at the hands of the San Diego Chargers. The Chargers somehow figured out how to do what no other NFL team could do so far _ stop the Patriots.

While applying pressure to Tom Brady on the defensive side of the ball, the Chargers were especially impressive on offense as well. Instead of using play-action passes and screens, San Diego consistently threw down-field throughout the afternoon and the Patriots could not stop them. Paired with the passing game, Chargers running back LaDanian Tomlinson ran all over the Pats defensive line as he tied a club record of 217 rushing yards on the day. Tomlinson's charge helped the Chargers improve to 4-0.

The Dolphins and Saints losses were larger upsets as their opponents were not nearly playoff contenders. After playing the Patriots well in the first half of their week three game, the Kansas City Chiefs put together a solid game of football in week four to bring down the Dolphins.

Though the defense held Ricky Williams to only 66 yards on the day, the offense was the name of the game for Kansas City on Sunday. Trent Green silenced critics with his 328 yard passing spectacle that resulted in five touchdown passes to his name and 48 points for the Chiefs. This was not the first great offensive showing for the Chiefs who scored 38 points against the Patriots and 40 points in their opening day victory against the Cleveland Browns. Green has proved the critics, who didn't believe that he could thrive or even survive in Kansas City, dead wrong. The problem in Kansas so far this season is getting their defense in order.

And then there were the Saints. Marching on through the season, the Saints loss to Detroit proved they were more vulnerable than they thought. Winning only their third game in the past 20 and their first of the season, the Lions victory was even more surprising as rookie quarterback Joey Harrington took the field. After playing tough against the Green Bay Packers in week three, the Lions finally mustered up a victory in week four. Detroit fans should savor this one though, as the make-up of this year's Lions doesn't bode well for more wins to come.



The Good

Bill Cowher's call to replace Pittsburgh Steelers starting quarterback Kordell Stewart with back-up Tommy Maddox against the Cleveland Browns. Down to the Browns in the late fourth quarter, the Steelers had visions of a harrowing loss on their hands. Just minutes from dropping to an 0-3 record, Cowher decided to make a change, and benched Stewart in favor of Maddox. He made himself look like a genius as Maddox went 11-13 for 112 yards in his late game debut, pulling the Steelers to a tie and setting up the overtime winning field goal.

Is Maddox the new starter for the Steelers? After Stewarts dismal season thus far, Cowher may have found the catalyst to turn his team's season around.



The Bad

Apparently Randy Moss' run in with a traffic officer last week wasn't embarrassing enough. The police have now added possession of marijuana to the list of Moss' violations that day after finding the drug in the Minnesota Vikings' car.

With all of the problems Moss has caused his team so far, his play on Sunday didn't even begin to make up for his behavior, as the receiver caught only one pass for 11 yards on the day.



The Ugly

The Cincinnati Bengals still belong in this category as they lost their fourth consecutive game this season. The Bengals are averaging 5.75 points per game so far in 2002 while the defense is allowing 25.25 points per game. Though the New York Jets and the Rams continue to disappoint everyone in the NFL, the Bengals are still by far the worst team in America.