Overreactions after Week 4 of the NFL season: Commander best in NFC East? Deshaun Watson on the bench?

Another Sunday afternoon in the NFL has passed with more surprising results. The Washington Commanders are in sole possession of first place in the NFC West, while the Minnesota Vikings are 4-0 and lead the NFC North.

The more things change, the more they stay the same. The Kansas City Chiefs lead the AFC West by two games and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers remain in control of the NFC South. The San Francisco 49ers and Houston Texans also rebounded this week after suffering minor losses last week.

With an interesting list of Week 4 games, here are the overreactions from Sunday afternoon's games. Which of these are overreactions and which are reality?

The Commanders will win the NFC East

Overreaction or reality: Overreaction

It's impressive that the Commanders are even in the conversation through four games, especially since they have a first-year head coach in Dan Quinn and a rookie quarterback in Jayden Daniels. Washington continues to receive excellent quarterback performances from Daniels, who led the offense in consecutive games and scored more than 38 points (for the first time since 1991). The Commanders are also the only team to have multiple games with more than 200 rushing yards this season, a transformative offense with Kliff Kingsbury.

While Washington may not be the most complete team, they lead the NFC East with a 3-1 record after four weeks. The Commanders will be a problem in the NFC East, but we'll have to wait and see what they do against Philadelphia and Dallas. The reconstruction is going faster than expected.

The Bears made a mistake by moving Caleb Williams over Jayden Daniels

Overreaction or reality: reality

Daniels is currently miles ahead of Williams in the battle for the top two picks as he continues to make history with every start. Daniels has the highest completion percentage in a four-game span (82.1%) and the highest completion percentage in a two-game span (88.7%) since the merger (82.1%). He is also the only player since 1970 with an 80% completion percentage and 200 rushing yards in a four-game span (minimum 50 attempts). The Commanders are 3-1 ahead of Daniels.

As for Williams, he's still developing. He completed 61.7% of his passes for 787 yards with three touchdowns and four interceptions (72.0 rating). The Bears are 2-2, but that's more due to their defense than Williams.

Daniels has proven to be an impact player at this level. The decision about Williams has not yet been made clear.

Overreaction or reality: Overreaction

Another week for the Colts, Richardson is injured. For another week, the backup quarterback steps in for Richardson, and the Colts offense doesn't miss a beat.

This isn't about Joe Flacco, Gardner Minshew or whoever starts at quarterback. This is about Richardson's health and his long-term availability for the Colts. Richardson missed 13 games last season due to injury and has only played in eight games – including just four – in his two seasons.

The Colts won't move on from their top-five draft pick selected just a year ago, but they need to at least consider the possibility that Richardson won't be an option long-term. Doesn't help Richardson has only completed 50.6% of his passes with six interceptions in his small sample this year.

Doug Pederson will be the first coach fired

Overreaction or reality: reality

The Jaguars fell 4-0 to the Texans on Sunday, certainly not the start this franchise envisioned a month ago. Jacksonville has a 1-9 record in its last 10 games after starting last season with an 8-3 record. The only win in that span was a 26-0 victory over the Panthers in Week 17 last year. They have also lost six straight away games after winning eight straight before elimination.

Sunday was the best game the Jaguars played all season, and yet they lost to the Texans in the final minute. That was an encouraging sign for Jacksonville, but the Jaguars just can't seem to figure out how to stop their skid.

Trevor Lawrence played better and the offense was more fluid, but the defense gave up 435 yards. The Jaguars are inconsistent from week to week, but they have a chance to salvage the season when they face the Colts, Bears and Patriots. Anything under 2-1 and Pederson could be gone.

Overreaction or reality: reality

The Browns are paying Watson $230 million guaranteed to play football at a high level. You get anything but that level of play. Watson was pedestrian in Cleveland's most recent loss, going 24 of 32 for 176 yards with a touchdown and an interception (84.9 rating), with Watson doing nothing to prevent the Browns' win over the Raiders.

Cleveland took a 10-0 lead after the first quarter and managed 158 yards the rest of the way. The Browns fumbled on five of their next six possessions, the other being a Watson interception. Watson had a chance late to give Cleveland the win, but collected a sack on fourth-and-3 from the Raiders' 9-yard line with 35 seconds left – this after a timeout to allow for a better fourth down play.

It might be time for the Browns to abandon the Watson experiment. Watson has completed 61.5% of his passes, an average of 4.9 yards per attempt, and has a 74.4 rating through four games. This play just isn't good enough and the Browns are 1-3 as a result.

Sam Darnold is the league's MVP after four weeks

Overreaction or reality: reality

There's not much else that can be said about how well Darnold is playing right now. He is one of the main reasons for the Vikings' 4-0 start and continues the play of an elite quarterback. Darnold had two turnovers on Sunday, but also threw for 275 yards and three touchdowns (123.1 rating).

Darnold became the fifth quarterback since 1950 to go 4-0 with 10 passing touchdowns in his first four starts with a team, the first to achieve the feat since Patrick Mahomes in 2018. Darnold is first in the NFL in passing touchdowns (11), yards per attempt (8.8) and passer rating (118.9).

The Vikings are the first team in NFL history with three straight wins in a season, all without trailing and all against teams that won playoff games the previous season. This doesn't work without Darnold.

Not only is Darnold the NFL's feel-good story, he's also the league's MVP.

Jalen Hurts will not be the Eagles' starting quarterback in 2025

Overreaction or reality: Overreaction

Hurts can't shake off his turnover woes after suffering another red zone error in Sunday's upset loss to the Buccaneers. Not only is this Hurts' third red zone free kick of the season, it's also his eighth turnover in four games.

Hurts has committed as many turnovers in four games as Carson Wentz had in his disastrous 2020 season, and the Eagles traded Wentz away after that year. Will the same thing happen with Hurts?

This is a different situation, and Hurts wants to make things work in Philadelphia (Wentz wanted out). The Eagles will have to worry about Hurts' losses, as his 27 turnovers are the most in the NFL since the start of last season. Hurts has had a chance in nine straight games and the Eagles haven't won the turnover battle in 12 straight games (4-8 in that span).

The Eagles can't win if Hurts turns the ball over as quickly as he does. If Hurts can't fix the problem, something has to give.