Welcome to Week 4 of the 2024 NFL Season! While this week started on Thursday night with the Dallas Cowboys defeating the New York Giants, Sunday’s main slate is packed with must-see matchups. These include a playoff rematch between the Philadelphia Eagles and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Buffalo Bills traveling to Baltimore to face the Ravens, and various divisional matchups such as the Kansas City Chiefs taking on the Los Angeles at SoFi Stadium Chargers compete.

Of course, with all the action, it will be difficult to keep track. This is where we come into play. This is your one-stop shop for all the notable moments from Week 4, as this live blog covers all the top plays from every game as well as game recaps and analysis.

Week 4 schedule

Thursday

Cowboys 20, Giants 15 (snack)

Sunday

Saints at Falcons, 1 p.m. ET (Gametracker)
Bengals at Panthers, 1 p.m. ET (Gametracker)
Rams at Bears, 1 p.m. ET (Gametracker)
Vikings at Packers, 1 p.m. ET (Gametracker)
Jaguars at Texans, 1 p.m. ET (Gametracker)
Steelers at Colts, 1 p.m. ET (Gametracker)
Broncos at Jets, 1 p.m. ET (Gametracker)
Eagles at Buccaneers, 1 p.m. ET (Gametracker)
Commanders at Cardinals, 4:05 p.m. ET (Preview)
Patriots at 49ers, 4:05 p.m. ET (Preview)
Chiefs at Chargers, 4:25 p.m. ET (Preview)
Browns at Raiders, 4:25 p.m. ET (Preview)
Bills at Ravens, 8:20 p.m. ET (Preview)

Monday

Titans at Dolphins, 7:30 p.m. ET (Preview)
Seahawks at Lions, 8:15 p.m. ET (Preview)

CNN
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Week 4 is the last slate of games in months to feature all 32 teams, as four teams have a bye starting next week.

With injuries mounting, it will be a relief for teams that players placed on injured reserve before the season will be available to return in Week 5.

Week 4 began on Thursday with the Dallas Cowboys’ narrow 20-15 victory over the New York Giants, but the bulk of the action will take place over the weekend.

Here are the three most important matchups in Sunday’s Week 4 games:

This NFC North rivalry has a little more spice in 2024.

The Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers are two of the most intriguing teams in the league and Sunday’s clash is must-watch TV.

The Vikings are on the rise thanks to the inspired quarterback play of Sam Darnold and a swarming defense; Brian Flores’ team has allowed the third-fewest rushing yards and had the second-most interceptions and sacks in three weeks.

There’s additional motivation for Minnesota’s new running back Aaron Jones, who joined in the offseason after leaving Green Bay at the end of last season.

Jones scored 63 touchdowns in his seven seasons with the Packers, and in his first return to Lambeau Field since switching from green to purple, he says he will “definitely” do the famous “Lambeau jump” if he scores on Sunday. During the “Lambeau Leap,” players who score touchdowns in the Packers’ home game jump into the stands and celebrate with the fans.

“Of course. “If you’re not thinking about the end zone, you’re thinking about the wrong thing,” Jones told reporters Wednesday.

The Packers are also riding high after two impressive wins, which is all the more positive considering they were without starting signalman Jordan Love in the lineup.

Love has missed the last two games after suffering a knee injury in the final seconds of Green Bay’s Week 1 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in Brazil.

In Love’s absence, Malik Willis has performed dutifully. Paired with a creative offensive concept under head coach Matt LaFleur, the Packers lead the league in rushing attempts and yards on the ground.

It’s uncertain whether Love will start against the Vikings on Sunday, but even if he doesn’t, Willis and the rest of Green Bay’s offensive talent could provide an intriguing matchup against Flores’ defense.

“They give you a lot of different looks, and similar to how we talk about the illusion of complexity, where we like to give looks that are difficult for the defense but easy for us, I feel like they do just that,” Packers head coach LaFleur said on Wednesday. “They have a system in place that makes it easier or easier for their players to go out there and execute. But it makes it extremely difficult to counter the attacks they are up against.”

The Pittsburgh Steelers have been one of the surprise packages of the NFL season so far, having won all three games despite the offense not yet hitting its stride.

The group – led by Justin Fields at quarterback, who was forced into the starting lineup only after an injury to offseason newcomer Russell Wilson – has scored three offensive touchdowns in three weeks, the fewest in the NFL.

However, Pittsburgh was able to earn victories thanks to its defense and special teams. Kicker Chris Boswell has made 10 field goals in three weeks – including six in Week 1, when he scored all 18 of the Steelers’ points in an 18-10 win over the Atlanta Falcons.

And the Steelers defense has also grown, allowing the second-fewest rushing yards and conceding zero rushing touchdowns.

Pittsburgh faces an Indianapolis Colts team searching for its identity after three up-and-down performances so far.

The Colts got their first win of the season last time out, but quarterback Anthony Richardson wasn’t pretty. The second-year signal caller will make some excellent throws and then some head-scratching interceptions that will put his team on the defensive.

Positive for Indianapolis in Week 3 is the outstanding performance of running back Jonathan Taylor, who finished the game with 23 carries for 110 yards and two touchdowns.

Heading into Sunday, Taylor talked about how the Colts are starting to come to terms with their young core of players.

“I feel like we definitely managed to play a role. We finally got one, but it’s a week-to-week league,” he told reporters on Thursday. “We definitely have to earn it again this week. (Steelers head coach) Mike Tomlin, he always has his guys ready to play – a tough team.

“But it’s another great opportunity at home. We will harness that energy at Lucas Oil (Stadium) and we just have to fight hard to get another win.”

Sunday Night Football pits two of the AFC’s supposed superpowers against each other, with one flying high and the other fighting to save their season.

The Buffalo Bills have been arguably the hottest team in the NFL so far this season, staging a stellar 14-point comeback in Week 1, defeating the Arizona Cardinals before sweeping the Miami Dolphins and Jacksonville Jaguars.

Bills QB Josh Allen was the league’s best passer in Week 3 despite losing two of his top targets – Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis – in the offseason. He has thrown seven touchdowns and no interceptions so far, with the combination of Khalil Shakir, Dalton Kincaid, Keon Coleman and James Cook becoming stars with Allen at the helm.

Buffalo’s explosive start to the season makes them one of the early favorites to reach the Super Bowl. And normally you would expect the Baltimore Ravens to be among those contenders, but it’s been a tough start to the 2024 season for the Maryland-based team.

They came within a whisker of going to overtime in their season opener against the Chiefs, and then they were beaten at home by the Las Vegas Raiders before finally getting their first win of the season – just – by overtaking the Dallas Cowboys.

Baltimore’s defense underwent significant upheaval in the offseason – coordinator Mike Macdonald was named head coach of the Seattle Seahawks and both defensive backs coach Dennard Wilson and defensive line coach Anthony Weaver were given coordinator roles at Tennessee and Miami, respectively.

Therefore, the group is still in its infancy, but shows promise and has the best run defense in the league, but also the worst pass defense. And it will be a lot of work for them against the Bills and Allen, who has the second-highest pass completion rate (75%) of all 32 starting quarterbacks.

Ravens linebacker Kyle Van Noy was effusive in his praise for Allen when asked what makes him such a dangerous opponent.

“I mean, we could be here all day talking about this,” Van Noy told reporters with a smile. “(Allen is) just an incredible player who plays at such an extremely high level. I think that (he) and (Bills offensive coordinator Joe) Brady, when they’re calling the plays, they’re in sync right now, their offense and their identity is well in sync and they’re doing an extremely good job of just getting everyone involved.”

In response, Allen spoke nothing but good things about Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

“I think he’s an inspiration to a lot of people in this country,” Allen told reporters. “The way he plays the game, the doubters he brought out … and then him showing the resilience and the work ethic and the attitude to go forward and win two MVPs, people in the The whole league, you can see that.”

“He’s really changed the way guys play the game in my opinion, but make no mistake, he can kick the snot out of football and (I) have a lot of respect for him, a lot of love for him.”

Away at home

New Orleans Saints (2-1) @ Atlanta Falcons (1-2) – 1:00 p.m. ET

Cincinnati Bengals (0-3) @ Carolina Panthers (1-2) – 1:00 p.m. ET

Los Angeles Rams (1-2) @ Chicago Bears (1-2) – 1:00 p.m. ET

Minnesota Vikings (3-0) @ Green Bay Packers (2-1) – 1:00 p.m. ET

Jacksonville Jaguars (0-3) @ Houston Texans (2-1) – 1:00 p.m. ET

Pittsburgh Steelers (3-0) @ Indianapolis Colts (1-2) – 1:00 p.m. ET

Denver Broncos (1-2) @ New York Jets (2-1) – 1:00 p.m. ET

Philadelphia Eagles (2-1) @ Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-1) – 1:00 p.m. ET

Washington Commanders (2-1) @ Arizona Cardinals (1-2) – 4:05 p.m. ET

New England Patriots (1-2) @ San Francisco 49ers (1-2) – 4:05 p.m. ET

Kansas City Chiefs (3-0) @ Los Angeles Chargers (2-1) – 4:25 p.m. ET

Cleveland Browns (1-2) @ Las Vegas Raiders (1-2) – 4:25 p.m. ET

Buffalo Bills (3-0) @ Baltimore Ravens (1-2) – 8:20 p.m. ET

KUWAIT CITY, September 29: The Court of Cassation announced its decision in the case of passing on secondary school examinations. Sentencing the main defendants – a male citizen and a female citizen – to two years in prison with hard labor, while an expatriate and another male citizen were sentenced to six months in prison for leaking Ministry of Education secrets; and ordered the recovery of KD 308,000 that the defendant received from the sale of the exams and the acquittal of seven defendants. Previously, the criminal court sentenced a male citizen and a woman to ten and seven years in prison with hard labor, respectively, while another male citizen and an expatriate were sentenced to one year in prison with hard labor and the expatriate’s deportation after serving their prison time.

Before pronouncing the verdict, the prosecution detained the defendants for 21 days to complete the investigation and then transferred them to the Central Prison for involvement in money laundering through illegal fundraising. The results of the investigation revealed that the defendants sold the corrected exams for amounts between KD 25 and KD 50 per subject.

By Jaber Al-Hamoud, Munif Naif
Al-Seyassah/Arab Times staff and agencies

The San Francisco 49ers are dealing with injuries on multiple fronts as they return home for a Week 4 game against the New England Patriots on Sunday.

My predictions for the 49ers vs. Patriots game have running back Jordan Mason once again picking up the slack for San Fran’s struggling wide receiver corps.

Here are my top free NFL picks for this matchup on September 29th.

Patriots vs 49ers prediction

My best choice
Jordan Mason 75+ Rushing Yards (-155 at BetMGM)

My analysis

When Christian McCaffrey was placed on IR, not many people knew the name Jordan Mason.

The former Georgia Tech standout went undrafted in 2022 but was ultimately signed by the San Francisco 49ers. He played a backup role in the Bay Area the last two seasons and has already surpassed his career high in rushing yards after just three weeks.

Mason made a big statement in his first NFL start in Week 1, dominating the Jets with 147 yards on the ground. He kept it up in Week 2, rushing for another 100 yards against the Minnesota Vikings before adding another 77 yards in Week 3 against the Los Angeles Rams.

Now you can see why this bet is worth it. Mason has rushed for over 75 yards in every single contest so far in 2024.

San Fran has relied heavily on the run game and the New England Patriots aren’t the best against the run either. They allowed an average of 83 rushing yards per game and 101.5 on the road.

Mason also had at least 19 carries in every contest. Expect him to celebrate and play a key role in Sunday’s result.

Patriots vs. 49ers, same game play

Jordan Mason 75+ rushing yards

Brock Purdy over 250 yards

Patriots +10.5

I expect Mason to do his job in the 49ers backfield, but so does Brock Purdy under center.

Despite the team’s 1-2 record, Purdy has been solid so far, completing 72.6% of his passes for 842 yards and four touchdowns against one interception.

He has surpassed 250 yards passing in his last two games, throwing for 319 against Minnesota and 292 against the Rams. Jauan Jennings and Brandon Aiyuk are his two main targets right now, while George Kittle is also important.

Sure, the Niners may like running the football, but Purdy throws it a lot too.

The Patriots defense is allowing 244.3 passing yards per game and allowed 263 to Aaron Rodgers and the Jets last weekend. Although Purdy has never played against New England since entering the NFL, all signs point to him being a has another big game ahead of him, especially since he’s also averaging 251.5 yards per game at home in his career.

The 49ers are struggling on both sides of the ball – that’s no secret. Defensively, Javon Hargrave, Dee Winters, Jordan Elliott and Curtis Robinson are all dealing with injuries. Offensively, Deebo Samuel is questionable for Sunday (ankle), while OT Trent Williams is also questionable. CMC is still out there too.

The Patriots are 2-1-0 against teams this season, and I believe they can get this game closer to the 10.5 point mark just based on how exhausted San Francisco is.

Learn how to place a bet in the same game with these helpful tips and strategies.

Patriots vs 49ers odds

Patriots vs 49ers live odds

Patriots vs. 49ers opening odds

• Spread: New England +10.5 | San Francisco -10.5
• Money line: New England +425 | San Francisco -600
• Over/Under: Over 40 | Under 40

Odds courtesy of BetMGM

Patriots vs. 49ers distribution and over/under analysis

• The Patriots are 2-1-0 against the spread this season.
• The 49ers have just one win against the spread.
• New England has reached the over in just one game.
• San Francisco has reached the over in two of three contests.

Things worth knowing about the “Patriots vs. 49ers” betting trend.

The Patriots have only covered the spread in six of their last 20 games (-7.20 units / -33% ROI). Find more NFL betting trends for Patriots vs. 49ers.

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NEW YORK (AP) — Francis Ford Coppola’s decades-in-the-making, self-financed epic “Megalopolis” was a flop with moviegoers, while the acclaimed DreamWorks Animation family film “The Wild Robot” debuted at No. 1 at the box office over the weekend.

“The Wild Robot,” Chris Sanders’ adaptation of Peter Brown’s bestselling novel, exceeded expectations with $35 million in ticket sales in U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to studio estimates Sunday. “Wild Robot” was on its way to success after critics raved about the story of a shipwrecked robot raising an orphaned gosling. Audiences agreed and gave the film an “A” box office rating. “Wild Robot” will likely have a long and lucrative run for release from Universal Pictures.

Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst at Comscore, predicts that “The Wild Robot” could “take a page from the ‘Elemental’ playbook by achieving respectable box office returns and then eyeing long-term playability.” Pixar’s “Elemental,” which, like “The Wild Robot, which wasn’t a sequel, opened with a modest $30 million but grossed nearly $500 million worldwide.

Family films, especially the biggest hit of the year “Inside Out 2”, have had a particularly strong impact on the box office this year. David A. Gross, a film consultant who publishes a franchise entertainment newsletter, said the genre is expected to reach $6 billion worldwide in 2024 — which, he noted, is “back to pre-pandemic levels.”

Megalopolis, Coppola’s vision of a Roman epic set in modern-day New York, was never expected to reach anywhere near this level. But the film’s $4 million debut was still sobering for a film that Coppola himself financed to the tune of $120 million. After its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, reviews of Coppola’s first film in 13 years were mixed. Audiences gave it a D+ CinemaScore.

From a financial perspective, “Megalopolis” was a mega-flop. But from the start, the 85-year-old Coppola maintained that it wasn’t about money for him. Coppola designed the film, which he began developing in the late 1970s, as a major personal statement about human possibilities.

“Everyone is so worried about money,” Coppola told The Associated Press in an interview before the film’s release. “I say: Give me less money and give me more friends.”

Studios passed on “Megalopolis” to Cannes. Lionsgate eventually stepped forward to distribute it for a fee. Coppola also covered the majority of the $15 million in marketing costs. The film, which stars Adam Driver, Nathalie Emmanuel and Aubrey Plaza, was also shown in approximately 200 IMAX locations, accounting for $1.8 million of ticket sales.

After three weeks at the top of the box office, Tim Burton’s “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” slipped to second place with $16 million in its fourth weekend in theaters. The Warner Bros. sequel to 1988’s “Beetlejuice,” starring Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder, has collected $250 million domestically in a month of release.

Third place went to “Transformers One,” the Transformers prequel starring Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry. After last weekend’s debut fell short of expectations, the Paramount release collected $9.3 million in its second weekend.

Megalopolis was even surpassed by the Indian Telugu action film Devara: Part 1. It grossed $5.1 million in its opening weekend, good enough for fourth place.

Also debuting in theaters was Jason Reitman’s “Saturday Night,” a loving dramatization of the sketch comedy institution on the night it first aired in 1975. That same weekend, the NBC series began its 50th season, and Reitman’s film opened in five New York shows and New York City Cinemas Los Angeles Theaters and collected $265,000, a strong average of $53,000 per theater. “Saturday Night” goes nationwide in two weeks.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday in U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. The final domestic figures will be published on Monday.

1. “The Wild Robot,” $35 million.

2. “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” $16 million.

3. “Transformers One,” $9.3 million.

4. “Devara: Part 1,” $5.1 million.

5. “Speak No Evil,” $4.3 million.