NFL Sunday takeaways: Don’t touch Tom Brady, and don’t trust the Jaguars

Pickett didn’t charge. There was optimism among Steelers fans when Coach Mike Tomlin made the move this week from Mitchell Trubisky to Kenny Pickett, the only quarterback chosen in the opening round of this year’s NFL draft. But Pickett also faced the considerable challenge of going on the road to face the Buffalo Bills, the Super Bowl favorite that began the day tied for first in the league in total defense.

NFL Reset: Team Rankings, figuring out the Ravens offense, rookie QBs

It didn’t go well, although that wasn’t necessarily Pickett’s fault. Bills quarterback Josh Allen threw for 348 yards and four touchdowns in the first half alone. Pickett and the Steelers couldn’t come close to keeping pace. The Bills slowed down after halftime but never were threatened in a 38-3 triumph that dropped the Steelers’ record to 1-4.

Pickett threw an interception but ended up with 327 passing yards. He also was in the middle of some late-game testiness, including a scuffle that began after a low hit on him. There undoubtedly will be better days — at some point — for Pickett and the Steelers. But the near-term outlook is relatively bleak, and the first losing season of Tomlin’s head coaching tenure appears entirely possible.

The Lions were zapped. Things went far better for the Patriots and Zappe, the fourth-round draft pick from Western Kentucky who made the start Sunday with Mac Jones still sidelined by his high ankle sprain. Zappe threw for 188 yards, with a touchdown pass and an interception, as the Patriots shut out the Detroit Lions, 29-0, in Foxborough, Mass., to improve their record to 2-3.

This was more about the New England defense than about Zappe. The Lions had the NFL’s top-ranked offense entering the game. But Zappe, despite his inexperience, has been a steadying influence since he made a relief appearance a week ago in an overtime loss at Green Bay. Jones is nearing a return. But there is no need to rush him back. The Patriots seem confident in Zappe.

How about a Subway Super Bowl? Okay, let’s not get carried away. But there is joy off Exit 16-W of the New Jersey Turnpike as the two NFL franchises based there (but with New York by their names) actually are winning. The Giants and Jets have a combined record of 7-3 after their victories Sunday.

The Giants improved to 4-1 with their 27-22 win over the Packers in London. They were desperately shorthanded at cornerback and wide receiver. Quarterback Daniel Jones played despite an ankle injury and had a bloody right hand during the game. Tailback Saquon Barkley left the game with a shoulder injury but returned. Yet the Giants found a way. Their return to respectability under their new decision-making tandem of Coach Brian Daboll and General Manager Joe Schoen is on fast-forward.

The Jets ended a 12-game losing streak against AFC East opponents by beating the luckless Miami Dolphins, 40-17, in East Rutherford, N.J. Quarterback Zach Wilson played relatively well in his second game back from his preseason knee injury. Coach Robert Saleh has the Jets, at 3-2, looking suddenly competent.

But this game was notable mostly because Dolphins quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was ruled out under the new provision to the concussion protocols implemented Saturday by the NFL and the NFL Players Association. That modification prevents any player who demonstrates abnormal balance, stability or motor coordination from returning to a game. It was enacted as the league and union completed their review in the case of Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, and it resulted in Bridgewater being withheld after he exited Sunday’s game in the first quarter.

Don’t touch the quarterback. Quarterback Tom Brady improved his career record against the Atlanta Falcons to 11-0 as he and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers prevailed, 21-15, Sunday in Tampa. Brady threw for 351 yards and a touchdown while avoiding what would have been only the second three-game losing skid by his team during his NFL career.

The Falcons justifiably were upset by a roughing-the-passer penalty assessed to defensive lineman Grady Jarrett as he spun Brady to the turf on a third-down play with about three minutes remaining, keeping the Buccaneers from having to punt. Jarrett did not seem to use any excessive force as he flung Brady to the ground.

But the NFL goes out of its way to protect quarterbacks, and, in doing so, referees sometimes go too far. Referee Jerome Boger told a pool reporter that the penalty was for “unnecessarily throwing [Brady] to the ground.”

Brady wasn’t complaining, shrugging while saying during his postgame news conference, “I don’t throw the flags.”

Brandon Staley needs to tone it down. The coach of the Los Angeles Chargers was unapologetic last season for his fourth-down aggressiveness. When this season began, Staley appeared to take a more measured approach, perhaps showing more trust in his upgraded defense.

But Staley was back at it Sunday in Cleveland, leaving his offense on the field for a fourth-and-one attempt from its own 46-yard line with just over a minute to play and the Chargers leading, 30-28.

Quarterback Justin Herbert threw incomplete to hand possession of the ball to the Browns in L.A. territory with a chance to win. Staley and the Chargers came away unscathed, as Cleveland’s rookie kicker, Cade York, missed a 54-yard field goal try with 11 seconds left.

Staley generally has valid reasons for what he does. But the analytics were not in his favor in this case, at least as calculated by Next Gen Stats. And beyond that, football is not only a game of numbers; it is also a game of emotion and belief. Players must trust in what their coach is doing, other than merely saying the right things on that subject. Sometimes, football traditionalism needs to win out.

How NFL coaches try (and often fail) to master the end-of-game chaos

Staley needs to find the proper balance.

Don’t ever, ever trust the Jags. Things seemed to be looking up for the Jacksonville Jaguars under their new coach, Doug Pederson. They won two of their first three games this season, then had an early lead last week in Philadelphia before failing to hold it. On Sunday, however, they were back to being the Jaguars. They failed to reach the end zone and lost at home, 13-6, to the previously winless Houston Texans.

There usually is the same wariness about any team quarterbacked by Kirk Cousins. But maybe, just maybe, things are different this season. For the first time, a Cousins-quarterbacked team is off to a 4-1 start. The Minnesota Vikings held on Sunday to defeat the Chicago Bears, 29-22. The Vikings already have a victory over the Packers this season. They just might be the team to beat in the NFC North.

But there’s a long way to go, and Cousins must prove his reliability over an entire season.

It’s the NFC Least no more. With the late-afternoon triumphs by the Eagles at Arizona and by the Dallas Cowboys over the Los Angeles Rams in Inglewood, Calif., the NFC East has a 5-0 team and two 4-1 teams. Pretty much just like everyone figured, huh?

Not so much. But the once-so-proud division is experiencing a renaissance, at least in the season’s early weeks. The Eagles held on against the Cardinals, 20-17, when Arizona kicker Matt Ammendola missed a 43-yard field goal attempt with 17 seconds to play. Moments earlier, quarterback Kyler Murray’s slide at the end of a run left the Cardinals facing a third-and-one situation, and then Murray spiked the ball to stop the clock.

The Eagles remain the NFL’s only unbeaten team. They’ll host the Cowboys next Sunday night in Philadelphia, and it could be an interesting week in Dallas. Quarterback Dak Prescott is getting closer to returning from surgery to repair the fractured right thumb he suffered in the season opener. But the Cowboys are 4-0 under fill-in starter Cooper Rush after Sunday’s 22-10 victory over the Rams in a home-away-from-home game at SoFi Stadium.

The Rams simply could not block the Cowboys’ pass rushers. Quarterback Matthew Stafford got up slowly off the turf after being hit while throwing a late-game interception. The defending Super Bowl champs are 2-3 and don’t look anything like a threat to repeat.

It’s ugly in Carolina. The Panthers are 1-4 after falling to the San Francisco 49ers, 37-15, in a late-afternoon game. Quarterback Baker Mayfield threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown and didn’t even finish the game. Coach Matt Rhule went to backup P.J. Walker in the very late stages.

The trade for Mayfield before the season hasn’t solved anything for the Panthers. Rhule is faltering in what seems like a produce-or-else season for him. It remains to be seen if or when owner David Tepper will choose to implement the “or else” part.

Dolphins lose Teddy Bridgewater

The Miami Dolphins’ quarterback issues worsened Sunday.

With starter Tua Tagovailoa already sidelined indefinitely after suffering a concussion, the Dolphins also lost veteran backup Teddy Bridgewater during their game against the New York Jets in East Rutherford, N.J.

Bridgewater started the game but left the field in the first quarter. The Dolphins said Bridgewater had an elbow injury and was being evaluated for a head injury. The team initially called him questionable to return to the game but later ruled him out.

Rookie Skylar Thompson, a seventh-round draft choice from Kansas State, took over at quarterback. The Dolphins trail the Jets, 19-14, at halftime.

The NFL and the NFL Players Association said Saturday that their concussion protocols were followed “as written” in Tagovailoa’s case, but the outcome was “not what was intended” under the protocols. They announced a modification to the protocols that prevents any player who demonstrates abnormal balance, stability or motor coordination from returning to a game.

That change to the protocols was in effect for Sunday’s games leaguewide, and Bridgewater reportedly was ruled out from returning to the game under the new provision.

The Giants are thriving

Don’t get carried away quite yet. But the New York Giants just might be for real.

The first-ever NFL game in London to feature two teams with winning records served as further evidence that the Giants are making immediate and significant progress under their new football brain trust of Coach Brian Daboll and General Manager Joe Schoen. They rallied, then held on late to beat the Green Bay Packers, 27-22, to improve their record to 4-1.

The injury-plagued Giants were desperately shorthanded at cornerback and wide receiver. Quarterback Daniel Jones played despite an ankle injury and had a bloody right hand during the game. Tailback Saquon Barkley left the game with a shoulder injury but returned.

Yet the Giants found a way. Jones threw for 217 yards on 21-for-27 passing accuracy. Barkley ran for 70 yards and a touchdown. The Giants regrouped after trailing, 17-3, in the second quarter.

The defense stopped the Packers on a fourth-and-one attempt from the New York 6-yard line with just more than a minute to play and the Giants leading, 27-20. Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers had a pass batted away for an incompletion. The Giants handed the Packers a safety in the final seconds rather than punting out of their own end zone but sealed the victory with a sack of Rodgers on the game’s final play.

The NFC East is surprisingly competitive, with the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys also thriving thus far. But after a decade of on-field futility following their most recent Super Bowl triumph to conclude the 2011 season, the Giants at least have hope again.

All eyes on Kenny Pickett — and maybe Bailey Zappe

It has not been a season for rookie quarterback exploits in the NFL. The quarterbacks mostly were afterthoughts in this year’s NFL draft, and not a single one began this season as a starter.

Even so, rookie quarterbacks will be in focus on Sunday in Week 5. Kenny Pickett makes his first NFL start for the Pittsburgh Steelers in an early-afternoon game at Buffalo. And Bailey Zappe could make his first start when the New England Patriots host the Detroit Lions at 1 p.m. Eastern time in Foxborough, Mass., with usual starter Mac Jones listed as doubtful because of his high ankle sprain.

Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin officially named Pickett the starter Tuesday, two days after going to Pickett in favor of struggling starter Mitchell Trubisky at halftime of a 24-20 loss at home to the New York Jets.

NFL, NFLPA change concussion protocols, complete Tua Tagovailoa review

The move was inevitable. The Steelers made Pickett, a University of Pittsburgh product, the only quarterback chosen in the first round of the draft in April. But the switch came sooner than Tomlin would have preferred, with the Steelers sputtering along at 1-3 in the first season after Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement. Tomlin never has had a losing season in a head coaching tenure with the Steelers that began in 2007.

Pickett excelled during preseason, showing poise and passing accuracy. He undeniably provided the Steelers with a burst of energy against the Jets, with a pair of second-half rushing touchdowns. But he also threw a trio of interceptions in a 10-for-13, 120-yard passing performance. Tomlin and the Steelers probably will have to live with a few mistakes along the way.

Zappe likewise had his moments last Sunday. He was pressed into service during the Patriots’ game at Green Bay, with Jones sidelined and veteran backup Brian Hoyer’s day cut short when he suffered a head injury. Zappe threw a touchdown in a 10-for-15, 99-yard showing. The Patriots took the Packers to overtime but lost, 27-24, on a field goal as time expired in the 10-minute extra session. They also are 1-3.

The Patriots reportedly are holding out some hope that Jones could play Sunday. But they do seem confident in Zappe, an unheralded fourth-round draft pick from Western Kentucky. They’ll probably need to score points in bunches Sunday. The Lions are ranked first in the NFL in total offense and last in total defense. They’re coming off a 48-45 defeat to the Seattle Seahawks, who had totaled only 47 points in their three games this season before that.