By Tiffany Williams –
The NFL doesn’t wait around. Week 4 coughed up mayhem across time zones and continents, and Week 5 is already setting up to rewrite record books. Sunday morning in London, Sunday night in Buffalo, Monday night in Jacksonville—it’s all loaded. September is in the books, the Players of the Month are crowned, and October is already daring stars to chase history.
Ten games in Week 4 went down to the wire. Eight were decided by one score, three on last-minute daggers. None was louder than Matthew Stafford’s 88-yard bomb to Tutu Atwell, the longest game-winner inside the final two minutes in over six decades. The Rams stole one, 27-20 over Indy, and the NFC West suddenly looks like a bare-knuckle fight again.
New York didn’t just watch, it joined the party. The Giants rolled the dice with rookie Jaxson Dart, downing the undefeated Chargers in his first career start. First 0-3 team to beat a 3-0 in 17 years. Dart’s the first QB in 23 seasons to debut with a win against an unbeaten opponent. He’s now staring down New Orleans in Week 5, with history dangling in front of him—another pass and rush score and he joins Newton, Tebow, and Howell in the exclusive two-game club.
Philly is undefeated again, 4-0 for the third time in four years, doing it with special teams daggers—blocked field goal touchdown in Week 3, blocked punt touchdown in Week 4. They’re the fourth team since 2000 to stack those in back-to-back weeks. The Eagles are a machine. Tampa found out the hard way, 31-25.
Buffalo is more ruthless than a blizzard. Four-and-oh, winners of 14 straight at home with 24-plus in every one of them. Only Denver ’97-98, New England ’17-19, and Dallas ’22-23 have matched it. Josh Allen tied Cam Newton with 45 games of passing and rushing TDs. James Cook? He’s knocking on Jim Brown’s door—another 100-yard, 1-TD Sunday and he joins Brown and O.J. Simpson as the only backs to start a season with five in a row. He already took home AFC Offensive Player of the Month. September belonged to him, but he’s playing like he wants October too.
Aaron Rodgers flew to Dublin and rewrote the international record book. 18-of-22, 200 yards, a bomb to DK Metcalf, and a win over the Vikings. His 81.8 percent completion is the best by a starter overseas. Rodgers now owns 91 completions of 50 yards or more, passing Drew Brees for the most ever. He’s still flinging daggers while T.J. Watt hunts QBs into the history books. Watt’s got 111 sacks in 125 games, more than DeMarcus Ware had at this stage. Only Reggie White was faster.
Mahomes, meanwhile, is sprinting past everyone. Four TDs against Baltimore, 252 in his career, and now the fastest to 250 ever. Monday night, two more scores, and he passes Rodgers again—this time for fastest to 300, counting playoffs. Peyton, Marino, Wilson—they all trail him now. Mahomes makes the historic look inevitable.
New England’s rookie Drake Maye doesn’t care about inevitability—he’s chasing Brady. Three straight games of 75-plus percent passing with multiple TDs, the youngest ever to do it. A fourth on Sunday night in Buffalo ties Brady’s 2007 streak. He’s already in Herbert and Dak Prescott territory when it comes to early-career efficiency. And speaking of Dak—he leads the league with 121 completions, averaging 30-plus a game. Another 30 Sunday and he joins Brady, Cousins, and Mahomes in the four-game club. Prescott’s safety blanket is Jake Ferguson, who leads all tight ends with 34 grabs. Six more and he joins Ertz, Johnson, and Gates as the only tight ends ever with 40 catches through five games.
Puka Nacua is devouring targets in L.A. Forty-two catches in four games, tied for the most to start a season. Eight more Thursday night against San Francisco and he tops Cooper Kupp’s record. Nine straight games with seven-plus catches? That would put him in Antonio Brown, Diggs, and Kupp territory. At the same time, Davante Adams is chasing T.O., Moss, and Rice in primetime touchdowns. One more and he ties Owens at 34. This is why you circle Thursday nights.
Justin Jefferson flew to London, hauling in 126 yards in Dublin last week. Another 109 against Cleveland and he vaults past Jerry Rice and Calvin Johnson for third-most receiving yards through six seasons. One more 100-yard game and he passes Julio Jones for second-most 100-yard days in that span. Only Moss would still be standing above him.
Myles Garrett is hunting too. He’s got a league-high eight tackles for loss, 11 straight games with at least one, and could become the fifth player this century with 12 in a row. Sack No. 107 moves him past Reggie White for most before turning 30. He’s doing it while Kerby Joseph lurks in Detroit with 19 picks since 2022. One more and he joins Ed Reed, Sherman, Peters, Mathis, and Jackson with 20 in his first four years. The Lions’ safety is a magnet.
September’s awards prove how wide open this league is. Bijan Robinson is the Falcons’ everything—584 yards, 110-plus in every game, and the NFC Offensive Player of the Month. Byron Young, the Rams linebacker, logged a sack in each of the first four weeks. Brandon Aubrey drilled a 64-yarder, never missed, and now has four career monthly awards in barely two seasons. Emeka Egbuka caught four TDs as a rookie in Tampa, Xavier Watts picked off two in Atlanta. The kids are already stealing hardware.
In the AFC, Cook owned the ground, Devin Lloyd snatched three picks in Jacksonville, and Spencer Shrader kicked himself into Colts history with 13 field goals in a month. This isn’t dominance by dynasties, it’s chaos in every zip code.
And then there’s London again, where the NFL Academy is hosting Florida powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas. It’s not just football, it’s a cultural exchange. The Academy kids get Irvin’s alma mater, the Raiders get a week overseas, and the league gets another brick in its international wall. The NFL Academy is spreading into Australia now, because why stop with Europe? This game doesn’t want borders.
The Huddle doesn’t either. September’s done. October is here. Mahomes is chasing 300. Cook is chasing O.J. Maye is chasing Brady. Jefferson is chasing Moss. And everyone else is chasing whoever scores last. This is the NFL. Nothing waits.
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