This is a moment second-year receiver Adonai Mitchell would like back.
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The Colts receiver came down with an incredible catch and then broke free for what looked to be a 76-yard touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams on Monday morning.
Instead, Mitchell celebrated early and fumbled the ball through the end zone for a touchback in a brutal turn of events for Indianapolis.
Fortunately for him the Rams didn’t score on the ensuing drive and instead had to punt it away.
It didn’t make it much easier to take though and Mitchell took another touchdown off the board in the fourth quarter when he was pulled up for a holding call on what would have otherwise been a 53-yard Jonathan Taylor rushing score.
The Rams ended up winning 27-20, with star receiver Puka Nacua exploding for 170 yards and a touchdown off 13 receptions while Mitchell — for all his blunders — led the Colts with three catches for 96 yards.
DEVASTATING INJURY REIGNITES DEBATE AFTER SHOCK WIN
The Jaxson Dart era in New York got off to a surprise winning start, but it came at a cost.
The Giants handed the previously undefeated Los Angeles Chargers their first loss of the year with a 21-18 victory at MetLife Stadium.
While Dart was expected to struggle against a tough Chargers defence, the rookie quarterback added a new wrinkle to what used to be a stagnant Giants offence through the designed run game.
It almost backfired, with Dart getting banged up at one point before returning to the field, but otherwise the former Ole Miss quarterback added 54 yards and a touchdown on the ground in the win.
Dart also completed 13 passes for 111 yards, a touchdown and no interception in a promising debut game.
It gave Giants fans a much-needed reason to believe after veteran Russell Wilson struggled in his first three starts to open the season, but the win was dampened by what appears to be a serious injury to star wideout Malik Nabers.
Nabers, who had 1,204 yards and seven touchdowns in his rookie season, was carted off the field in the second quarter with what NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported is a feared torn ACL.
The Nabers injury has put the spotlight on the playing surface at MetLife Stadium, which has been the subject of widespread criticism.
San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan spoke out about the issue in 2020 after defensive linemen Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas both suffered torn ACLs at the venue.
“I know our players talked about it the entire game, just how sticky the turf was. … It was something our guys were concerned about right away, and the results definitely made that a lot stronger,” he said at the time.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh was also critical of the turf after cornerback Kyle Fuller tore his ACL in 2022, while even Giants players themselves have voiced their concerns.
A player poll conducted by The Athletic in 2023, meanwhile, found Metlife Stadium was the NFL’s worst venue to play in.
A new playing surface was installed at the stadium in 2023, although it still was not grass and instead an improved synthetic turf.
Real grass was installed for the Club World Cup and will be placed down for next year’s World Cup.
Speaking after Monday’s game, CBS insider Jonathan Jones said “players absolutely hate that turf”.
“It is well known around the league that the stadium turf where the Jets and Giants play is among the worst in the NFL,” Jones said on the network’s broadcast.
“When you see this sort of non-contact injury, when you go up for a ball and your knee is not supposed to just give out, it certainly looks poor. … Players absolutely hate that turf.”
‘DISASTROUS’ DAY FOR RAVENS AS FIVE KEY PLAYERS GO DOWN
Well, that is some way for the Kansas City Chiefs to bounce back to form. But what about the Baltimore Ravens?
One of the AFC heavyweights was going to start the season 1-3 either way and Monday’s 37-20 blowout loss to the Chiefs could just be the start of the Ravens’ problems.
Baltimore lost left tackle Ronnie Stanley to an ankle injury, cornerback Marlon Humphrey to a calf injury, lineback Roquan Smith to a hamstring injury, cornerback Nate Wiggins to an elbow injury and — most importantly — quarterback Lamar Jackson to a hamstring injury.
Jackson hurt his hamstring on the first drive of the second half after being sacked by Chiefs defensive end George Karlaftis, with Cooper Rush taking over on the next series.
Patrick Mahomes threw for four touchdowns in the win while Xavier Worthy returned from a shoulder injury with five catches for 83 yards.
While it was a comfortable win, Kansas City’s rushing attack still remains an issue with Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco combining for 69 yards against a Baltimore team that had been gashed on the ground in the opening month of the season.
FIERY END AS COACHES SEPARATED AFTER SIGN-STEALING ACCUSATION
Things got heated between two coaches after fulltime.
The Jacksonville Jaguars held on for a 26-21 win over the San Francisco 49ers as a turnover-prone Brock Purdy threw two interceptions and lost a fumble in his return from injury.
But all the talk after the game will be about one moment captured as the two teams left the field, with 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh and Jaguars head coach Liam Coen exchanging words.
While what was said is not known at this stage, it is hard to imagine it was related to anything but Saleh accusing Coen of having a “signal-stealing-type system” earlier in the week.
“Liam and his staff, a couple guys coming from Minnesota, they’ve got a — legally — a really advanced signal-stealing-type system where they always find a way to put themselves in an advantageous situation,” Saleh told reporters.
“They do a great job of it. They formation you to just try to find any nugget they can.
“So we’ve got to be great with our signals and we’ve gotta be great with our communication to combat some of the tells that we might give on the field.”
Saleh, however, did stress that he wasn’t suggesting Coen or the Jaguars were doing anything illegal and in fact almost seemed to be complimenting the Jacksonville head coach, saying he and the rest of the coaching tree from Sean McVay and Kevin O’Connell are “almost elite in that regard”.
“There’s nothing illegal about it. I’m not suggesting that,” Saleh added.
“It’s just, you can tell that they’ve got a canned system that’s getting them into a very advantageous position multiple times during the course of a game.”
Coen though when asked about the accusation earlier in the week didn’t want to address it in too much detail and clearly didn’t take it as a compliment based on his reaction.
EAGLES’ CHEEKY RESPONSE TO CONTROVERSY IN THRILLING WIN
The Philadelphia Eagles held off a late Tampa Bay Buccaneers fightback to extend their perfect start to the NFL season with a 31-25 road victory in a battle of previously unbeaten teams.
The reigning Super Bowl champion Eagles looked to be cruising after opening up a 24-3 second quarter lead thanks to Sydney Brown’s blocked punt return touchdown before quarterback Jalen Hurts connected with tight-end Dallas Goedert for two more touchdowns.
Tampa Bay reduced the deficit at half-time thanks to Chase McLaughlin’s monster 65-yard field goal — the longest NFL field goal ever kicked in an outdoor stadium.
The Buccaneers rallied in the third quarter, with quarterback Baker Mayfield throwing touchdown passes of 77 and 72 yards for Emeka Egbuka and Bucky Irving to cut the Eagles’ lead to 11 points at 31-20.
A further McLaughlin field goal in the fourth quarter put Tampa Bay within eight points but the Bucs’ hopes of a comeback fizzled when Mayfield tossed an interception on first down on the Eagles 11-yard line in the fourth quarter.
A final Tampa Bay drive also stalled in the final two minutes, with the Bucs turning over on downs when Mayfield was sacked on fourth and nine.
The win in sultry conditions at Tampa’s Raymond James Stadium was Philadelphia’s 20th in their last 21st starts including last season.
The Eagles, who have come under fire recently for their contentious ‘tush push’ play, got one over their critics in Monday’s game when they set up play only to hand it off to Saquon Barkley for the score.
IN OTHER GAMES AROUND THE LEAGUE…
In other early NFL games on Sunday, the Buffalo Bills also moved to 4-0 for the season with a 31-19 defeat of the New Orleans Saints.
Bills quarterback Josh Allen threw two touchdowns and ran for another to help set up victory against the Saints, who remain winless on 0-4 following their latest defeat.
The Saints though ran Buffalo close throughout, and a Blake Grupe field goal early in the fourth quarter got New Orleans to within two points at 21-19 late in the game.
Allen though hit Dalton Kincaid for a 28-yard touchdown before Matt Prater’s late field goal made the game safe, leaving the Bills breathing a sigh of relief.
“That’s the NFL — every team we play is more than capable of winning each and every week,” Allen said afterwards.
“They came out with a really good game plan offensively and defensively. They came ready to play today.”
In other games, the Pittsburgh Steelers held off the Minnesota Vikings 24-21 in the first ever NFL game played in Ireland, with running back Kenneth Gainwell rushing for two touchdowns at Dublin’s Croke Park in front of 74,512 fans.
The in-form Detroit Lions improved to 3-1 with a 34-10 thrashing of the Cleveland Browns, while the Atlanta Falcons were 34-27 winners over the Washington Commanders.
NFL WEEK 4 RESULTS
Cardinals 20 Seahawks 23
Steelers 24 Vikings 21
Falcons 34 Commanders 27
Giants 21 Chargers 18
Texans 26 Titans 0
Buccaneers 25 Eagles 31
Patriots 42 Panthers 13
Bills 31 Saints 19
Lions 34 Browns 10
Rams 27 Colts 20
49ers 21 Jaguars 26
Raiders 24 Bears 25
Chiefs 37 Ravens 20
Cowboys 40 Packers 40 (OT)
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