“Eleven months ago, I was concerned the Niners overpaid for McCaffrey in the trade. Now it looks like they underpaid — perhaps significantly.” – Peter King on 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey
“Zach Wilson ruined every New York narrative Sunday night…His game defined ‘moral victory.’” – King on Jets QB Zach Wilson’s performance in New York’s 23-20 loss to Kansas City
“Williams has a much better front wall than Sanders, and Sanders faced more pressure than Williams all afternoon. That’s one reason I came away thinking Sanders could well be a better pro.” – King on USC QB Caleb Williams and Colorado QB Shedeur Sanders after attending the USC-Colorado game
3-1 Dallas Cowboys visit 4-0 San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football This Weekend – Sunday, Oct. 8 at 8:20 p.m. ET on NBC, Peacock, Telemundo and Universo
STAMFORD, Conn. – Oct. 2, 2023 – Peter King recaps all of the action from a busy NFL Week 4, including standout wins from the Buffalo Bills, Dallas Cowboys, and San Francisco 49ers in this week’s edition of Football Morning in America, available now exclusively on NBCSports.com. King also speaks with Bills head coach Sean McDermott, recaps his experience at this past weekend’s USC-Colorado game, and more.
For more NFL coverage, Peacock offers daily programming on the NBC Sports channel for free, including Pro Football Talk at 7 a.m. ET, The Dan Patrick Show at 9 a.m. ET, Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry at Noon ET, Brother from Another at 3 p.m. ET, plus Chris Simms Unbuttoned on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays, and the weekly The Peter King Podcast. To learn more about the NBC Sports on Peacock channel and how to sign up, click here.
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The following are highlights from this week’s edition of Football Morning in America:
BILLS
Bills head coach Sean McDermott to King on the Buffalo crowd: “This crowd was as loud as I’ve heard any crowd in an NFL stadium. And that mattered today. I tip my cap to Bills Mafia.”
King on the Bills: “Every week, there’s a different most impressive team in the league. After two weeks, we thought it was Dallas. After three, Miami. After four? Maybe San Francisco. Maybe Buffalo. It’s close…The window’s closing on all that talk about the Bills’ championship window closing.”
USC-COLORADO
King: “(Colorado QB) Shedeur Sanders and Caleb Williams likely will be starting NFL quarterbacks.”
King on the NFL potential of USC QB Caleb Williams: “He has a very good line and an excellent corps of receivers. If you look at his possible landing spots next spring — assuming he comes out — it’s doubtful he’d have very good position groups on the line and at receiver.”
King: “Williams has a much better front wall than Sanders, and Sanders faced more pressure than Williams all afternoon. That’s one reason I came away thinking Sanders could well be a better pro. Having a better supporting cast and stronger D shouldn’t penalize Williams, of course. But I saw more of what a quarterback needs to do in the NFL from Sanders, at least on this one day.”
WEEK 4
King on QB Zach Wilson’s performance in the Jets’ 23-20 loss to the Chiefs: “Zach Wilson ruined every New York narrative Sunday night…The Jets let him play football Sunday night. His game defined ‘moral victory.’”
King on the Patriots’ woes: “This is looking very much like the fourth straight year since Tom Brady walked that New England won’t win a playoff game, and the way Robert Kraft thinks, the head coach and draft czar has to be responsible for that.”
Chargers LB Khalil Mack on his six-sack game in a win against the Raiders: “Everything was going right for me — not many chips, I felt great, I felt I could bend the edge with my foot and feel totally healthy.”
King on Chargers head coach Brandon Staley’s failed attempts on 4th-and-1: “As if on cue, one league exec sent a text to me saying, ‘For such a smart guy, he sure does some dumb things.’”
King on Cowboys LB Micah Parsons: “I think the legend of Micah Parsons grows. You may have seen him hobble off with a left ankle injury early in the second quarter against the Patriots. He missed a couple of series, then returned late in the half. Amazing: Even hobbled, he had six pressures of Mac Jones.”
King on the Broncos’ defense: “I think if you’re Sean Payton, you’ve got to be seriously worried about the defense…(this) is a recipe for going 4-13. At best.”
King on Falcons QB Desmond Ridder: “I find myself thinking how long Arthur Smith will go with Desmond Ridder. Smith probably thinks he went too long with Marcus Mariota last year and won’t do that again.”
King: “I picked Atlanta to win the NFC South a month ago, figuring Ridder could be a C or C-minus quarterback. I didn’t count on him being a letter grade worse.”
KING’S WEEK 4 AWARDS
Offensive Players of the Week: Lamar Jackson, Baltimore, Stefon Diggs, Buffalo, & Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco
King on McCaffrey’s value to the 49ers: “Eleven months ago, I was concerned the Niners overpaid for McCaffrey in the trade, sending second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-round picks to Carolina for him. Now it looks like they underpaid — perhaps significantly.”
Defensive Players of the Week: Henry To’oTo’o, Houston, Jerry Jacobs, Detroit, Khalil Mack, Los Angeles Chargers, & Harrison Smith, Minnesota
King on Smith: “Smith had never had a two-sack game in his distinguished career, and he’d gone 21 straight games without a sack. But he had three of Bryce Young in Charlotte Sunday, including one of the biggest plays of the game.”
Coach of the Week: Bobby Slowik, offensive coordinator, Houston
King on Slowik: “To have a rookie quarterback (C.J. Stroud) in a new offense with no true stars as skill players play well is a credit to the staff too. For the Texans to have put up 67 points in two wins and to have won those games by 20 and 24 … very good accomplishment for the first-year Texans coordinator.”
Special Teams Players of the Week: Jake Elliott, Philadelphia, & Bryan Anger, Dallas
King on Elliott: “No wonder Nick Sirianni trusts Elliott — he’s consistently big in big spots.”
Goat of the Week: Matt Eberflus, head coach, Chicago
Read the full FMIA column here and catch the weekly Peter King Podcast here.
The following are additional highlights of NBC Sports’ NFL coverage:
- PFT Live with NBC Sports’ Mike Florio (Mondays) and Florio and Chris Simms (Tuesday-Thursday) streams on Peacock from 7 a.m. – 9 a.m. ET on weekdays & is available on-demand. The Dan Patrick Show streams at 9 a.m. ET, Fantasy Football Happy Hour with Matthew Berry at Noon ET, Brother From Another at 3 p.m. ET, PFT PM at 5 p.m. ET. At 6 p.m. ET, Chris Simms Unbuttoned streams Tuesday-Friday.
- com continues to provide the latest news and updates.
- NBC Sports EDGE’s Rotoworld Football Show continues the NFL discussion and Bet The Edge Podcast provides daily betting insights.
- The NFL on NBC YouTube channel offers daily football content for free, with exclusive videos from Peter King – including his interviews with players and coaches at training camps – Mike Florio, Chris Simms, and more. To access all of these videos and more, click here to subscribe
A new “Football Morning in America” posts every Monday morning exclusively on NBCSports.com through the NFL season. It was announced in May 2019 that King signed an exclusive agreement with NBC Sports Group that included writing a weekly Monday morning NFL column for NBCSports.com; making regular appearances on PFT Live with Mike Florio; and continuing to contribute to Football Night in America, the most-watched studio show in sports.
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