Week 4 of the NFL season promises plenty of excitement following a blistering start to the 2022 season.

The season has so far been defined by close finishes. Through three weeks, there have been 18 games decided by three points or fewer this season, the most such games through the first three weeks of a season in NFL history. 

A packed crowd at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium will hope to see another tight game as the NFL returns to London with the New Orleans Saints and the Minnesota Vikings facing off.

The Washington Commanders travel to face the Dallas Cowboys in a fierce rivalry and the Philadelphia Eagles will look to extend their winning streak against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

With plenty more on the agenda, Stats Perform has used its data to preview this week's games.

Minnesota Vikings (1-2) @ New Orleans Saints (1-2)

A high-scoring affair should be on the cards in London, as the Vikings and Saints have put up 700 points (53.8 per game) over their last 13 regular season matchups dating back to 1995 – more than any other game with at least a dozen meetings.

The Vikings are in very capable hands with Kirk Cousins, who has a career passer rating of 126.7 against the Saints in the regular season, the highest by any QB against a single opponent in the Super Bowl era (minimum 125 attempts).

However, they face a Saints defense that has held opponents to fewer than 250 passing yards and one touchdown pass for nine straight games, a franchise record, while the only team in the last 10 years to enjoy a longer streak was the New England Patriots in 2019.

Chris Olave boasts 268 receiving yards in his first three career games but is yet to score a touchdown, a record which stands as the most since Charlie Wade's 315 yards without a TD in his first three games for the Chicago Bears in 1974.

Washington Commanders (1-2) @ Dallas Cowboys (2-1)

The Cowboys host the Commanders having won both matchups last season, including a 56-14 triumph in Week 14 that stands as the highest margin of victory for either team in the all-time series.

With six sacks in the Week 2 victory against the Cincinnati Bengals and five sacks last weekend against the New York Giants, the Cowboys have recorded five or more sacks in consecutive games for the first time since a four-game streak in November/December 2008.

That will be of particular concern to Carson Wentz, who was sacked a career-high nine times in the Commanders' home loss to the Eagles last week – the most of any QB for the franchise since John Beck was sacked 10 times by the Buffalo Bills in 2011.

Fourth-quarter offense has been a highlight for Washington, though, totalling 455 scrimmage yards (342 passing, 113 rushing) and standing third in the NFL for the most fourth-quarter yards in 2022 behind the Saints (541) and the Indianapolis Colts (456).

Jacksonville Jaguars (2-1) @ Philadelphia Eagles (3-0)

The only 3-0 side to play on Sunday, the Eagles have held the Jaguars to under 20 points in the last four matchups between the two sides stretching back to 2006, tied for the second-longest active such run for Philadelphia behind the six-game streak against the Jets.

In the past two weeks, the Eagles have kept their opponents to under 10 points (8 vs Washington, 7 vs Minnesota) and are the only NFL team this season to achieve the feat in consecutive games, while Philadelphia last went three in a row in that regard in 1980.

The Jaguars are 2-1 at the start of the season for the first time since 2018 and have scored 84 points, the third-most by the team in the opening three games of the season in franchise history (98 in 1997 and 89 in 2017).

Both teams rank in the top five in the NFL for total first downs this season, with the Eagles (73) third and the Jaguars (70) fifth.

Elsewhere…

The Los Angeles Chargers travel to face the Houston Texans having being held to just 26 yards on the ground against the Jaguars last week and have 177 rushing yards in the NFL this season, the fewest in three games in team history.

A total of 572 rushing yards this season places the Cleveland Browns as the NFL's best on the ground this season and they visit the Atlanta Falcons having amassed their highest total through their first three games of a campaign since 1963.

The Seattle Seahawks tackle the Lions boasting seven wins in the last eight matchups against Detroit dating back to 2003, the third-best record by an NFC team against a conference opponent over the past 20 seasons.

The Titans have won each of the last three games against the Colts, including a 34-31 win in overtime last season. A victory this weekend would make this Tennessee's outright longest winning streak against Indianapolis (also three straight wins between 1988 and 1992).

CeeDee Lamb was motivated to "step up" for his game-winning catch in the Dallas Cowboys' victory over the New York Giants having been annoyed by a second-quarter drop.

The Cowboys' star receiver made a couple of first-half errors, one of which he looked certain to claim in his stride for a touchdown from an excellent deep ball from Cooper Rush, only for it to slip through his grasp.

But Lamb more than atoned by making a sensational one-handed grab for a touchdown with 8:30 to play.

It was the icing on the cake of an 89-yard drive, in which Rush – standing in again for the injured Dak Prescott – found Lamb on four occasions.

"It [the dropped pass] was a situation I had to deal with on my own. Obviously I’m the one that dropped the ball for the guys," Lamb said after the game. 

"So knowing that I had to make this up in the back end of the game, I just wanted to step up.

"I was willing to do anything to make up for a touchdown potentially that I left in the first quarter. It was tough. It was a tough one, but I'm happy we came out victorious."

Lamb finished the game with eight catches for 87 yards but conceded there were frustrations from his earlier mistakes.

"It was very frustrating. Honestly, just because I practice all week, all offseason just on focusing in on the ball, and I let that one slip away," he added.

"It was tough. Partially because, like I said, all the hard work I put in just for one play away, I let it slip."

Ezekiel Elliot's one-yard touchdown had earlier levelled the game, and Lamb – now the undisputed number one receiver in the team after Amari Cooper was traded to the Cleveland Browns – felt like his winning contribution was a breakthrough moment.

"Most definitely [it was a breakthrough moment]," Lamb said.

"I appreciate Kel [offensive coordinator Kellen Moore] for trusting in me, all the guys believing in my ability. 

"You know, it was a tough third quarter. I kept thinking about it. All the guys kept preaching to me, 'Let it go. Let it go. We still got more game left.' 

"And fourth quarter when I kept hearing my number being called I knew it was my opportunity again, so I had to step up.

"It's gonna have its ebbs and flows. It's all about being consistent. Staying positive. Everything's not going to go my way. And when it does, it's going to go big."

Stand-in quarterback Rush played in back-to-back NFL games for the first time in his career with Prescott still sidelined by a hand injury sustained in week one against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

For Rush, the focus is on the team and not any potential battle for a starting berth.

"I want to keep winning, as long as I'm in there let's keep winning," he said post-game.

"Trust each other both sides of the ball [and] we'll be alright."

Dallas Cowboys backup quarterback Cooper Rush now boasts a 3-0 record as a starter after doing enough to help his side defeat the New York Giants 23-16 on Monday night.

Rush, who is starting in the place of injured franchise star Dak Prescott, upset the Cincinnati Bengals last week in the second start of his NFL career after also defeating the Minnesota Vikings in his 2021 debut.

Against the Giants, he had another clean game, completing 21 of 31 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown, finishing with no turnovers and no sacks allowed.

With the game tied at 13-13 in the fourth quarter – after earlier touchdowns from Giants running back Saquon Barkley and Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott – Rush completed a two-yard goal-line fade to top receiver CeeDee Lamb, which he pulled down with one hand in the back corner of the endzone.

In doing so, Rush became the first quarterback since the 1970 merger to lead game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime in each of his first three starts, per ESPN.

While it was Elliott who got the rushing touchdown for the Cowboys, it was teammate Tony Pollard who was the more impressive runner on the day, finishing with 13 carries for 105 yards, while Elliott posted 15 carries for 73 yards.

Lamb was the best receiver from either team, catching eight of 12 targets for 87 yards and a touchdown, and it could have been an even bigger day if he did not drop a wide-open 50-yard pass in the first half.

Defensively, Cowboys edge rusher DeMarcus Lawrence was the star of the show with three sacks, while Pro Bowl cornerback Trevon Diggs snagged the game-sealing interception on the final drive.

Quarterback controversies don’t usually benefit anyone, but Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones would not mind if his team became embroiled in one.

With Dak Prescott currently sidelined by thumb surgery, Cooper Rush led the Cowboys to a 20-17 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday and will be the starter again Monday night against the New York Giants. Rush has won both of his career starts on final-minute drives.

Jones' hope is that Rush plays so well that it will not be completely clear cut that Prescott would get his job back when he’s healthy, which could be as soon as October 2 against the Washington Commanders.

"Of course I would. Of course. That means we’d have won," Jones said. "If he comes in there and plays as well as Prescott played, Rush? Played that well over these next games ahead? I’d walk to New York to get that."

There is precedent in Dallas for an injured quarterback to lose his job. In 2016, Prescott, then a rookie, filled in for an injured Tony Romo and led the Cowboys to a franchise-record 11-game winning streak. Romo never regained his starting job.

"Well, of course we want Dak to be here next week," Jones said. "That’s the thing. You do. But Dak and I want Rush to lead the team to a victory here and get another win and get another win. That’s the only way to look at it. Looking back when Dak was playing instead of Tony, it was game by game. It wasn’t the long look we had after two months to look back."

Regardless of how well Rush plays, the Cowboys last year signed Prescott to a four-year, $160million contract extension that includes $126m in guaranteed money. That would be a massive amount of money to pay for a backup quarterback.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones believes their surprise victory over the Cincinnati Bengals served as a tonic for the disappointment of a season opener in which they lost Dak Prescott to injury.

The Cowboys suffered a chastening home loss in Week 1 as they slumped to a 19-3 defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in which quarterback Prescott sustained a fractured thumb that required surgery.

While Prescott's initial recovery timeline was deemed to be six to eight weeks, there is optimism he could return sooner.

Rush significantly boosted Dallas' hopes of still being in a position to contend when Prescott does return, helping to drop the defending AFC champion Bengals to 0-2 on Sunday.

He threw for 235 yards and a touchdown in the Cowboys' 20-17 win, going three of four on the Cowboys' final drive to set up Brett Maher for a 50-yard field goal as time expired to seal victory.

"Anybody knows how disappointing our first loss was last week," Jones said after the game.

"We could point to the reasons why, but that's not enough. But to come out here with our same home crowd and beat a really fine young quarterback and beat a team that was playing in the Super Bowl just a few months ago, that's a big tonic for the disappointment we had.

"And we all know how tough these games are that we've got coming up, but the main thing is kudos to Cooper Rush.

"That shows me so much about him and the principle of he kept a workmanlike basis. He's done that. He's gotten better. He knows this offense as well as anybody breathing, and he stepped out there and did some great execution."

Rush's performance helped calm some nerves about the prospect of playing without Prescott for any extended period.

"When [Prescott] has strength, which I have no idea when that will be, but it will be not an issue of being concerned about re-injuring the thumb. It will be an issue of his ability to grip the ball, and you know Dak, he's beat every timeline I've ever seen or looked at," added Jones.

"So he's got a good chance to do it, but there's no question that we didn't put him on injured reserve. I want to be real clear about that – we did not put him on [IR], so he could be working during these weeks.

"He could be out there, throwing, [and] certainly involved in everything else. He couldn't have done that had we put him there.

"I certainly would look to hope that he just might be available, but I'm telling you, this performance out here today by Rush sure takes a lot of the angst out of that."

Zac Taylor is confident the Cincinnati Bengals will still be a "really good football team" once they "settle down" following another shock defeat for the reigning AFC champions.

The Bengals fell to 0-2 on Sunday as they suffered a 20-17 defeat to a Dallas Cowboys team led by quarterback Cooper Rush in the absence of the injured Dak Prescott.

After being sacked seven times by the Pittsburgh Steelers in an overtime loss in Week 1, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was brought down for six more sacks by the Dallas defense.

It is a worrying start for a Bengals team who spent significant resources remodelling an offensive line that allowed Burrow to be sacked 51 times last season.

"It's all frustrating," head coach Taylor said of the Bengals' pass protection issues. 

"We've given ourselves an opportunity to win these games against good teams, so once things settle down, I know that we're going to be a really good football team."

Praising Micah Parsons, who registered his second successive two-sack game, Taylor added of the Cowboys: "Maybe they haven't gotten the sacks against everybody you watch, but quarterbacks are just springing out of the pocket when you watch all of the tape from last season against these guys.

"They have a really stellar pass rush. They use these guys really well.

"Micah Parsons is going to be in the conversation for one of the best, if not the best pass rushers, just the way they can move him around. The way he can take advantage and bend.

"He's a real problem, and they've got real good players behind him, too. We put ourselves in some positions where they could really tee off and maximise what they're really good at. And that was frustrating early on.

"I thought we settled in better later in the game and were a lot more efficient."

Following defeats for the rest of their AFC North rivals on Sunday, the Bengals are only a game back in their division despite their winless start, which they have the chance to end next week on the road against the New York Jets.

"Every team's going to go through this, where you face a two game losing streak at some point," said Taylor. "Unfortunately for us, it's the first two games of the season. It's a long season.

"We've just got to hit the reset button, not in a negative way, but just regroup for Tuesday to get ready for the Jets this Sunday. I know our guys are going to be focused the right way. We have great leadership.

"So again, that's just what we're relaying on right now, is those guys to get focused, have a great week of practice and go to New York and find a way to win.

"I think we're going to be in great position going forward. Any time you lose, it's going to feel like, from everybody that's watching, that's the story. I get it. That's how it should be. We're going to work hard, just as we have, to go on the road and find a way to win against a good team."

Burrow, meanwhile, hailed the second-half improvement in pass protection but recognised the need for a complete game for the Bengals to get back on track.

"Second half, I thought the protections was great. They have a great rush, I would say top two or three best rushes in the league," Burrow explained. 

"They've got DeMarcus Lawrence, Micah, they do a really good job with their picks in game, too. And so, early in the game, you're going to have those, and I can do a better job of getting the ball out quickly.

"I thought, for the most part, we protected the ball well in those situations, and that was my goal this week. And then in the second half, I thought the offensive line protected great.

"We kind of warmed up in the run game, and then we're able to have some more time in the pass game, and that's what comes off of that.

"When we're able to run the ball well, they might be thinking 'run', and so then they're not so quick to get into their pass rush. So, the second half was more efficient, better for us, but just need to prolong that for the entire game."

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones believes Dak Prescott could be back on field much sooner than initially expected. 

Jones said during an interview with 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday that Prescott won't be placed on injured reserve because he could return from his broken thumb within four weeks. 

"We want him to be in consideration for playing within the next four games," Jones said  

Prescott was originally expected to be sidelined for six to eight weeks after suffering a fracture near his right thumb in the fourth quarter of Sunday's 19-3 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

If placed on IR, Prescott would have to miss a minimum of four games, however, after Monday's surgery, Jones is optimistic the 29-year-old won't be out that long. 

"We feel better about it than we did Sunday night," Jones said. 

With Jones' new timeline, Prescott could be back playing in Week 5 against the Los Angeles Rams on October 9. 

"Dak has a real chance to be back out there throwing the ball pretty quick," Jones said. 

The Cowboys host the 0-1 Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday with Cooper Rush set to start at quarterback. 

The 28-year-old Rush made his lone career start last season in Week 8 at Minnesota with Prescott nursing a calf strain and threw a winning touchdown pass to Amari Cooper in the final minute of a 20-16 victory. 

Rush threw for 325 yards in that game and was seven of 13 passing for 64 yards Sunday after Prescott got hurt. 

Prescott struggled against Tampa Bay prior to his injury, completing 14 of 29 passes for 134 yards with one interception, compiling a 47.2 passer rating – the lowest by any QB in Week 1. 

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott has undergone thumb surgery on Monday after suffering the injury in Sunday's 19-3 season-opening loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Prescott fractured his right thumb when his hand struck the helmet of Tampa Bay pass rusher Shaquille Barrett with about six minutes remaining in the game.

Cowboys team owner Jerry Jones said the injury would keep Prescott sidelined for "several weeks", while ESPN has reported he will miss "six to eight weeks as he goes through rehabilitation". That length would see him out until November 13 against the Green Bay Packers.

Prescott missed most of the 2020 season with a fractured right ankle, and the Cowboys went 4-7 in his absence with three different quarterbacks making at least one start, with veteran Andy Dalton getting the bulk of playing time.

Cooper Rush, who stepped in after Prescott's injury on Sunday, is expected to make his second career start when the Cowboys host the defending AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals next Sunday.

Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said: "The nice thing about Cooper is Cooper's been in our system, knows our system inside and out.

"We won't be in that position of trying not to do too much or vice versa. Cooper gives us the ability to keep playing [our offense]."

The 2020 NFL Draft class was largely defined by the quality and the depth of the wide receivers available, and the two crown jewels of this point have been Justin Jefferson and CeeDee Lamb. Both headed into this season as the obvious focal points of offenses hoping to provide the platform for postseason runs for two teams that were both reduced to the role of spectators by the Divisional Round last term.

However, just one week into the 2022 campaign, Jefferson and Lamb appear destined for vastly different seasons.

'It was only Week 1' serves as one of the most important caveats in the NFL. Poor results in the opening week of the season are often of no consequence to a team's fortunes come the end of the regular season.

Yet, between the performance of the Minnesota Vikings in their win over the Green Bay Packers, and the Dallas Cowboys' debacle in a primetime defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, it is tough to think of two displays from the opening week that revealed more about the respective directions of the teams in question.

Jefferson and Lamb are primed to play critical roles in what could be two of the headline stories from the 2022 season, but they are set to be tales of significant contrast.

Jefferson and O'Connell's perfect marriage

Aaron Rodgers labelled Jefferson "the best player in the game today" after his masterclass in the Vikings' 23-7 victory over the Packers.

It's unclear whether Rodgers was referring to their Week 1 encounter or declaring the wideout the top player in the NFL.

Yet Jefferson may have a compelling case for the latter should he continue to perform at the level he produced on Sunday.

Weaponised by an excellent gameplan from new head coach Kevin O'Connell, Jefferson recorded nine receptions for a career-high 184 yards and two touchdowns.

Jefferson now has 205 receptions in 34 career games, becoming the fourth-fastest player to 200 receptions. He tied Anquan Boldin and Reggie Bush (34) and is behind only Jarvis Landry (33), Michael Thomas (32) and Odell Beckham Jr. (30) on that list.

It was his fifth career game with at least 150 receiving yards and a touchdown reception, putting him tied with Randy Moss and Victor Cruz for the second-most such games by a player in his first three NFL seasons. Only Lance Allworth (six) has more.

Betting against Jefferson catching Allworth would seem a foolish move on the evidence of Week 1. His burn rate, which measures how often a receiver wins his matchup on a play where he is targeted, of 63.6 per cent was far from the best of the opening week, yet no player did more when they did beat coverage.

Indeed, Jefferson's burn yards per target average of 16.73 was the fourth-best among receivers with at least five targets, illustrating the remarkable amount of separation he was able to create against Green Bay. None of the players above him (Julio Jones, Gabe Davis and Nelson Agholor) reached three figures in receiving yards.

Jahan Dotson (64.7) and Ashton Dulin (60) were the only receivers to end Sunday with a higher big-play rate - a measure of burns of over 20 yards and burns for a touchdown - than Jefferson's 55.5 per cent. The difference being that Jefferson hugely impressive performance in that metric came across 11 targets, while Dotson and Dulin received 11 targets combined.

Jefferson's showing was the product of a marriage between a player who has quickly catapulted himself to the gold standard at his position and a play-caller who knows exactly how to use him.

Once mistakenly seen as purely a slot receiver, Jefferson was deployed all over the field by O'Connell. Jefferson lined up in the backfield, in the slot, on the outside and was sent in motion, his array of different alignments keeping him away from the Packers' best cornerback Jaire Alexander and allowing the former LSU star to wreak havoc.

The versatile skill set of a true do-it-all receiver was harnessed to perfection and, in a week dominated by overreactions, it would not be a stretch to suggest the Vikings could be a force in the postseason and Jefferson an MVP candidate like Cooper Kupp a year ago if O'Connell and Minnesota continue in this vein.

Hours after Jefferson's talents were maximised, Lamb saw his considerable skills wasted on a depressing night for Dallas.

Cowboys predictably poor

With the Cowboys having shorn themselves of wide receivers behind Lamb, at least until Michael Gallup returns from injury, there was always a danger they would become predictable in the passing game and, through no fault of their star wideout, Dallas' offense was unsurprisingly turgid in a 19-3 loss to the Buccaneers.

A Dallas offense deprived of the services of left tackle Tyron Smith struggled to contain the Tampa Bay defensive front, with Prescott's snap to release time of 2.50 seconds -- slightly quicker than the average of 2.55 for Week 1 -- more a result of the pressure he was under rather than efficient processing from one of the game's most intelligent quarterbacks.

Dallas averaged just 3.8 yards per play, with their lack of efficiency not reflective of Lamb's individual efforts.

Like Jefferson, Lamb was targeted 11 times, but he finished with just two catches for 29 yards.

His burn rate of 63.6 was also identical to that of his fellow 2020 draftee and, though Lamb did not generate the same level of separation, his average of 12 burn yards per target was a over a yard above the Week 1 average of 10.75.

But Lamb's reasonable success in getting open was rendered completely immaterial as Prescott struggled behind a line ill-prepared for the challenge in front of them.

Prescott finished with 7.36 air yards per attempt, below the average of 7.75 for the week. Throwing short is not always an indicator of a poor performance -- Josh Allen averaged 7.26 air yards in Thursday's opener -- however, 96.8 per cent of Allen's passes well thrown compared to 78.6 for Prescott, who threw three pickable passes on 28 attempts compared to one on 31 throws for Allen.

Hurried and inaccurate, Prescott was never allowed to be the quarterback he is when at his best, one capable of forming a devastating connection with Lamb, who amassed 2,037 receiving yards over his first two seasons in the NFL.

And, when Prescott was then forced to leave the game with a thumb injury that will keep him out for six to eight weeks, Lamb's hopes of joining Jefferson in the NFL's elite at receiver this season went with him.

The Cowboys will now turn to backup Cooper Rush and most will expect Dallas' playoff hopes to quickly dwindle. Given the downgrade at quarterback, Lamb seems likely to consistently cut a bereft figure in what many thought would be a breakout campaign for the Cowboys' WR1.

These two marquee matchups helped produce a story of two disparate teams. One in Minnesota, underrated and blessed with a coach schooled in the league's pre-eminent offense who can put Jefferson in position to further his status as one of the most dangerous weapons in the game. The other, the Cowboys, overhyped and short of the talent or the diversity of thought to get the ball to their extremely gifted wideout.

Week 1 provided plenty of hope 2022 can be the year the Vikings earn the on-field success to match Jefferson's consistent brilliance, but it appears destined to be a season of frustration for Lamb and a thoroughly uninspiring Cowboys team.

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott will be sidelined indefinitely after fracturing his right thumb during Sunday night’s 19-3 season-opening loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, team owner Jerry Jones announced following the game.

Jones said Prescott’s injury would require surgery and will keep the star quarterback out for "several weeks" when speaking to reporters afterward. Prescott said he would undergo the procedure Monday while wearing a brace on his right hand during his postgame press conference.

"I was told it was much cleaner than it could have been," Prescott said.

Prescott sustained the injury when his hand struck the helmet of Tampa Bay pass rusher Shaquille Barrett with about six minutes remaining in the game. Cooper Rush replaced the two-time Pro Bowl selection for the rest of the contest.

The seventh-year veteran struggled prior to departing, completing just 14 of 29 passes for 134 yards and an interception.

Dallas, who played without one of its top receivers in Michael Gallup, and traded wideout Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns in the offseason, managed only 244 total yards and finished 3-of-15 on third-down attempts.

After missing most of the 2020 season with a fractured right ankle, Prescott bounced back with an outstanding 2021 campaign in which he threw for 4449 yards and a career-high 37 touchdown passes in leading the Cowboys to a 12-5 record and an NFC East title. Dallas signed the 29-year-old to a four-year, $160million extension in March.

"It’s not the worst thing that has happened to me," Prescott said of this injury. "It’s just a bump in the road, and I will keep moving forward."

The Cowboys went 4-7 in Prescott’s absence in 2020 with three different quarterbacks making at least one start, with veteran Andy Dalton getting the bulk of playing time.

Rush is expected to make his second career start when the Cowboys host the defending AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals next Sunday. The former undrafted free agent helped Dallas to a 20-16 win at Minnesota in Week 8 of last season by throwing for 325 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

The Dallas Cowboys had no answer for the swarming Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense in the first Sunday night football matchup of the season, going down 19-3.

In a low-scoring contest, the only scores in the first half came from field goals, with Tampa Bay's Ryan Succop hitting four-of-five tries while the Cowboys only made it into field goal range once, with their first drive.

After their initial field goal to open the game, the Cowboys had nine more offensive drives in the game. They resulted in five punts, three turnovers-on-downs and one interception.

The only touchdown in the game came on a spectacular one-hand snag from Mike Evans on a five-yard goal-line fade in the endzone late in the third quarter, which would be the last score of any kind in the game.

It was far from Tom Brady's best performance, but the 45-year-old was more than serviceable, completing 18-of-27 passes for 212 yards with one touchdown and one interception.

Evans was his top receiver, catching five of his seven targets for 71 yards and a touchdown, while Julio Jones had an impressive debut with his new team, catching three of his five targets – including a 48-yard bomb down the sideline – for 69 yards.

In his return from a torn ACL, Tampa Bay's other elite receiver Chris Godwin left the game after suffering a hamstring injury in the second quarter.

Leonard Fournette was excellent running the ball for the Bucs, tallying 127 yards from his 21 carries while also adding two catches for 10 yards.

For the Cowboys, Noah Brown (five catches for 68 yards) and Dalton Schultz (seven catches for 62 yards) were the only players to have more than Ceedee Lamb's 29 receiving yards, while Ezekiel Elliot led the way on the ground with 52 rushing yards from 10 carries.

Things went from bad-to-worse late in the fourth quarter when Cowboys franchise quarterback Dak Prescott was hit awkwardly on the hand as he released a throw, leaving the game with three minutes to play and not returning.

Speaking after the game, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones confirmed Prescott will need surgery on his hand and will miss multiple weeks.

The first week of the 2022 NFL season is here, with all the possibilities a new campaign brings.

Things kicked off on Thursday with the Buffalo Bills beating the Los Angeles Rams 31-10 thanks to a starring role from quarterback Josh Allen, who threw three touchdowns against the defending champions.

There are even more enticing games to look forward to over the weekend, with last season's Super Bowl runners up the Cincinnati Bengals hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers, Patrick Mahomes and the much-fancied Kansas City Chiefs facing Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals, and it will be Aaron Rodgers v Kirk Cousins as the Green Bay Packers go to the Minnesota Vikings.

Stats Perform dives head first into Opta data to preview those games and more of the opening weekend of NFL action.

Pittsburgh Steelers @ Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals have won their last three games against the Steelers (27-17 in December 2020, 24-10 and 41-10 last season). It is the Bengals' longest winning streak versus the Steelers since they won six consecutive games from 1988 through 1990.

Mitch Trubisky will be the first quarterback other than Ben Roethlisberger to start a season opener for the Steelers since Dennis Dixon in 2010 (Roethlisberger was suspended). Trubisky is 1-2 in season openers, losing to the Packers twice and beating the Detroit Lions (all when he was with the Chicago Bears).

The Bengals played a league-high seven games decided by exactly three points during the 2021 regular season (won three, lost four), the highest single-season total by an NFL team since the 2012 Steelers (seven). Three of Cincinnati's four postseason games were also decided by exactly three points, including the 23-20 Super Bowl loss to the Rams.

Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow completed 67 of 85 passes for 971 yards, eight touchdowns and no interceptions over his final two games in the 2021 regular season (Week 16 against the Ravens, Week 17 against the Chiefs). Burrow's passing yardage is the second-highest two-game total by one player in NFL history, trailing only Dak Prescott's 974 passing yards over a two-game span in 2020.

Kansas City Chiefs @ Arizona Cardinals

The Chiefs have won their division in six consecutive seasons, which is three more than the next longest active streak (Green Bay). Only two teams in NFL history have had longer streaks (New England - 11, 2009-2019 and LA Rams - seven, 1973-1979).

Patrick Mahomes has won 50 of his 63 career starts as Kansas City's quarterback. The only QB in the Super Bowl era to reach 50 wins in fewer career starts than Mahomes was Kenny Stabler, who earned his 50th win in his 62nd start.

Arizona scored 30 or more points in nine different games in 2022, tied for the most in a single season in team history. Since a 56-14 win over the Vikings in Week 4 of 1963, the Cardinals have gone 903 games without scoring 50 points, which is the longest streak in NFL history (Broncos, 761 straight games from 1963-2013).

Cardinals QB Kyler Murray will not want to be upstaged by Mahomes, and is the only player in NFL history to have at least 70 passing touchdowns and 20 rushing touchdowns in the first three seasons of his NFL career.

Green Bay Packers @ Minnesota Vikings

In their 22 road games against the Vikings this century, Green Bay has scored 30 or more points in 10 of them. That is tied for most 30-point games by an NFL team at a single opponent in that time with the Patriots at the Bills.

No NFL head coach has won more games over his first three NFL seasons than Matt LaFleur (39; George Seifert had 38). A win Sunday would make LaFleur the third coach in NFL history with 40 wins through 50 career games as head coach, joining Paul Brown (41) and Chuck Knox (40).

Kirk Cousins has thrown for at least 3500 yards and 25 TDs in seven consecutive seasons, the longest active streak in the NFL. He is the fifth QB in NFL history to have more than five straight, joining Peyton Manning, Drew Brees, Philip Rivers and Tom Brady.

Since becoming Green Bay's starter in 2008, Aaron Rodgers has thrown 169 TDs against division opponents, compared to 25 interceptions. The Vikings have a total of 121 passing touchdowns and 73 interceptions against the NFC North in that span.

Elsewhere...

When Carolina host Cleveland, with Baker Mayfield starting for the Panthers and Myles Garrett starting for the Browns, they will become the second pair of number one overall draft picks for the same team to go on to play against one another. The others were Jeff George and Steve Emtman in 1995.

The Eagles head to the Lions, with no team targeting their receivers less frequently than Philadelphia last season (239 targets), which led to the acquisition of A.J. Brown. The fourth-year WR has scored a TD on 13.0 percent of his career catches, third-highest rate among active players (min. 150 receptions).

The New Orleans Saints will need to beware of Foye Oluokun, who led the NFL last season with 192 total tackles, becoming the first Atlanta Falcon to lead the league in that category since Jessie Tuggle in 1995 (152). Oluokun's 192 total tackles were the most in a season by an NFL player since Chris Spielman had 195 in 1994 for the Lions.

Tom Brady is back for Tampa Bay Buccaneers after a very brief retirement as they travel to the Dallas Cowboys. The 45-year-old's last two seasons mark the first time in NFL history a QB has had 40 or more TD passes and a passer rating of 100.0 or better in back-to-back seasons.

The idea of "any given Sunday" is what makes the NFL so compelling.

Any one team can beat another, and that means at this stage of the season, with the first snap still to be taken, every team can have Super Bowl aspirations.

Sort of.

The Cincinnati Bengals, for example, may have been slightly surprising contenders in 2021, but there remain some teams whose title hopes are so remote as to be non-existent.

For some, this is because they have missed their shot at glory in recent years; for others, the plan is to challenge in seasons to come.

So, this leads us to draw up a preseason tier system, ranking all 32 teams by their Super Bowl windows with the help of Stats Perform AI predictions...

Nowhere near

This is unlikely to be a season to remember for the teams grouped in this category, for a variety of reasons.

The Houston Texans won the AFC South in 2018 and 2019, but the Deshaun Watson saga and two down years have them looking at a rebuild, with the data forecasting just 4.8 wins this year. That at least ranks them ahead of the Atlanta Falcons (3.6 projected wins) and the New York Giants (4.2), while the Texans did gain draft assets in the Watson trade.

The Chicago Bears are the fourth and final team projected to earn fewer than six wins (4.9), with second-year quarterback Justin Fields receiving little help on offense and playing behind an offensive line ranked 31st in pass protection.

Meanwhile, the Washington Commanders rank 31st in terms of skill players – better only than the Falcons – with faith in Carson Wentz long since having diminished. In Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold, the Carolina Panthers have two high-draft-pick QBs unlikely to trouble the postseason. The New York Jets are in a similar boat, even if Zach Wilson is still young.

The Detroit Lions might argue they do not deserve to keep such company after a 3-3 finish to last season, but nobody could seriously argue they are title contenders.

Entering contention

If that first group was a mixed bag, so too is the second.

Anyone who has paid any attention to the New England Patriots' preseason would suggest they are very fortunate to be given any hope of success in the near future, but they finished with 10 wins in 2021 – even if that number is projected to shrink to 7.7. Despite a trade for Tyreek Hill, that still ranks the Patriots comfortably ahead of the Miami Dolphins (7.0), although the losing team in their Week 1 meeting will face a long slog of a season.

At the other end of the spectrum, the Philadelphia Eagles are forecast to have 11.9 wins – the second-most in the NFL – after a very strong offseason. But Jalen Hurts, for now, is unproven in the postseason, so Philly fans may have to stay patient.

The San Francisco 49ers are even younger at QB after promoting Trey Lance to a starting role, which explains why the prediction model looks so unfavourably on a team many consider contenders right now. Just 7.1 projected wins speaks to the potentially low floor Lance brings.

NFC West rivals the Arizona Cardinals have to be considered among this group of future hopefuls, with Kyler Murray hugely talented and now committed long term but frustratingly inconsistent, while the Jacksonville Jaguars will hope Trevor Lawrence can follow in the footsteps of the Bengals' Joe Burrow – the number one pick the year before him.

The Los Angeles Chargers, with 9.8 projected wins, have Justin Herbert to lead their charge, while the Cleveland Browns might have been contenders already if not for Watson's suspension, which is enough to limit them to a still strong 9.3-win forecast.

In their prime

The Chargers may have Herbert, but they also have three division rivals who intend to win and intend to win now. Indeed, all four AFC West teams rank in the top half of the league in terms of projected wins, with the Chargers second – behind the Kansas City Chiefs (11.5) and just ahead of the Denver Broncos (9.7) and the Las Vegas Raiders (9.2).

The Chiefs lead the AFC in this regard, although their playoff win over the Buffalo Bills last season came down to a coin flip, and the two are set to be similarly tough to separate this year. Buffalo are down for 11.1 wins.

The two teams coming off a Super Bowl run are of course prominent among the contenders, even if the model has far greater optimism for a Los Angeles Rams repeat than for another Bengals charge. The Rams are backed for a league-leading 12.4 wins and given a 15.3 per cent shot at defending their title, while the Bengals are actually projected to dip below .500 with 8.2 wins.

The Bengals' route to the Super Bowl will be complicated not just by the AFC West and the Bills but also by any return to form for the fit-again Lamar Jackson's Baltimore Ravens, who are counted among nine teams on course for 10 or more wins (10.4).

Also in that group are NFC pair the Dallas Cowboys (11.0) and the Minnesota Vikings (10.9), who may not even be the best teams in their divisions but might be nearing a point when they must seriously challenge or start again, which brings us to...

Last chance saloon

As long as Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers are the QBs for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Green Bay Packers, those teams are in with a chance. The question is how long that will remain the case.

Brady is 45, briefly retired this offseason and then missed a chunk of the preseason. Rodgers is 38, has repeatedly been linked with a move away from Green Bay and lost top target Davante Adams ahead of the new season. Still, the Buccaneers rank eighth for projected wins (10.7), with the Packers up in third (11.5).

They are not the only ageing teams in the NFL, however.

The Indianapolis Colts hope they have upgraded in moving from Wentz to Matt Ryan, yet the former MVP is now 37 and last played in the postseason in 2017 – when Wentz's Eagles took the title.

Tennessee Titans QB Ryan Tannehill is a little younger at 34, but of greater concern would be Derrick Henry's durability after the injury that limited to eight games last regular season. The Titans need to make the most of any seasons they have left of the superstar running back going at full tilt.

Missed their chance

Russell Wilson, Ben Roethlisberger and Drew Brees won Super Bowls with the Seattle Seahawks, the Pittsburgh Steelers and the New Orleans Saints respectively, but with all three having now moved on, it is difficult to see those teams plotting a path to the title.

For the Seahawks and the Steelers, this will be their first year without their stalwart QBs, even if things had already gone stale in 2021. Wilson dipped below the .500 mark for a season for the first time in his career, while Pittsburgh were attempting to stay competitive in spite of Roethlisberger rather than because of him.

Still, with both gone – Wilson to Denver and Roethlisberger to retirement – there is a void under center that has not been suitably filled. Seattle also rank 32nd in pass protection, likely leaving Geno Smith hopelessly exposed.

The Saints have had another 12 months to come to terms with Brees' exit, albeit they spent it juggling Jameis Winston, Trevor Siemian and Taysom Hill at QB. Winston's season-ending injury doomed the Saints' hopes of contention last year, and New Orleans' outlook for 9.5 wins with the entertaining but erratic former number one pick is at least far more positive than that of the Seahawks (6.2) or the Steelers (7.0).

Regardless, each of these three teams have provided an example in how not to do succession planning. They all could have won additional honours with their departed veterans and now face long waits for further title tilts.

Geno Smith has been named as the Seattle Seahawks' starting quarterback for their NFL opener against the Denver Broncos after seeing off competition from Drew Lock.

Smith started the Seahawks' 27-26 preseason loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Friday, with Lock subsequently coming in to throw one touchdown pass and three interceptions.

Former New York Jets passer Smith, who moved to Seattle in 2019 after also featuring for the New York Giants and Los Angeles Chargers, looked likely to get the nod after a bout of COVID-19 forced Lock to sit out their second outing of preseason, a 27-11 defeat to the Chicago Bears.

Head coach Pete Carroll confirmed his decision after the loss to Dallas, declaring: "Geno's going to start.

"He's going to start the opener, and he's earned it, he's won the job. With the time frames that got messed up for Drew, he just ran out of time."

Smith, 31, has started all three of Seattle's preseason outings, and said: "Obviously I'm thankful for the opportunity and grateful, but I have a lot of work ahead of me, that was my mindset from the start.

"I'm just getting ready to get out there and win games, and this is just step one in that process. None of this will matter if we don't get out and win the games we're supposed to win." 

The Seahawks' season-opening clash with Denver will see them face their former star quarterback Russell Wilson, whose trade took Lock to Seattle earlier this year. 

Tyron Smith will be out indefinitely after the star left tackle suffered a torn left hamstring during Dallas Cowboys practice, according to reports.

Smith, an eight-time Pro Bowler, sustained the injury when he went to make a block on linebacker Leighton Vander Esch on Wednesday.

Initial scans have revealed Smith does not have an anterior cruciate ligament issue, which had been feared at first, though ESPN now claim that he suffered a hamstring tear that could leave him facing months, rather than weeks, out of action.

Smith will undergo more tests on Thursday, though seems likely to miss the Cowboy's season opener against Tom Brady's Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Team-mate Connor McGoven spoke to Smith after practice.

"He gave me a nice reassuring grunt like he usually does," McGovern quipped. "That's the one thing playing next to him for so long, I can decipher his grunts. I think he's all right."

Smith's deal with the Cowboys runs through 2023, though the 31-year-old has not managed to play a full season since 2015.

Knee, ankle, neck and elbow injuries have plagued the last six seasons, while he also contracted COVID-19 last year.