The Rich Top 5: NFL Week 4’s Most Intriguing Matchups

Every Friday, Rich ranks the five remaining games he is most excited to watch. Week 4's list has a desperate Texans team, a 3-0 showdown in Las Vegas, a rematch with real history in Philadelphia, a coaching chess match in San Francisco, and one bonus game that set off an argument in the studio.

Number five is Cowboys at Texans, and Rich sees it as a near must-win for Houston. "Kind of feel like this is the end of the line here for the Texans already," he said. Houston went winless in September, sits behind a 2-1 Jaguars team, and has a rough road ahead: a trip to Tennessee, then London to face a Jacksonville team that will have already been there for a week. Rich's path out of the hole starts now, against a Dallas defense that "gives up a ton of points and just did it again in a different hemisphere." Win this one, win in Tennessee, and the Texans could fly back from London at .500 "under their own excitement, not just the jet fuel." Chris had the injury update on Nico Collins: trending toward playing. Rich said Houston needs him, because the offense "has not done very much without him."

At number four, it's Jaguars at Bengals. Jacksonville is the only team in the AFC South above .500, and Cincinnati is coming home off its first loss of the season. Rich called them "two stout teams that are all-around good," and flagged the long view. If either ends up "wild card needy" later in the season, this game becomes "one of those back pocket tie breaks for both of them."

Slotted third: Chiefs at Raiders. Normally, Rich said, a 3-0 versus 3-0 game would sit higher on the list, so landing in the middle is its own statement. He pointed back to Sean McDermott, who called it a buy-in game on the show earlier, the kind of win that can spread belief through the building, the city and the fan base. Rich imagined the Chiefs' view of it: "Nice three and oh start you got there." The studio finished the thought. "That was cute." There's a league, Rich said, "but there's different leagues within this National Football League and you're not in ours just yet." Levels to this.

Rams at Eagles comes in at number two. Philadelphia is 2-1 after a loss to the Chicago Bears that has the whole city with "their collective football hair on fire." The Rams arrive 1-2 after a tough loss in Denver, and Rich called them "the best one and two team in the sport," a team he would not quit on even at 1-3. The history adds weight. A couple of years ago, Saquon ran all over the Rams on Sunday Night Football, and then the Rams went all the way across the country, played in a snowstorm, and could not block Jalen Carter at the most crucial time. Now they get another crack, with Puka expected to play. "Can the Rams get back to .500? Make the Eagles .500," Rich said.

Topping the list is Broncos at 49ers. The appeal for Rich is on the sidelines and in the headsets: Kyle Shanahan versus Vance Joseph, and Raheem Morris trying to match wits with Davis Webb. Then there is the question of how often Sean Payton gets in his play caller's ear. Rich had Payton on earlier in the week and asked for his inner monologue, and Rich came away thinking Payton is "staying out of it while staying in it the best that a head coach should." That's the top matchup of Week 4.

Then came the bonus. The studio pushed for one more, and Rich obliged with Patriots at Bills, while one voice in the room insisted there was no reason to put it on the list. "It's going to be gross," came the prediction. No Christian Gonzalez. No Christian Barmore. Drake Maye in the training room all week.

The other side of the room was not buying the doom. It is October 4th, and AFC East chances are on the line. "Let's see Drake Maye show up and say nobody believes in us," came the reply. A win, someone in the room argued, would be the win of his career. The counter was that his best win to date is still the AFC Championship game. The response: "This game's more important," because "everyone thinks he sucks."

As the room framed the stakes, New England is either four quarters away from a .500 record or four quarters away from a 1-3 hole. And even then, as one last voice added, it is "still not the end of it."