"The Charbor Chronicles"

Below is my review of the games from NFL 2026 week 4:

Indianapolis 30, Washington 13 in London, UK - Both of these teams have been difficult to measure to this point in the season. I keep thinking that Washington is better than their record. Then they show up and play the way that they did in this game, and it puzzles me. But credit the Colts for playing very well and earning a solid win on the road in a transatlantic game. It was their second straight win, as they improve to 2-2. Meanwhile, Washington falls to 1-3 and currently in sole possession of last place in the NFC East. My pick: Inaccurate

NY Giants 36, Arizona 24- A throwback game in more ways than one. The Giants wore their old uniforms from the 1980's, when I first became a fan. And they played the Cardinals, which used to be a division rivalry. This wound up being quite a suspenseful game. Despite the score suggesting that the G-Men won by two possessions, it actually came down to the final play of the game, which wound up being a pick six by the Big Blue defense. It was the first time in franchise history that a game ended with the Giants getting a pick six. Also, it lifted the G-Men to a win and a 3-1 start. For the first time in over a decade, the Giants are in sole possession of first place in the NFC East, which feels good for Giants fans like me. What a win! Not sure what is going to happen the rest of the way. But it sure feels nice to see the Giants in first place - or anywhere but last place, frankly - and relevant in the NFC East well into October.. My pick: Accurate

New England 29, Buffalo 26 - The Bills are frustrating sometimes. It seemed that they should have had this game, which effectively would have handed them the division title after only four games. Seriously, the Jets and Dolphins are both well behind and not really good enough to mount any kind of serious challenge. And a win against the Pats would have given the Bills a three game lead over their toughest rivals. Instead, New England did just enough to escape with a win in a game that it seemed Buffalo had, until very late. Whatever the Pats have over Buffalo, the Bills have to find a way past it. These are the kinds of losses that can haunt the Bills later on, come playoff time. My pick: Inaccurate

Chicago 23, NY Jets 12 - The good news for the Jets? Finally, Gang Green got an interception, which they went all last year without obtaining. The bad news? They still lost, and convincingly at that. The offense did not really show up, and the defense was unable to stop or even slow down Da Bears, even when it was not a full strength. My pick: Accurate

Jacksonville 22, Cincinnati 17 - Some teams are tough to make out or make predictions for. But nobody is more challenging to figure out or make predictions for then the Bengals. Seriously, it's like they make an art form out of it. Granted, when Joe Burrow is not in the lineup, they are quite predictable, because they consistently lose. But even when he is there, they seem both to win games that surprise you, and then lose some games that really make you scratch your head. Cincy now has had two such losses in a row. My pick: Inaccurate

Dallas 34, Houston 30 - In the battle of Texas. it was the Cowboys who came up with the goods. And while I did not exactly expect the Texans, with that elite defense, to be undefeated by this point, the 0-4 start is now truly shocking. It really feels like there is a major problem, in that other teams keep imposing their will on Houston at the most critical points in games. They show that they are (or should be) a good team. Yet they keep losing. Meanwhile, the 'Boys win to keep up with Philly for second and to keep one behind the Giants, who for now are in first place in the NFC East. My pick: Inaccurate

LA Rams 24, Philadelphia 20 - While I expected the Rams to win, this was more impressive than I had expected it to be. They had to battle back from behind to pull off a win on the road against a likely playoff team. Down by 10 in the third quarter, it seemed like Philly might pull this one off. But to their credit, the Rams offense found life when they most needed it, and the Rams did just enough to pull off a win. Both teams walk away from this one with 2-2 records. My pick: Accurate

Baltimore 24, Tennessee 18 - No disrespect to the Titans, but I had assumed that this game would be a good opportunity for the Ravens to get a blowout win. You know, win convincingly and make themselves feel good, progress being made. Instead, they ran out to a big lead and then held on for dear life. Credit the Titans for playing tough, although the loss now drops them to 0-4 on the year. As for the Ravens, they improve to 3-1 on the season, tied with Cleveland atop the AFC North standings. My pick: Accurate

Green Bay 17, Tampa Bay 14 - I do not think all that highly of the Bucs. Yet, they managed even to exceed my own low expectations of them. This was a team that, until midseason last year, seemed to own the NFC South. A team that figured to at least contend for the playoffs and/or a division title again this season. But they are playing so miserably, it's almost shocking. They had a vulnerable Packers team who are going through some real issues of their own to this point, and should have won. Instead? They find a way to lose and now fall to 0-4. Of course, the NFC South is so bad that even then, they are not out of it yet. But they simply look miserable to this point in the season. As for the Packers, a solid road win to improve to 2-2, despite looking worse than that. My pick: Inaccurate

Minnesota 15, Miami 10 - Like with the Ravens, I had assumed that this game would offer the Vikings a chance at a blowout win, finally. Playing at home against a weak, winless team? Come on, you have to do better than that, right? But still, at least the Vikings win to remain undefeated, improving to 4-0 on the year. The Fins, meanwhile, fall to 0-4 and are still searching for their first win of the season. My pick: Accurate

Kansas City 30, Las Vegas 27 - The Chiefs, rather predictably, defeated the Raiders in this battle of unbeatens. Yet, the Raiders were tough and looked at points like they might have a real shot at winning. I almost earned more respect for them after this loss than with the three wins (almost), because I figured that the Chiefs might really expose their weaknesses. But that did not happen. Still, KC wins to improve to 4-0, while the Raiders suffer their first loss and fall to 3-1. My pick: Accurate

San Francisco 24, Denver 14 - The 49ers just keep rolling. They beat a quality Broncos team which almost reached the Super Bowl last season and figured to be serious contenders this year, as well. San Francisco has looked very efficient and are looking like a very serious contender, possibly even seemingly the best team in the league at the moment. We will see. But the Broncos, meanwhile, fall to 2-2 in a surprising AFC West where the two last place teams last year now are the top two teams in the division so far this season. Denver has to find ways to win to keep up with the Raiders and especially the Chiefs. My pick: Accurate

Seattle 30, LA Chargers 23 - Seattle won this game pretty much the way they were expected to. Their defense was tough when they had to be, and their offense moved the ball and scored when they needed to. No surprises there. The real surprise - borderline shock, even - is that the Chargers have now started this season 0-4. They will enter mid-October still searching for their first win of the season. This is head coach Jim Harbaugh's worst start either in the NFL or in college, and by far. They will win some games eventually, but few teams in league history have ever recovered from such a poor start to reach the playoffs. Frankly, it feels doubtful that the Chargers are good enough to do that, based on what we have seen so far (not to mention how tough their division is). My pick: Accurate

Sunday Night Football: Carolina 32, Detroit 26 - When the Lions were knocking on the door of being an elite team and reaching the Super Bowl, my assumption was that they would stay at that level for a bit longer. Frankly, though, this team simply does not look like a serious contender in the past couple of seasons. I had assumed, perhaps wrongly, that they were the better ball club for this game. Man, they sure didn't play like it. The offense looked flat until too late, and the defense looked downright suspect far too often. If they hope to recover and be serious contenders, they really need to fix some of those gaping holes that look like they will sink their ship this season before it really gets anywhere.. My pick: Inaccurate

Monday Night Football: Atlanta 45, New Orleans 24 - Boy, I really got this one wrong, didn't I? My assumption was that the Falcons may have impressive moments, as they did the week before against Green Bay. However, I just did not think that they can sustain that for a season. In fact, I still have some doubts about that. Nonetheless, there is no denying that they dominated the Saints in the Big Easy last night. It was their second straight win, and they won both nationally televised game convincingly and on the road to boot. Impressive! My pick: Inaccurate

So yeah, I really did not get much of an opportunity to see the Knicks back in June during the championship parade after winning the first NBA title in franchise history in 53 years.

That made me determined to go to at least one Knicks game this year, especially preseason. Much like with the NFL, the tickets often are more readily available and much more affordable. That was the case this time around, and so I got to see almost all of the big players who contributed to the championship run, except for one who got traded to Boston.

Pretty much all of the Knicks players not only were in the building, but played, at least the first half. So I saw the starting lineup of Jalen Brunson, OG Anunoby, Josh Hart, Mikal Bridges, and Karl-Anthony Towns. Also, some other notable guys who were instrumental in the championship drive, including Landry Shamet, Miles McBride, and Jordan Clarkson.

For the 76ers, I saw another NBA champion, Jaylen Brown, who of course won the NBA title with the Boston Celtics a few years back. VJ Edgecomb played as well, as did Dean Wade, Ariel Hukporti, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. LeBron James was in the building, but he was sitting on the bench. I saw him, but it was not as exciting as when I actually saw him play back in 2012, when he was with the Miami Heat (who would go on to win the NBA title later that year).

Most of the game was relatively even while I was there, although the Sixers began to distance themselves from the Knicks late in the half. In the second half, they completely took over the game, winning this one, 120-97.

Still, this was the first time that the Knicks stepped on the hardcourt since they clinched that elusive title in Game 5 of the NBA Championship in June. In other words, this was the first time that they stepped onto the court as defending champions, even if this was a preseason contest.

It was enjoyable, and the first NBA game I had attended since way back in 2016, which also featured the Philadelphia 76ers, who were hosting the Golden State Warriors during that 73-win season. Remember that? It was over a decade ago.

A fun night. Here are some pictures: