ESPN's Week 4 buzz column, published Sept. 30, puts Justin Herbert and Drake Maye on the quarterback panic meter, raises the possibility of more quarterback trades, and flags growing injury concerns for the 49ers and Panthers.
Buried under all of it: the 3-0 Raiders, and the reason for that record isn't the one the offseason sold.
Kirk Cousins is the engine. His passing line reads 22-of-33 for 248 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions, a 119.3 passer rating. Brock Bowers caught 10 of 13 targets for 116 yards and a score. That is a functioning passing offense doing the lifting.
The run game is not helping. Ashton Jeanty carried 19 times for 56 yards, a 2.9-yard average. Mike Washington Jr. needed five carries to gain 54 and score, a 10.8-yard average. When the No. 2 back more than triples the starter's per-carry efficiency, that's not small-sample noise. It's the shape of the offense.
Everyone wants to litigate whether Herbert and Maye are broken. Fine. That debate has a season to run. The Week 4 item with a clock on it is in Las Vegas, where a 3-0 team is winning on Cousins' arm and Bowers' catches while its featured back grinds out under three yards a pop.
That's a record propped up by the part of the roster that ages fastest. The panic meter is pointed at the wrong zip code.
