How Badgers fared in the NFL during Week 4

It was a rough weekend for the rookies and second-year Badgers in the NFL (mostly due to injuries), but the veterans did a nice job once again and seem to be building off of their Week 3 performances.

J.J. Watt forced two fumbles, Melvin Gordon and James White each racked up over 100 yards of offense, and Russell Wilson is the all-time winningest Seahawks QB.

Oh, and don’t forget about Joe Schobert, who has tapped into a pipeline of tackling fuel and is in the middle of another great season.

Here is a further breakdown of everything you need to know about Badgers in the fourth week of the NFL season.

Rookies

• Leon Jacobs (Jaguars): Jacobs continues to play sparingly, perhaps because of a nagging injury.
• Nick Nelson (Raiders): Nelson is still fighting a hamstring injury, and he didn’t play in the Raiders’ 45–42 overtime win over the Browns. Too bad I bet the under on that game.
• Jack Cichy (Buccaneers): Cichy is the last man standing of the rookie group and he’s the only one who did anything this weekend, earning one tackle on the wrong side of a 48–10 loss to the Bears.
• Natrell Jamerson (Texans): He’s still on the roster, but he didn’t play in a 37–34 win over the Colts.
• Troy Fumagalli (Broncos): On IR.

Sophomores

• T.J. Watt (Steelers): Watt earned four tackles in a 26–14 loss to the Ravens. His production has dropped off quite a bit from his stellar performance in the Steelers’ season-opening tie with the Browns.

He’s also starting to get some flack for having a limited repertoire of pass-rush skills.

• Corey Clement (Eagles): Clement needed a week off to nurse a quad injury. The Eagles could have used him; they lost to the Titans 26–23.
• Vince Biegel (Saints): Biegel tackled someone! Here’s hoping that the Saints are a better fit for him.

Veterans

• Joe Schobert (Browns): Schobert is on his way for yet another Pro Bowl. He recorded 14 tackles including a sack, bumping his season tackle total to 37. He’s one of those players who deserves more credit than he gets.
• Melvin Gordon (Chargers): We are going to ignore Gordon’s fumble here for a second. Melvin is back—he rushed for 104 yards on only 15 attempts, and he caught seven passes for 55 yards and a touchdown.

He was impossible to bring down in the Chargers’ 29–27 win over the Niners.

From Ricky Henne at Chargers.com:

Gordon didn’t have 100 missed tackles on Sunday. It only felt that way. The fourth-year running back really has taken his game to new heights, emerging as a truly special player . . . Yet more impressive than the stats was the way Gordon ran roughshod over the 49ers defense. He simply refused to go down, infusing life into the entire team when they needed it the most.

• James White (Patriots): White made a bigger contribution in the passing game, which was a big factor in the Patriots’ critical 38–7 win over the Dolphins. White caught eight passes for 68 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 44 yards and another touchdown on only eight carries.

Sixteen touches, 112 yards, and two touchdowns? Nice job, James!

• Russell Wilson (Seahawks): Who cares if he only threw for 172 yards in a 20–17 win over the Cardinals. Wilson is starting to turn the Seahawks around behind a terrible offensive line. He also is the winningest QB in Seahawks history.

• Alex Erickson (Bengals): Pop the champagne! Erickson had a catch for eight yards in the Bengals’ 37–36 win over the Falcons. Erickson is earning some playing time again, and perhaps is inching his way toward being a bigger contributor once again. He was on the field for almost half of the Bengals’ offensive plays.

• Lance Kendricks (Packers): He’s the opposite of Erickson, as Kendricks is occupying a smaller and smaller proportion of the Green Bay offense. He had one catch for five yards in the Packers’ 22–0 win over the Bills.
• J.J. Watt (Texans): We have to save the best for last, right? Watt recorded a pair of sacks, two forced fumbles, and four total tackles in the Texans’ 37–34 win over the Colts.

Oh, and his great-grandma turned 101?? Imagine how many career sacks Watt will have if he plays in the NFL 72 more years. That is, if sacks are not banned by 2090.