Four weeks into the 2026 NFL season and the chaos is fully locked in. Three teams are still undefeated. Four teams are sitting at zero and four. The Falcons are casually destroying people in New Orleans on Monday Night Football. And somewhere in Tampa Bay, Beth and Dezi were watching it all unfold from an outdoor bar in the kind of heat that makes Midwest Packers fans deeply regret their outfit choices.
Laura, who would have turned into a lobster within eleven minutes of being outside, watched from Asheville. She sends her regrets. And her sunscreen.
Beer Month Is Here: Thirsty for Football Goes to Oktoberfest
Before we dive into the football chaos, October means one thing for Thirsty for Football: beer month.
The girlfriends were lucky enough to meet Justin, better known as Buddy the Brewer, at the Packers-Buccaneers game in Tampa. He is the head brewer at Sun Creek Brewery in Claremont, Florida, and he came on the show to break down everything you need to know about Oktoberfest beers, because apparently Oktoberfest is in September, which confuses everyone, which is also kind of the point.
The Cliff Notes version: Oktoberfest originated as a royal wedding in Bavaria, eventually became a massive global festival, and only five or six breweries actually in Munich are allowed to pour beer there. The two styles you will encounter are the Märzen, an amber lager with bready malt notes and a punch that can put you under the table faster than you might expect, and the Festbier, a lower-alcohol version invented specifically so people could drink all day without losing their seats. Because if you leave your table at Oktoberfest, you are not getting it back. Those are the rules.
Buddy's brewery won gold in the state of Florida for his Hefeweizen, which then went on to win best of show over 258 other beers. He showed up to the awards ceremony having already struck out three times in other categories, told himself he drove to Tampa for nothing, and then walked out with a trophy. A very good night.
Sun Creek Brewery is in Claremont, Florida, distributes around Central Florida and North Florida, and you can find them at ABC Liquor and Total Wine. Their Champions Lager is the football-watching beer of choice, their Deutschland Pearl Märzen is a consistent state award winner, and their Lake Pounder Helles is the one you hand to anyone who claims they do not like craft beer. Find them at suncreekbrewery.com or on Instagram and Facebook.
For the mocktail swap this month: non-alcoholic beer has genuinely gotten good. Laura's recommendation is the Sam Adams Non-Alcoholic Oktoberfest, which is well worth trying and will hold up in any of the beer cocktails coming throughout October.
The Lions Are Half a Great Football Team
Laura opened her team recap with "I'm smiling on the outside" and it is best to understand that immediately.
The Detroit Lions lost to the Carolina Panthers 32-26 and dropped to two and two, and the real problem is not the score. It is the gap between the two halves of this team. The Lions have a Super Bowl-caliber offense. One of the best in the league. Jared Goff did not throw a single interception in this game. He was clean, he was composed, and he was outstanding.
The defense is a first-round-draft-pick-level disaster.
They are giving up points to the Jets. The Saints are shredding them. And now Tetairoa McMillan, Carolina's second-year receiver, went for 14 catches, 192 yards, and two touchdowns against them in a career performance.
To be fair, Dezi pointed out that several of these teams were genuinely better than expected. The Saints are putting together something real. Geno Smith has turned the Jets into a respectable team. And Ben Johnson, Laura's beloved former Detroit offensive coordinator who very much could have stayed in Detroit and chose not to, is three and one with the Chicago Bears and currently cooking up the city's best offensive differential since 1979.
"Props to him," Laura said. "But it's the Bears." She said it twice.
The Bills Lost and the Defense Is Still a Problem
Beth was in Tampa for the Bills-Patriots game, watching from The Patio, an outdoor Bills bar she described with the warmth of someone who has found her people. She spent the afternoon alongside two couples: one Bills fan pair and their sister and BIL who were Patriots fans, who apparently walked into enemy territory fully aware of what they were doing and had a fantastic time about it. Beth gave the Patriots fan credit. She rarely does this. She means it.
The Bills lost 29-26 on a late Josh Allen interception, and the turnovers are becoming a storyline that is harder to dismiss by the week. Five turnovers in Week 3. A game-killing interception in Week 4. Drake Maye, who has not been lighting the world on fire this season, looked like a completely different quarterback against that Buffalo defense and finished with 405 yards. The Bills only had two or three possessions that ended in three-and-outs all day.
The good news: Keon Coleman is starting to look like a real wide receiver. The bad news: DJ Moore is dealing with an AC joint sprain and the defense is a concern.
Beth's verdict was measured: this is a blip, the season is not over, there are things to fix, and it is early enough to fix them. She is not overreacting. She is, however, making a list.
The 49ers Are Four and Oh
Brock Purdy is now the first 49ers quarterback since Steve Young in 1998 to throw multiple touchdown passes in each of his first four games. He has not been sacked once this season. The offense found a way to beat a Denver team with a genuinely good defense, even with the 49ers running a roster full of guys who were either recovering from injuries or newly signed off the street.
George Kittle had a 56-yard touchdown that was frankly ridiculous. He ran 19.84 miles per hour, which is prime Kittle speed, which is even more remarkable given that he came back this season from a torn Achilles. The former Broncos safety Talanoa Hufunga was trying to run him down and simply could not do it. Dezi screamed.
Mike Evans played through fractured ribs to make catches while falling on the ground and hitting said ribs repeatedly. Dezi's assessment: "This dude is built different. There is no way I would even laugh with a cracked rib." She is correct. He is a different kind of human.
Kyle Shanahan also quietly surpassed Bill Walsh to become the winningest coach in 49ers history. We are not sure it got enough attention nationally. Dezi noticed. Dezi always notices.
Sports and Medicine: Injured vs Hurt
This week's Sports and Medicine segment introduced a distinction worth knowing: there is a difference between being injured and being hurt. Most NFL players play through being hurt. Injured is harder to come back from. It is a line that matters, and week four gave us a reminder of exactly where that line sits.
Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens, sprained ankle. The ankle is a question mark for Week 5. Tyler Huntley is ready to go if Lamar cannot start. The girlfriends noted that Lamar is such a competitor it will be hard to keep him off the field even if it is painful, but also that a contract year adds an interesting layer to that calculation.
Tyquan Thornton, Kansas City Chiefs, fracture dislocation. This one is for the squeamish to look away from. Thornton caught the ball, came down, and tried to stand up without realizing what had happened. His foot was pointing in a direction feet are not supposed to point. His teammate walked over, looked down, and immediately walked away. We cannot blame the teammate. Dezi called it a fracture dislocation, which means both broken and dislocated simultaneously, and confirmed that the amount of adrenaline running through a player's body in the moment is the only explanation for how he stood up at all. He will likely miss the rest of the season.
The Tyquan Thornton moment is also the best argument for Beth's point about the difference between injured and hurt: Thornton was so deep in the moment of the game that his body did not even register the injury immediately. That is what professional football looks like from the inside.
Fantasy Football: Gina from Fan Girl Football Has the Week 5 Picks
Gina's top picks for Week 5:
Quarterback sleeper: Jacoby Brissett against the Detroit Lions, who have been giving up 28 fantasy points and 327 passing yards per game while allowing 13 touchdowns through four games. Laura noted this was painful to hear. Gina said sorry and meant it.
Running back: Chase Brown against the Miami Dolphins. Miami's run defense is attackable, Cincinnati may get ahead early, and Brown gets the positive game script everyone is looking for.
Wide receiver: Michael Wilson against the Detroit Lions, for exactly the same reasons as Brissett. If McMillan can go for 192 yards against this secondary, Wilson has legitimate breakout potential. Again, Laura noted this was painful. Again, Gina apologized.
Tight end: Lively against the Washington Commanders, who have given up 263 yards and five touchdowns to tight ends through four games, third-most in the league. He is already averaging nearly nine targets per game. Against that defense, Gina has him as a tight end one.
────────────────────────────────────────
Rate the Fit: DeForest Buckner and Russell Wilson Are Both Thriving
The segment featured DeForest Buckner in a sharp pinstripe suit arriving like a man who has somewhere important to be. Dezi pointed out that he used to be a 49er, that this is still a very touchy subject in San Francisco, and that he looks absolutely fantastic regardless. The general consensus was that he could step behind an NFL pregame desk and nobody would question it.
Russell Wilson, no longer playing quarterback and fully aware of this, showed up radiating the specific energy of a man who just discovered that football is significantly more enjoyable when nobody is allowed to hit you. Beth said he looked like a kid in a candy shop. She would be that happy too if she got paid to look good and talk football without taking shots. She has a point.
The Sunday Squad is voting on socials for the best look of the week. Go make your voice heard.
Week Five Is Already Complicated
49ers travel to Seattle for what Dezi called a real tough game. Bills host the Rams on Monday Night Football and need to make a statement. Bears and Packers in a divisional game with NFC North implications. Ravens and Falcons if Lamar plays, which everyone is watching. Buccaneers and Cowboys on Thursday Night Football, which could be great or could be the kind of game that makes everyone change the channel.
Dezi's assessment of the Bucs-Cowboys matchup: "I'm not going to say it. I feel bad for my Tampa Bay fans."
We all feel something about it.
One More Thing: The Store Is Open
Laura built a merch store. You can scan the QR code from the show, or head to girlfriendsandfootball.com and click Merch in the menu. T-shirts, hoodies, the Thirsty for Football logo, the caricature of the three girlfriends, wine glasses. Everything you need to rep the Sunday Squad properly on game day.
Watch or Listen
Catch the full Week 4 Recap on YouTube or listen on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. New episodes every Wednesday at 8pm ET. Subscribe so you never miss us.
Find us everywhere: @girlfriendsandfootball
Support the show: Buy Me A Coffee.
