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It’s time for Week 1 overreactions — and their counterarguments

Week 1 is mostly in the books, with only one more matchup to go: the Minnesota Vikings vs. Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football.

As football fans know, Week 1 can be a bit chaotic. Some highly-touted teams or players may not play well to start the season, while others may come out of the woodwork and surprise folks. The only thing we can do after Week 1 is overreact, because, well, sports are visual entertainment, and we tend to call things as we see them in real time.

With that in mind, let’s dive into some of the most noteworthy overreactions we can make after Week 1, and then keep ourselves honest with a counterargument for each.

The Kansas City Chiefs are no longer the top dogs in the AFC — and maybe even the AFC West

A Friday night loss to AFC West rivals — the Los Angels Chargers — has put the Chiefs at the bottom of their division. What? Chiefs? In last place? For now they are, thanks to the Denver Broncos and Las Vegas Raiders also scoring victories Sunday.

The Chiefs’ offensive game plan fell apart early when speedy receiver Xavier Worthy went down with a dislocated shoulder thanks to some friendly fire. It took the offense a while to recover, and meanwhile the K.C. defense looked slow and out of sync, unable to generate any sort of pass rush or cover the Chargers’ top targets.

The Chiefs didn’t look like a Super Bowl contender on Friday. They barely looked like a playoff contender. Maybe, after nine-straight division titles, the Chiefs will take a back seat to the Chargers and Broncos?

Counterargument: Nah, that’s not going to happen. The Chiefs are still led by quarterback Patrick Mahomes and coach Andy Reid, two future hall of famers. Don’t forget that. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s defense notoriously takes a while to get in a good rhythm. And even if Worthy does end up missing time, the Chiefs have WR Rashee Rice waiting to reenter the fold after he’s finished serving his six-game suspension. The Chiefs will be fine, just give them time to adjust.

The Green Bay Packers look like the best team in the NFL

The Packers’ defense dominated the Detroit Lions, holding them to 13 points after generating four sacks and an interception. Newly-acquired star pass rusher Micah Parsons had a lot to do with that:

“The impact was undeniable, literally from his first play on the field … As expected, Parsons played mostly as an edge rusher, but he also had snaps as an interior rusher and forced double teams. With him on the field, Van Ness could move inside on passing downs, creating pressure-heavy formations. That’s how Van Ness had his own third-down sack in the third quarter.

“And you didn’t think Parsons would go his entire debut without a sack, did you? He beat left tackle Taylor Decker late in the fourth quarter and chased Goff to finish the play. Parsons played 29 snaps, which was 45% of the defensive plays — ESPN credited him with three pressures.” —Wendell Ferreira

Green Bay’s pass blocking looked great, and QB Jordan Love was able to spread the ball around to 10 different targets. The running game left a little to be desired, but overall the Packers looked like a major Super Bowl contender that is strong in all of its phases.

Counterargument: The Packers look like a contender, no doubt, but the best team? It’s still too early to tell. Plus, did you see how well-oiled the Baltimore Ravens and Buffalo Bills offenses looked Sunday night? Let’s see if Green Bay can stop offenses like that, and then we’ll talk.

Offensive coordinator John Morton will hold the Lions back in 2025

Detroit scored only 13 points Sunday, and seven of those points came during garbage time. In the first 55 minutes, the Lions could muster just six points. Morton, who is in his first year as the team’s OC, had a very conservative game plan, and the offense looked wholly unprepared. It was a far cry from Ben Johnson’s offense from years past. The Lions might have chosen wrong with this hire, and it could end up being the reason why the team isn’t as strong of a contender in 2025.

Counterargument: I’ll let Lions beat writer Mike Payton cover this topic:

“The Lions had far worse games with Ben Johnson early on in his run and even during it, too. Did everyone forget the Lions losing to the Bailey Zappe-led Patriots 29-0 in 2022? What about the 24-6 loss to the Cowboys the next week? Or the 38-6 loss to the Ravens in 2023? Nobody got fired for those games, and as Lions head coach Dan Campbell brought up after Sunday’s game, people wanted Johnson fired early in 2022. Look what happened when the Lions gave him more than one game or gave him more than a few games.

“With all that said, we know the Lions aren’t totally against letting an OC go during the season. They did that with Anthony Lynn in 2021, but that was a much different story with a much different team. But if the Lions get to late October or November and things have gone super downhill, maybe they’d make a change. But they’re not going to do it after one week, and they definitely shouldn’t do it after one week. This is a major overreaction.”

Pittsburgh Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers is an early MVP candidate

Rodgers proved that he’s back with a vengeance in his final year, putting up 244 yards and four touchdowns in a 34-32 win over his former team, the New York Jets. He developed a strong rapport with DK Metcalf and Calvin Austin, who each had four grabs while the latter snagged a TD.

It turns out Rodgers just needed to be healthy and in a good situation with a competent coach to reestablish himself as a true threat. If Rodgers is slinging it like this in Week 1, just imagine what he’ll look like later in the year once he’s fully in sync with the rest of his offense. He could legitimately win MVP to close out his hall of fame career.

Counterargument: Pump the brakes just a bit. Consistency will be the key for Rodgers this season. He has some tough defenses coming up on his schedule, including the New England Patriots, Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers, so let’s see how he stacks up in multiple games before assuming he’ll be a top QB in 2025.

The Miami Dolphins might as well pack it up

If you ask fans which team looked the worst in Week 1, most will probably say the Miami Dolphins. They were torched 33-8 by the Indianapolis Colts, a team that many believed to be the worst squad entering the season. The Dolphins couldn’t get anything going on offense, earning just 211 total yards, and QB Tua Tagovailoa turned the ball over three times.

Wideout Tyreek Hill looked frustrated on the sidelines during the game after earning just four catches for 40 yards. Some wonder if Miami may reconsider trading Hill, with the Chiefs opening up as a speculated suitors given that K.C. is where Hill got his start. If the Dolphins have another bad showing next week, they may want to consider selling the farm and prepping for 2026.

Counterargument: It’s been one week, dude. Some teams just come out flat. Let’s not forget how great this offense can look when it’s clicking. If eight or nine weeks go by and the Dolphins still look bad, then sure, it’s time to pack it up. But people, especially ones that have shown success, generally deserve a chance to prove themselves after a screwup.

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