Each Monday I will be putting together some overreactions from the weekend’s slate of NFL games. They might be reasonable, with stats and numbers to back them up. They also could be completely from the hip. All of them will have reasoning behind them. Either way, we are going to spend each Monday bringing you a couple of hot takes based on that particular week’s games. Here are overreactions from NFL Week One.
NFL Week One Overreactions
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers Are Better Without Jameis Winston
Heading into Week One, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were the biggest underdogs of the week at -9.5. That didn’t stop the best quarterback on their roster from putting on a show. Ryan Fitzpatrick went off on Sunday. He threw for 417 yards, four touchdowns and ran for another 36 yards with a touchdown on the ground as well. The New Orleans Saints were fifth in passing defensive DVOA last year. Fitzpatrick didn’t care, and showed he should be the starter all year for the Bucs. With all of the questions surrounding Jameis, the Bucs should keep him on the bench. Our week one overreaction here is Fitzpatrick provides the best path to a playoff berth for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Patrick Mahomes Is an MVP Candidate
The Kansas City Chiefs lit up the scoreboard against the Los Angeles Chargers. In his first NFL start, Patrick Mahomes threw for 256 yards and four touchdowns. Pairing a quarterback who embraces the deep ball under the tutelage of Andy Reid is a formula for success. This is exactly where Mahomes finds himself, and it looks to be at the helm of the best offense in football. Kansas City finished fourth in offensive DVOA in 2017 with Alex Smith. Mahomes is going to increase that for the hiefs, and will lead them to the playoffs. Not only that, our week one overreaction is that he will play good enough to be considered an MVP candidate.
Pittsburgh Steelers Are Better Off Without Le’Veon Bell
All off-season, the assumption was that Le’Veon Bell was going to sign his tender and play Week One. That didn’t happen and the Steelers are better off for it. The team doesn’t need his negativity and one is greater than the rest attitude. Already there is friction in the locker room whenever he is brought up. This is why the team can make do without him. James Conner had himself a monstrous game, finishing with 135 yards on the ground, and 57 more receiving. He is just the player the Steelers need, with the week one overreaction being the team can rely on Conner.
The Oakland Raiders Have Lost the Khalil Mack Trade Already
In the Sunday night game against the Green Bay Packers, Khalil Mack did something that hasn’t happened since 1982. That was the last time someone had a sack, forced fumble, fumble recovery, interception, and a touchdown in the same half. If you thought maybe this was the first time Mack had done it in a game, you’d be wrong. Not only that, but the last player to do it in an NFL game was in fact, Khalil Mack.
The Chicago Bears didn’t give up that much to get a Hall of Fame worthy player. Assigning the 15th pick to the Bears, and the 16th to the Raiders provides some interesting insights. Looking at Rich Hill’s draft chart, the Bears sent out the equivalent of around 409 draft points. This comes out to about the eighth pick in the draft. It’s nowhere near enough for what Mack is worth. The week one overreaction here is that regardless of what Oakland does, they’ve already lost the trade.
Last Word
As the year goes on, we will provide overreactions to each week of football. Some of them are going to be outlandish, while others will be based on facts and statistics. Only time will tell how many of them will end up looking good, and which are incorrect. For now, these were our Week One overreactions. See you in the Super Bowl, Patrick Mahomes.
