NFL Week 1: Sorting Out Monday Morning Overreactions

In life, there are overreactions, there are gargantuan overreactions and then there are the overreactions that follow the first Week 1 NFL Sunday of the season.

And the hysterical overreactions that manifest after each Week 1 contest are in a panicked class all by themselves.

In the wake of each team's opening game, the hot takes come in with more raw emotion and unbridled ferocity than Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown's jumping karate kick to Cleveland Browns punter Spencer Lanning.

Seasons are declared over, despite 15 games (and four months of real time) remaining. Rookies are labeled busts, as if the rest of their careers are a moot point. Quarterbacks are called to be benched with a bloodthirsty frenzy that would make the residents of Salem, Massachusetts, circa 1692 jealous. And coaches are fired on the spot, because, you know, no NFL team has ever lost its first game and rebounded to qualify for the postseason.

But have no fear, NFL fans. Like a hot knife through butter, it's time to cut through the nonsense and construct measured and reasonable opinions on the initial platter of games.

In this column, I'll shine the spotlight on several pieces of narrative that have seeped into the unforgiving, bottomless pit known as "groupthink" and that will be spouted off as gospel at water coolers around the country this week.

Some are accurate and will be lauded as such.

Others are outlandish and damaging to the IQ of those who read them and will be called out in appropriate fashion.

It's time to sort out the Monday morning overreactions from NFL Week 1.

The Sky is Falling in Chicago! Cancel the Season!

Let's not mince words: The Chicago Bears' Week 1 home loss to the Buffalo Bills was gross and inexcusable.

Next sentence: The season is far from over.

But if you'd believe the hysteria promulgated by Chicago Tribune columnist Steve Rosenbloom, there's simply no reason for the Bears to lace up their cleats next Sunday night in San Francisco—or any game for the rest of the year.

In the opening of Rosenbloom's Week 1 postmortem (subscription required), he writes: "And so ends the Bears’ 2014 season. Thanks for coming, everybody. Jay Cutler stunk. Brandon Marshall stunk. The run defense stunk. The pass rush stunk. Against one of the worst teams you could imagine. At home."

Yikes.

Now, it's impossible to be upset with Rosenbloom (or Bears fans, for that matter) for crushing the squad's performance. All offseason, the Bears were talked up by many as a potential playoff team, and one that was certainly capable of taking care of the overmatched Bills in Week 1 (Vegas agreed with that assessment, installing Chicago as a seven-point favorite against Buffalo, per OddsShark.com).

Lynne Sladky/Associated Press

In my Bettor's Guide to Week 1, I expressed my concern with Chicago's run defense. Last year, the Bears allowed a preposterous 5.3 yards per carry, and while general manager Phil Emery made a spate of signings and draft picks in an effort to improve the unit, many (including yours truly) remained skeptical. Emery and coach Marc Trestman's worst fears were realized when the Bills rushed 33 times for 193 yards, or a clip of 5.8 yards per carry.

That's simply not good enough.

And while quarterback Jay Cutler authored a decent-looking stat line—34-of-49 for 349 yards, two touchdown passes and two interceptions—the fact remains that his offense only put 20 points on the scoreboard. For a unit often trumpeted as explosive in the offseason, it was undoubtedly a disappointing effort.

But to insinuate that the season is over? That's sheer lunacy.

Chicago's offense will bounce back; there's simply too much talent for it not to. Cutler will have better days, as will the defense. Regardless of the Week 1 disaster, the expectation should be that the unit improves as the weather grows colder.

Even if the Bears lose to the 49ers in Week 2, the season won't be over. It will be far from an ideal start for Trestman's bunch, but 0-2 is far from an insurmountable hole—especially for a roster as talented as Chicago's.

Rosenbloom is a fine columnist and penned an entertaining piece that's sure to rile up the Chicago faithful.

I just happen to think it's a massive overreaction.

The Buccaneers Must Bench Josh McCown and Roll with Mike Glennon at Quarterback!

The revamped Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with a new coach (Lovie Smith) and quarterback (Josh McCown), were handed an absolute gift in the hours preceding Week 1, as the Carolina Panthers decided to sit ailing quarterback Cam Newton in favor of backup Derek Anderson.

What no one could have expected was that Anderson would thoroughly outplay McCown, leading the Panthers to a 20-14 road victory in Tampa Bay.

For McCown, it was a disconcerting effort. After playing extremely well last season in relief of an injured Jay Cutler in Chicago (McCown threw 13 touchdown passes against only one interception and went 3-2 in five starts), he signed with the Buccaneers this offseason and Smith immediately tabbed him the starter.

In his first game as Buccaneers quarterback, McCown completed 22 of 35 passes for 183 yards, two touchdowns and two awful interceptions, the latter of which was so incredibly poor that NFL media members began calling for McCown to walk the proverbial plank.

Bleacher Report's Matt Miller wasn't the only one that wanted to see McCown benched.

Look, it's difficult to defend McCown in the wake of Sunday's game. He didn't play well. There's no arguing that point. And I'd be lying if the thought didn't run through my head in the wake of McCown's performance.

But I would argue the larger problem for Tampa Bay was a heralded defense that looked like an average unit. The Buccaneers failed to force a single turnover and served as a living, breathing Hot Tub Time Machine that transported Anderson back to 2007 and his halcyon days in Cleveland.

Plus, McCown nearly led the Buccaneers all the way back from a 17-0 deficit, with running back Bobby Rainey losing a fumble on the would-be game-winning drive.

McCown shouldn't be benched—not yet, at least. He deserves an opportunity to dig the Buccaneers out of this (very) early hole they find themselves in.

But with an extremely tough schedule looming—a must-win home affair against the St. Louis Rams followed by three consecutive road games (at Atlanta, at Pittsburgh and at New Orleans)—it's imperative that McCown play better, and soon.

Last year, Glennon was inserted into the starting lineup of an 0-3 team.

While it's not time to consider benching McCown just yet, if he continues to play hot potato with the football, Glennon could find himself back in the saddle of a winless team trying to claw back into contention.

The Dallas Cowboys Looked Horrible in Week 1, But Let's Hand Them the NFC East. Wait. What?

If overreaction were a country, ESPN's Skip Bayless would undoubtedly be its emperor, ruling its dim-witted denizens with an iron fist speckled with images of LeBron James and Tim Tebow.

With that said, it's stunning that Bayless—who has become famous for his zany, contrarian and downright ludicrous opinions—might have offered up the single dumbest take of his entire career this past Sunday in the wake of the Dallas Cowboys' 28-17 home loss to San Francisco.

Outside of the most diehard of diehard Cowboys fans, there wasn't a single person who watched Sunday's game and thought to himself: Well, Tony Romo played poorly...Jason Garrett looks lost on the sideline...The defense stinks, and we JUST lost...But hey, we're going to win the NFC East!

Seriously. There's no way that one single, solitary person that saw the Cowboys lose to the 49ers walked away thinking that Dallas is on track for a playoff berth. It's simply not within the realm of possibility.

The loss confirmed my worst fears about the Cowboys: They are a terrible, terrible football team, and it wouldn't surprise me if they "earned" a top-three pick in next year's draft.

Going into the season, the prevailing thought was that the defense would be among the league's worst, if not ranked dead last, and it would be up to the offense, led by Romo, to save the day. Dallas' offense is loaded, with weapons at the skill positions, an excellent young offensive line and the underrated Romo serving as the trigger man.

Well, on Sunday, it was the exact opposite. Romo had one of the most Romo-esque games of his career, looking like an undrafted free agent for the vast majority of the contest. He finished the day 23-of-37 passing for 281 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions so gruesome that they would have made Jason Voorhees blush beneath his hockey mask. Meanwhile, the defense wasn't totally incompetent, which is probably the nicest thing anyone will say about it in 2014.

Bayless wasn't the only one with unbridled enthusiasm about Dallas' putrid performance, however. After the game, head coach Jason Garrett attempted to put a positive spin on what just occurred (per Marc Engel of The Dallas Star Telegram):  “There is a lot of good stuff to look at on the tape... a lot of stuff we have to clean up."

The bottom line is that the Cowboys aren't a good enough team to absorb a poor performance like that from Romo. Next time, it'll likely be the defense that lets the team down. And the time after that, it'll probably be horrendous game management from Jason Garrett. It never ends for the Cowboys.

Not only do the Cowboys have no shot of winning the NFC East, but they aren't finishing over .500. No way, no how. The only way Bayless could have been more incorrect is if he had suspended Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice for only two games.

Redskins Quarterback Robert Griffin III Looks Like He'll Never Reclaim the Form He Flashed as a Rookie

Let's call a spade a spade: Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III was dreadful in the preseason.

But optimists (that included yours truly) reasoned that the Redskins offense, under the direction of new coach Jay Gruden, was simply holding back for Week 1 in Houston. We believed that the weapons in the passing attack would boost Griffin and allow him to reach the dizzying heights he ascended to as a rookie back in 2012.

But man, Week 1's game against Houston was just awful, causing CBSSports.com's Jason La Canfora to write:

"

RG3 is now well removed from his latest ACL repair, he has a new coach and a new offense and hope was renewed for Washington and the rest of the NFL with opening week upon us. But the precocious gunslinger, the kid who dazzled with his athleticism and raised his arms to the heavens after his first touchdown throw and who seemed to be having more fun than anyone else out there, well, he's just not there. The unflappable dervish who oozed confidence and seemed capable of anything, I'm not sure he's coming back.

"

Unfortunately for Griffin and Redskins fans, I believe La Canfora is right on the money.

Griffin looks tentative and gun shy. He's no longer galloping past opposing defenders with the grace of a gazelle, no longer firing deep balls with the velocity of a Stinger missile, no longer running roughshod over opponents with his trademark smile a mile wide.

Excuses were rightfully made for Griffin last year. He was coming off a torn ACL, and was put into an impossible position by deposed coach Mike Shanahan.

But one game into the 2014 season, it's tough to imagine Griffin reclaiming the form he flashed as a neophyte.

The Patriots Offensive Line Is, Well, Offensive and Will Hold Them Back From Making a Super Bowl Run

One of the most stunning results on Sunday featured the New England Patriots, conquerors of the AFC East for the better part of the last 15 years, being felled in South Beach by the underdog Miami Dolphins.

The Patriots went into halftime holding a 20-10 lead, only to be outscored 23-0 over the final 30 minutes by Miami. It was a stunning turn of events.

And the primary culprit was the team's offensive line, which had more holes than an especially moldy slice of Swiss cheese.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was sacked four times and was constantly under duress. He was sacked on back-to-back plays on the team's final drive, encapsulating an extremely difficult afternoon for the team.

In the aftermath, Ben Volin, who covers the Patriots for The Boston Globe, wrote: "...[T]he (Patriots) offensive line better figure it out quickly, or Brady is going to get well-acquainted with many more pass rushers this season."

Patriots fans and media types alike will surely be up in arms over yesterday's performance. Because of the porous offensive line, they'll question the viability of the Patriots' Super Bowl chances.

And you know what? They're right.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick might have made a rare tactical error by trading guard Logan Mankins to the Buccaneers last week. While the transaction saved the team $6.5 million dollars (per Boston.com's Zuri Berry), there's no doubt it weakened their on-field product, despite the 32-year-old Mankins getting old in the tooth.

The team rotated offensive linemen in an effort to keep Brady upright. Nothing worked. Even stalwart tackles Sebastian Vollmer and Nate Solder were beaten.

It's only one loss, and the Patriots will surely bounce back. It would be ridiculous to suggest otherwise of a Belichick-coached and Brady-quarterbacked team.

But the questions about the offensive line? They are absolutely, 100 percent legitimate. 

If Belichick can't get the offensive line in order, the Patriots won't have to be worried about an AFC championship rematch with Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos.

By that point, their season will already be over.