Biggest Overreactions to Worst NFL Week 1 Performances

The first Sunday slate of the 2025 NFL season is complete, meaning it's time for a special Week 1 edition of Overreaction Monday.

Football fans regularly blow one-off performances out of proportion, but the reactions are often the most over-the-top early in the season—remember when the New Orleans Saints looked like title contenders for all of two weeks in 2024?

The reality is that we're 15 games into a long season, and teams often don't play their best ball until October. Some of what we saw over the weekend may prove to be real, but some of those bad performances...well, let's overreact, shall we?

The Chiefs' Reign of Terror Is over

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Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes

The Los Angeles Chargers stunned the Kansas City Chiefs on Friday night in São Paulo, Brazil. While the score (27-21) was relatively close, it involved a fairly dominant performance by the Chargers.

Perhaps more importantly, Kansas City didn't look like the buttoned-up, efficient, playoff-ready team we've come to know during the Patrick Mahomes-Andy Reid era. Instead, the Chiefs looked like every other above-average team we've seen play sloppy September football over the years.

Simply put, Reid didn't have his team prepared for the type of fight it encountered last Friday.

After seven straight trips to the conference title game, are the Chiefs finally finished ruling the AFC?

We should believe it when we see it. Whatever offensive game plan Kansas City had coming into Friday likely went out the window when Xavier Worthy exited with a shoulder injury. That led to a slow start, and the Chiefs made far too many mistakes. The Chargers played a near-perfect game and still only won by six.

Let's see how Kansas City handles the next few weeks before declaring the king dead.

It's Time to End the Bryce Young Experiment

AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack

Panthers QB Bryce Young

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young saw no shortage of offseason hype. After playing extremely well late in 2024, spending another offseason under head coach Dave Canales and entering Week 1 with an improved supporting cast, he had a chance to make a positive jump.

Instead, the Alabama product came out and laid one of the biggest eggs of Week 1. Against a Jacksonville Jaguars defense that was subpar a year ago, Young completed just 51.4 percent of his passes, was regularly high, low or wide on his throws and turned it over three times.

Understandably, another poor performance by the 2023 first overall pick has led to questions about his future as an NFL starter. At 5'10" and 204 pounds, he is considered undersized for the position.

However, benching Young for Andy Dalton (again) at this point in the year would be a mistake.

There's no getting around the fact that the 24-year-old performed poorly on Sunday, but so did a lot of players across the league—Week 1 games are sloppy more often than not. He was done no favors by his offensive line and receivers.

Playing Young throughout the season will help the Panthers accurately assess his potential, as more time on the bench will not aid his development. Either he'll work through his growing pains on the field, or the front office will know it's safe to target a QB early in the 2026 draft.

Browns Need to Cut a Player After His NFL Debut

AP Photo/David Richard

Browns K Andre Szmyt

If Sunday's performance was an accurate indication, the Cleveland Browns might not be quite as bad this season as many expected. They didn't actually beat the rival Cincinnati Bengals, but they probably should have.

The Browns lost by one point, and Andre Szmyt cost them four by missing two easy kicks.

Szmyt, 27, spent part of the offseason with the Chicago Bears in 2023 and last season with the St. Louis Battlehawks of the UFL. He won a camp competition with veteran Dustin Hopkins this offseason, but Cleveland might already be regretting its decision.

While calls for a change at kicker are understandable, dropped passes played an even bigger role in the loss, directly leading to two interceptions and a failed fourth-down.

Cutting a young player after just one game would be an overreaction. Of course, it might help distract fans from the fact that, while the Browns kept it close, they were again burned by an inability to make fundamental plays.

Russ Is Cooked and It's Time for Dart Throwing

AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough

Giants QB Russell Wilson

The New York Giants' plan all offseason was to roll with veteran quarterback Russell Wilson to start the season.

While rookie first-round pick Jaxson Dart performed extremely well during the preseason, New York never deviated from that plan.

In the coming days, you're likely to hear plenty of calls to throw that plan in the trash.

Wilson didn't play well against the Washington Commanders. He completed just 17 of 37 attempts for 168 yards and only led the team to a pair of field-goal drives.

Of course, we shouldn't pretend the 10-time Pro Bowler was the only Giant who underwhelmed in Week 1. Brian Daboll's offensive game plan was bland. Receivers not named Malik Nabers and Wan'Dale Robinson struggled to find space. New York's ground game was a disaster—Wilson led the team with 44 yards on the ground.

Given New York's daunting schedule through late October, though, there are reasons to keep Dart on the sideline for now, even if Wilson isn't a title-contending quarterback.

The Giants should see if they can steal a few wins with Wilson by midseason. If they can't, they can turn to the rookie, but they should also jettison Daboll, who just watched his former quarterback play like an MVP candidate.

It's Time for a Coaching Change in Miami

AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell

Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel

Former Giants quarterback Daniel Jones was long considered a draft bust and was unceremoniously dumped in the middle of the 2024 regular season.

However, the 28-year-old reemerged as the Indianapolis Colts' starter on Sunday and proceeded to throw for 271 yards, toss a touchdown pass and run for two scores.

Jones' performance certainly doesn't make Daboll look like an offensive genius.

However, the Indy signal-caller's terrific day might not have been as surprising as the way the Miami Dolphins played. They looked like a team that had no plan offensively, no motor defensively and no chemistry on either side of the ball.

It was as bad a Dolphins performance as we've seen during the Mike McDaniel era—which some believe should end immediately.

Here's the problem with firing McDaniel early in the season: It isn't suddenly going to make the Dolphins better. General manager Chris Grier has tailored the roster to accentuate quarterback Tua Tagovailoa in the offense. Miami isn't really built to pivot to something else.

The Dolphins' poor showing might reflect a league that has caught up with McDaniel's offense, a surprisingly strong Colts team, or simply a terrible game from Tagovailoa.

Maybe things will be better once the quarterback has more practice time with Tyreek Hill and De'Von Achane healthy.

Miami needs to give McDaniel a chance to rebound. If the Dolphins still look this lost in October, it'll be time to replace him, along with Grier, Tagovailoa and a good chunk of the depth chart.

Paying Dan Moore Jr. Was a Mistake

AP Photo/Peter Joneleit

Titans OT Dan Moore Jr.

Tennessee Titans quarterback Cam Ward struggled in his regular-season debut, though that was unsurprising against a potent Denver Broncos defense.

This year's No. 1 overall pick was sacked six times on Sunday and repeatedly found himself under heavy pressure. A cursory search of social media will uncover plenty of fans ready to blame offseason addition Dan Moore Jr.

And, to those fans' credit, Moore did struggle. He committed a pair of penalties and received a pass blocking grade of just 19.9 from Pro Football Focus. Any disappointment in the fifth-year lineman is understandable.

The Titans handed Moore a four-year, $82 million deal to lure him in free agency.

However, his early struggles deserve some context. He struggled while dealing with an ankle injury, facing a Broncos defense that recorded 63 sacks last season.

There's time for Moore to bounce back, but he'll have another tough test against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 2. It's also hard to criticize the Titans too harshly for giving Moore the deal they did.

Tennessee knew it was going to draft Ward, and it knew it needed a starting-caliber left tackle. Moore has never been a high-end player, but he made 66 starts for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Titans may have overpaid, but they went out and got a left tackle.

They should give Moore a few more starts before trying to get another one.

Dan Campbell Can't Succeed with New Coordinators

AP Photo/Matt Ludtke

Lions head coach Dan Campbell

We saw many competitive games in Week 1, but Sunday's battle between the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers was not one of them.

Detroit fell behind early and watched Green Bay run away to a 27-13 victory.

A garbage-time touchdown pass from Jared Goff to rookie Isaac TeSlaa made the score more respectable than the game was.

It doesn't take a lot of digging to find fans who believe head coach Dan Campbell is destined to fail this season. With former offensive coordinator Ben Johnson coaching the Chicago Bears and former defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn coaching the Jets, there will certainly be an adjustment period.

An adjustment period was always inevitable, though, as seen with the 2022 Eagles after losing both coordinators.

Did John Morton call too conservative an offense? Maybe, but the Lions offensive line performed poorly, which limited his options. Did Kelvin Sheppard make some poor coverage choices? Sure, but it's not like Detroit was playing a bottom-tier team.

The Packers won 11 games last season and only lost their last meeting with the Lions by a field goal. They just added Micah Parsons and were playing at home.

Growing pains happen, and it's important to remember neither Johnson nor Glenn was an instant sensation upon their arrival in Detroit. One bad game against a talented rival on the road doesn't mean Campbell can't coach his team back into contention.