NFL Week 1 reactions and overreactions

Football is back.

Let’s get right into this with some thoughts and overreactions from the first week of the NFL, from Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers offense actually looking competent, to the Baltimore Ravens gagging away another sure win, the unimpressive debut from Chicago Bears head coach Ben Johnson and the most impressive team from the opening weekend.

1. Admit it. You thought the Pittsburgh Steelers-New York Jets game was going to be an ugly rock fight. Just two teams just slamming their heads into a brick wall for three hours and somebody emerging with a 16-15 win that would have left everybody that watched it questioning their life choices for a beautiful early September Sunday afternoon.

Instead, they combined for one of the most entertaining games of the day with Rodgers and Justin Fields both looking unstoppable and Chris Boswell drilling a 60-yard field goal (with 10 yards to spare!) to win the game.

Madness.

The two big takeaways I have from the Steelers are, “wow, the offense looked really good” and “wow, the defense looked horrific.”

This is where I think overreactions come in. Rodgers’ performance was encouraging, and the Steelers actually had a functioning offense when it came to passing the football. The play design looked good, they used the middle of the field, players were wide open and given passes they could catch and run with. They have not looked like that as an offense since the prime Ben Roethlisberger-Antonio Brown days. It was an unexpected and pleasant surprise.

The defense, on the other hand, was the exact opposite. They had almost no pass rush, were bullied in the run game and until the Jets inexplicably started throwing at Jalen Ramsey late in the game were allowing wide receivers to run wide open all day. Brutal showing across the board.

Point of legitimate concern or overreaction?

Maybe both?

It’s an older defense in a lot of areas, and they were badly exposed against the run in the second half of 2024 and despite talking a lot about fixing that really didn’t do much outside of the draft with a first-round pick and two mid-round picks. With Derrick Harmon (the first-round pick) injured, they were still trotting Isiah Loudermilk out there as a starter. Not ideal when it comes to depth.

Overall nothing about my expectations for the Steelers has changed after one game. I believe the defense will figure things out and play better. Maybe not as good as they expect to play, but better. I do not know if the offense has that in them every week because the offensive line looked ROUGH and while he still obviously has the arm, I am not sold Rodgers has the mobility to avoid what might be coming at him on a consistent basis.

I still see 10 wins in their future and a playoff exit against one of the elite quarterbacks in the AFC. Which might be the first round again. That is still the ceiling until they get one of those elite quarterbacks for themselves.

2. The Baltimore Ravens are an objectively good football team. On paper. On the field. In the standings. Every year they are competitive, every year they are a contender.

But they are also the type of team that would have been absolutely CRUSHED by the sports media in a different era because, my goodness, you just can’t trust these guys in big moments. And this does not get anywhere enough attention and they do not get anywhere near enough criticism for it.

Especially head coach John Harbaugh.

They gagged away another game they seemingly had wrapped up on Sunday night, blowing a 15-point lead in the final six minutes by allowing the Buffalo Bills to score 17 unanswered points on them.

It was unbelievable to watch if it wasn’t so expected from this team.

In the aftermath of Sunday’s game I saw a stat that since 2021 they have lost EIGHT games where they had a win probability of at least 90 percent at some point in the game, which is THREE more than any other team in the NFL during that stretch. Absolutely staggering and baffling for a team that good, with that much talent, and an experienced head coach to piss away so many games.

It’s not bad luck. It’s not a fluke. It’s not an accident. There’s something in the DNA with this team that doesn’t allow them to close out games or shine in the biggest moments. Which is what makes the yearly predictions of them winning the Super Bowl and being the best team in football so maddening.

Mike Tomlin and the Steelers get rightfully ripped for not having any recent playoff success and only winning three playoff games over the past 12 years. Brother, Harbaugh and the Ravens have only won four of the past 13 years and for a significant chunk of that time they’ve had a two-time MVP and one of the best quarterbacks (and players) in football running their show. And you’d never know it listening to the way people talk about this team. The roster is always loaded. The front office always gets its flowers for its drafting and player development. They make big moves. They are always a preseason Super Bowl favorite. And then in every big moment they absolutely crumble. They play their worst in the playoffs. They consistently blow leads that seem impossible to blow. The early days of PTI and Around The Horn would have labeled this team gigantic losers despite the regular season records.

They are going to win their 12-14 games this season. They will win the AFC North with a couple of games to spare. They will go into the playoffs with Super Bowl-or-Bust expectations. They will probably bust. The cycle will repeat itself next year.

Now let’s get into Ben Johnson, the Green Bay Packers and more….