Welcome to the NFL’s Week 5 biggest overreactions and storylines broken down to sort out what is an overreaction and what has some truth to it.
Overreaction: Aaron Rodgers is on the way out in Green Bay.
After Sunday morning’s stunning loss to the New York Giants, Green Bay Packer fans may have had their football Sunday ruined before they woke up. The Packers lost to the now 4-1 New York Giants (27-22) dramatically, with the Giants scoring a go-ahead touchdown on a Saquan Barkley keeper with 6:12 left in the 4th quarter. The game was sealed for the Packers when Rodger’s hail Mary attempt with 7 seconds left was a strip sack recovered by Green Bay as time expired.
Rodgers has had his struggles early the past two seasons, starting 2021 with an embarrassing 38-3 loss to the New Orleans Saints and losing 2022’s opener 23-7 to the Minnesota Vikings. Games in which he did not throw for more than 200 yards and zero touchdowns, but sluggish starts should not have packers fans worried about Rodgers. After their wake-up call in week one of 2021 Rodgers went on to win the 2021 NFL MVP and the divisional round of the NFL playoffs.
Instead, Packers fans should be concerned with the lack of talent surrounding Rodgers and how it is being utilized. In their three wins this year running backs Aaron Jones and A.J. Dillon both had over 10 carries. Shocking, if you take the pressure off of your quarterback they typically play better. If the Packers want to see success this season the answer is already staring them in the face and it’s not Aaron Rodgers’s play needing to be better.
Not an overreaction: Officiating in wake of Tua’s injury has been abysmal.
Since Tua Tagovailoa’s horrific injury, the NFL has made a push on quarterback safety. This was evident Sunday in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons game, in which Tom Brady was sacked by Grady Jarrett and was awarded a roughing the passer penalty that stalled any hope of a comeback for Atlanta with three minutes to go.
Monday night football between the Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders saw a similarly excessive roughing of the passer penalty against Chiefs NFL Pro Bowl defensive lineman Chris Jones. Jones had a strip sack of Raiders quarterback Derek Carr that was overturned due to the penalty.
This level of inaccuracy by officials has not been since the “Fail Mary” of 2012 and the egregious amount of pass interference penalties we saw in 2020. When the NFL has an agenda they let you know they are going to push it, no matter how much it may affect the outcomes of games. To the NFL the means are always justified by the ends.
Overreaction: The NFC East is the best division in the NFL.
Don’t let the records fool you, the NFC East is not the best division in the NFL. With the Philadelphia Eagles undefeated, Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants sitting at 4-1 on paper they look like the best division in the NFL. With the exception of Washington being 1-4 the division is the most successful through five weeks of NFL football.
However, the entire division has a bottom 10 strength of schedule. The Giants and the Eagles have the easiest and second-easiest schedules in the NFL. The Commanders have the sixth easiest schedule and The Cowboys are tenth. It may look like the division is having great success and to each team, it is a credit to the coaches players, and their hard work, but to call it the best division in the NFL is a farce.
Not an overreaction: It’s a fire sale in Carolina.
After Monday’s news that Matt Rhule is out as Carolina Panthers Head Coach, the defensive coordinator Phil Snow and assistant special team coach Ed Foley. This comes after the Panther’s slow start to the 2022 season in which they have been ineffective to get their offense going. The Panthers rank dead last in third down conversion (24.2%) and last in yards per game (271.4).
With Rhule’s departure and the Panthers learning toward a rebuild several teams are inquiring about the availability of wide receiver D..J. Moore and if the Panther would be open to trading him. With Baker Mayfield out for several weeks, teams will also inquire about Panthers running back Christian McCaffery possibly being on the market as well. Carolina could look salary dump this offseason and start from square one.
Under Rhule, the Panthers were 11-27 never having more than five wins in Rhule’s three seasons as head coach. Rhule was only three years into his massive seven-year 62 million dollar contract and leaves the team in the hands of defensive passing game coordinator/secondary coach Steve Wilks. Wilks was the Arizona Cardinals’ head coach in 2018 and is expected to name Panthers defensive assistant head coach Al Holcomb as the new defensive coordinator for the Panthers.
We’re there any overreactions I missed? Did you agree or disagree with my assessments? Let me know in the comments below and share your overreactions from the NFL’s week 5.
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