Every week in the NFL, you see stuff that makes you scratch your head. Example: I sat in the press box at Gillette Stadium for three hours Sunday wondering if the Indianapolis Colts' offensive linemen realized that the ball had been snapped, or that they were supposed to block the guys in front of them.
Fortunately, in the Gillette Stadium press box, you can spin your chair around during breaks in the action and watch the TVs, on which other NFL games are being played and touchdowns are being scored. And you can scratch your head wondering ...
What's going on with Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills, exactly?
Was Joe Mixon not on any of the Cincinnati Bengals film the Carolina Panthers watched last week?
Is Justin Fields about to be the league's next superstar QB?
What the actual heck, Las Vegas Raiders?
Is Aaron Rodgers done?
And I want to start this week's overreactions column right there, with the Green Bay Packers. Because no, I don't think Rodgers is done, but it's crystal clear that something in Green Bay is very broken right now, and it's hard to envision a scenario in which Rodgers and the Packers come back from this. A 15-9 loss to the Detroit Lions -- a result that ended the Lions' five-game losing streak while stretching Green Bay's to five -- was just the latest embarrassment for Rodgers and the Pack. The inability to reach double figures against one of the league's worst defenses has to be the new rock bottom in a season that has been sinking for over a month. And next week, they get the Dallas Cowboys coming off a bye.
So let's start this week in Green Bay, where things are as ugly as they've been in quite some time.
The Packers should sit Aaron Rodgers down and take a look at Jordan Love
We can talk all we want about the group around Rodgers -- how the Packers haven't given him enough receivers, how the run game can't get going behind an offensive line that can't stay healthy. We can talk about how disappointing the defense has been. We can talk about -- and have talked about -- all of that ad nauseam. It can all be true, and at the same time it can be true that Rodgers isn't playing very well, either. His three interceptions Sunday were his most in a game since 2017, and two of them came with the team basically on the Lions' goal line, robbing the Packers of points in a game in which points proved precious.
This is a season going nowhere for the Packers, who are 3-6, tied with the Chicago Bears for second place at 4½ games behind the first-place Minnesota Vikings and still have games on their schedule against the 6-2 Cowboys, the 5-3 Tennessee Titans, the 8-0 Philadelphia Eagles, the 6-3 Miami Dolphins, the 7-1 Vikings and these same Lions that just beat them. The Packers need to win most -- if not all -- of their remaining games in order to get into the playoffs, and it's hard to find more than one or two in which you'd pick them to win right now. In a season going nowhere, with annual questions about Rodgers' future still looming, is it wrong to take a look at what you have for the future?
Verdict: OVERREACTION
Yes, I think it is wrong because the Packers obviously went all-in on Rodgers when they signed him to that contract this offseason, and going with Love at this point would amount to giving up. Look, as long as you have Rodgers, you're supposed to be able to feel like you can win every game. So as long as you're not mathematically eliminated, you owe it to yourself, to him and to the rest of your players to keep putting your best quarterback on the field and trying to win. But man, it is bleak up there, and the continued struggles make you wonder about Rodgers' future in Green Bay and what they can do about it.
The contract is complicated, and the financial impact of potentially trading Rodgers next offseason is significant enough to give him some say in the matter. But it's not impossible; nor is it impossible that he would decide to retire if he doesn't see things getting better. The Packers hope the nearly $60 million he has on the table for 2023 will entice him back, but as things spiral further and further down the drain in Green Bay, it's worth wondering whether this could turn out to be Love's team before any of us thought it would.
The Colts' Frank Reich will be the next head coach fired
Indianapolis threw a coach overboard last week, firing offensive coordinator Marcus Brady. It seemed like a scapegoat move because Brady didn't design or call the offense. Reich does. But things have been ugly all year in Indy, where team owner Jim Irsay has been fuming behind the scenes and was a major driving force in the decision to bench Matt Ryan and start Sam Ehlinger at quarterback.
The Colts rolled into Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Sunday and made it clear from the start that Brady was not the problem, compiling just 121 yards of offense in a 26-3 loss in which their defense actually played pretty well. Indy went 0-for-14 on third down, 0-for-2 on fourth down and generally looked as inept as any offense in the league has looked in any game this year. The Colts are now 3-5-1 and well behind the first-place Titans, who've beaten them twice already, in the AFC South.
Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION
I don't know that Irsay would make a move on Reich during the season, but everything I've been told for the past month is that he's super angry around the way the season is going. And when assistant coaches are getting fired in Week 9, that's never a good sign for the people in charge.
Reich has pulled the Colts out of rough starts before, and it's not impossible to think the Colts could recover and make a run at the playoffs. But it seems incredibly unlikely, especially given the way the offense looks. And you wonder whether the fact that the Colts have spent years unsuccessfully trying to fill the void created by Andrew Luck's surprise retirement will end up costing Reich, who's well liked, well respected and a better coach than this year's record indicates.
Justin Fields is going to finally be the answer at quarterback in Chicago
Yes, the Chicago Bears lost to the Dolphins on Sunday, but it was not Fields' fault. The Bears' second-year signal-caller hung in the whole way, nearly outdueling Tua Tagovailoa and all of those speedy Dolphins receivers before falling 35-32. Fields ran for 178 yards and a touchdown, threw for 123 yards and three touchdowns, didn't turn the ball over and had the team in position to win it in the final minutes. He has improved every week and is one of the most fun players in the league to watch right now.
Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION
There's a ton to like about Fields and what he's showing right now. Ever since that lackluster Thursday night loss to the Washington Commanders a few weeks back, after which the coaches and the front office got together and worked out a plan to better utilize Fields' legs as a means of getting him more comfortable in the offense, he has looked like a different and far more confident player.
He's making sharp decisions, he's clearly in command, and he clearly seems to have the skills to succeed in the league. And he's doing all of this with what's probably one of the weakest all-around rosters in the league. The Bears, remember, traded away two of their best defensive players last week and traded for Chase Claypool to get Fields some help. They know they have a ton of work to do on their roster in the offseason, but if they can beef up the defense and the offensive line, and keep putting pieces around Fields to help him continue his development, the future is bright for the Ohio State product in the Windy City.
Tom Brady just saved the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' season
The Bucs couldn't get anything going on offense all day against the Los Angeles Rams, much like they haven't been able to get anything going on offense all year. But Brady got the ball back down 13-9 with 44 seconds to go at his own 40-yard line and was able to reach back in time for a winning touchdown drive against a Rams team with an offense that is somehow even worse. As a result of the last-minute heroics by Brady and rookie tight end Cade Otton, combined with the Atlanta Falcons' loss to the Chargers, the Bucs are now tied for first place in the NFC South.
Verdict: OVERREACTION
Yes, the Bucs are tied for first in the NFC South, but they're also 4-5. The New Orleans Saints are right behind the Bucs and Falcons at 3-5, and they're about to play a very banged-up Baltimore Ravens team on Monday Night Football. The division is still there for the taking for the Bucs, but before we can feel confident in their ability to take it, we really do need to see more consistent production from Brady's offense.
The Bucs still have nothing resembling a run game. Brady averaged 4.8 yards per pass Sunday. If Matthew Stafford and the Rams' offense had been able to get a first down after the defense stopped the Bucs on the goal line in the final two minutes, Brady wouldn't have had a chance for the comeback drive, and the Bucs would be staring at 3-6 on their way to Germany for a tough one against the Seattle Seahawks next week. Good win. Important win. But a long way to go before this Bucs team looks like a real contender.
Patrick Mahomes should be the MVP front-runner
It wasn't easy Sunday night because the Titans don't make anything easy. But with the Chiefs trailing their nemesis 17-9 in the fourth quarter, Mahomes converted a third-and-17 with a 20-yard scramble, capped that same drive with a 14-yard scramble for a touchdown and then ran in the two-point conversion to tie the game at 17. Then he led the winning field goal drive in overtime, and after a night on which he threw 43-for-68 for 446 yards and a touchdown and ran the ball six times for 63 more yards and a touchdown, the Chiefs emerged with a 6-2 record that matches Buffalo's for the best in the AFC and keeps them a game ahead of the Chargers in first place in the AFC West.
Verdict: NOT AN OVERREACTION
Mahomes was so good so early in his career that he quickly ascended into that LeBron James/Michael Jordan zone where it's almost as if voters look for a reason to give the MVP award to someone else. And he might live in that zone for the rest of his career. But he shouldn't. Mahomes was absolutely everything for the Chiefs on a night they needed him to be absolutely everything. Allen, who has been the favorite all year, is coming off two not-so-great games (after beating Mahomes in Kansas City, it must be noted). Tagovailoa, Jalen Hurts, Geno Smith ... I don't know, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, Saquon Barkley, Tyreek Hill and a bunch of other guys all might have something to say about the MVP race before it's over, but there is no one else like Mahomes, and Sunday was one of those nights that reminded you of that in case you forgot.