NFL Week 1 Overreactions- Chargers will win AFC West, Detroit’s Downfall is Here, Bills for SB

Week 1 of the highly anticipated 2025-26 NFL Season is in the books, and from the games across four days, there are many storylines to take away. At 1:00 PM on Sunday Afternoon, NFL RedZone was just about to kick off, and the excitement of tuning into it was unmatched to anything else. The hype and the action that the National Football League brings makes it the best sport in America, unquestionably. From the games spanning Thursday to Monday, there is a lot to talk about. 

On Friday Night, the Los Angeles Chargers took down the Kansas City Chiefs in Season 2 of the Brazil NFL game. My overreaction from this game is that the Chargers will win the AFC West, perhaps securing one of the AFC’s top seeds. This was an early test for the Chargers against a massive division opponent and they passed it in flying colors against Patrick Mahomes’ squad. Justin Herbert played a marvelous 60 minutes, throwing for 318 yards with 3 touchdowns, making several key runs as he rushed for 32 yards, achieving an 88.9 quarterback rating and a 131.6 passer rating, while committing no turnovers. In a quarterback duel, Herbert looked the better of the two and while he doesn’t show off with insane magical plays like Mahomes, Herbert was more solid of the two. I really like the Chargers’ offense and bringing back Keenan Allen was a great addition to the passing attack. Allen showed off with an impressive 7 rec, 68 yards, 1 TD game and fit in perfectly with Ladd McConkey and Quentin Johnson. This trio of receivers gives LA a more spread-out offense and more depth. Allen is fantastic at slot/short routes, McConkey can do everything but he’s great in the middle of the field in intermediate routes and Johnson gives Herbert the big plays with the deep ball. It is a balanced team and on the ground, we saw the debut of running back Omarion Hampton for LA. He only racked up 61 total yards on 17 touches but the encouraging thing for Chargers fans (and fantasy owners) is that he was the clear lead back over Najee Harris and Hampton looks to be poised for big things ahead. The Chiefs’ run defense is stingy so Hampton was not very efficient but in the coming weeks, he will be more integrated into the offense attack and they will draw up screens or get him on the edge. He’s an explosive back and the Chargers have a lot of potential with the great offense they have. Los Angeles put on a show in Brazil under the lights and Herbert has a real chance of leading them to an AFC West Division title. 

On Sunday afternoon in Green Bay, the Packers walked through the Detroit Lions, a terrible showing for the Lions in a big NFC North clash. My overreaction from the game is that the Lions’ downfall is here and they won’t win the division. Detroit, who were the #1 seed in last year’s playoffs, underwent significant change in the offseason as they lost two members of their tremendous offensive line, lost their offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and their defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn. Johnson is now the head coach of the Chicago Bears and Glenn is now the head coach of the New York Jets. These two coordinators molded the Lions into one of the most formidable teams and their losses hurt the team a lot, as shown by the poor display at Lambeau. Not only is this loss going to give the Lions a disadvantage in standing tiebreakers, it exemplifies how competitive the NFC North division is. All three of the other teams in the division are strong enough to win the division and nothing in the division will be free. Green Bay dominated Detroit physically with four sacks and allowed allowed 3.7 yards per play as they put the high-octane Lions offense to a halt. The Lions might not cruise through opponents this year and with this ultra-competitive division, anything can happen. The Lions also have the second hardest schedule in the division as they play 11 of last year’s 14 playoff teams. Without some of their key stars of last year, the Lions will find wins harder to come by and it will be a struggle to win the division. 

The last overreaction I have from Week 1 is that the Buffalo Bills will go to the Super Bowl. A legendary game was played last Sunday Night between the Baltimore Ravens and the Buffalo Bills, a game the Bills won 41-40. This exquisite game was the win of a lifetime for Josh Allen’s Bills as they pulled out a magnificent comeback. Even though they allowed 40 points, they demonstrated qualities of a champion as they forged a superb comeback under the lights. Allen was clutch in the key moments and the defense showed up at the right time as they forced a fumble from Derrick Henry late in the fourth quarter. Normally, Buffalo is a run-heavy team but in this one, they only had 108 total rushing yards compared to a monstrous 394 passing yards by Allen. It could have gotten ugly for Buffalo as they were down 34-19 after three quarters but the whole team persevered to stun the Ravens. After this win, they have made it two consecutive wins over Baltimore and in my opinion, they have established themselves second in the AFC chain of command, only behind the Kansas City Chiefs. There is a lot to clean up from the game for Buffalo but a win of this caliber immediately makes me believe that they will go to the Super Bowl. 

The primetime games this week were nothing short of spectacular and it was a banger of a week to kick it off for the NFL. It is still very early in the season but early glimpses of teams can tell you a lot about how they will fare in the rest of the campaign. It was an enthralling slate of games and the action will continue into Week 2, with a juicy Packers-Commanders Thursday Night Football matchup kicking things off.