NFL overreactions/underreactions: Week 7

Week 7 is officially in the books this season. Whether it is wide receiver trades, undefeated teams going down or divisional collapse, overreactions and underreactions have taken social media by storm.

Here are some of our overreactions/underreactions of Week 7.

Peyton’s Underreaction: Lions are the best team in the league

With the NFL season basically at the midway point, there have been a lot of teams finally finding their stride, but there is one team that I think is well above the others.

That team is the Detroit Lions. This team is fresh off their most important win of the season thus far and it doesn’t look like they are slowing down anytime soon.

To do a quick recap of their season they are 5-1 (1st in the NFC North) and have some high-profile wins already. Some of them are beating the Dallas Cowboys 47-9, beating the Seattle Seahawks 42-29, and as mentioned earlier their most important win beating the Minnesota Vikings 31-29.

Let's start with their signal caller Jared Goff. He is having himself a good year having 1,610 passing yards, 10 passing touchdowns, 4 interceptions thrown, and an amazing 88% completion percentage. This is a huge reason why they are having the season that they are having.

Another unit I want to mention is Detroit’s offensive line. According to PFF, the Lions have the best offensive line in the league. This doesn’t come as a surprise to me and it shows that this team rallies behind their offensive line and it is paying dividends this season.

With all this being said the Lions are putting together a dominant season so far and I don’t think it will slow down any time soon. As of now, they are the team to beat and it is going to be like that for a while.

Austin’s Underreaction: The whole NFC North will make the playoffs

After watching the Vikings and Lions in a duel this past Sunday and the Packers handling business against the Texans, the NFC North is good and I mean REALLY good.

The North seems destined to send at least three teams to the postseason but I think all four can get in.

The Lions and Vikings are both 5-1 and sit atop the division, the Packers sit at 5-2 and let's not forget about the Bears with rookie QB Caleb Williams who are 4-2 coming off a bye.

The Bears are currently the number seven seed in the NFC playoff picture. I know it’s still October but at the midway point of the season, that's pretty good.

Games within the division are starting to ramp up. It will be interesting to see how things shake out but with how the other NFC divisions are playing, all four of these teams can make the playoffs.

Alex’s Underreaction: The NFC West is up for Grabs

Going into this season, and many in years past, everyone picked one team to win the NFC West division: the San Francisco 49ers.

After winning the division the past two seasons, and reaching the Super Bowl last year, there was good reason to believe the 49ers would remain on top of the NFC West.

However, injuries have ravaged this 49ers squad. Star running back Christian McCaffrey has been dealing with Achilles tendinitis in both legs and has yet to play a snap this season.

The Niners have also lost Brandon Aiyuk for the season after the wide receiver tore his ACL and MCL last weekend. Additionally, wide receiver Deebo Samuel was recently hospitalized to receive treatment for pneumonia.

The point is, the 49ers simply are not healthy. While Jauan Jennings and Jordan Mason have given their best effort to fill in the gaps, San Francisco does not have enough firepower at the moment.

In their most recent game, the Niners lost 28-18 against the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs in a rematch of last year’s Super Bowl.

This loss dropped San Francisco’s record to 3-4 on the season, tying them with the Arizona Cardinals for second place in the division behind the 4-3 Seattle Seahawks.

While a 3-4 record is nothing insurmountable, and the 49ers can still surely win the NFC West, it appears it will be an uphill battle. Injuries can derail a season for any team and the 49ers are plagued with them right now.

Brennan’s Overreaction: Amari Cooper will out-produce Davante Adams

If Sunday showed us anything, it was that the Bills and Jets seem to be on two different trajectories after their trades for Wide Receivers.

Against the Titans, newly acquired Bills receiver Amari Cooper produced four catches for 66 yards and a score for his new team.

Davante Adams on the other hand had a very lackluster performance against a solid Steelers squad, producing three receptions for 30 yards.

While Adams' performance was mild, to say the least, he did produce nine targets from Aaron Rodgers, which is a huge positive for his performances going forward.

The Jets may continue to struggle this season, but as Adams gets more and more acclimated to this offense, he should see a larger role and greater production.

As for Cooper, he was brought in to open up the offense to take defenders away from the middle of the field.

Seven different Bills players caught the ball at some point in the game on Sunday.

Keon Coleman produced a 125-yard performance in Cooper's presence. Khalil Shakir led the team with seven receptions.

Both teams went out and got their receiver to fill different needs. The Jets needed a season saver and the Bills needed to add a guy to continue the “everyone eats” slogan they have adopted.

But saying that Cooper will out-produce Adams on their new teams doesn’t seem realistic given that Adams is the guy in New York while Cooper was brought in to take defenders away from other receivers.

Ethan’s Overreaction: Patrick Mahomes is washed

No, Patrick Mahomes is not playing like a top-10 QB in the league right now, and no, he should not be anywhere near the MVP conversation. But Mahomes should not be considered washed like many are saying.

Mahomes is having the worst season of his career by far. He is on pace for the lowest passing yards, touchdowns, and QBR in his career. He is also on pace for the most interceptions of his career.

However, come playoff time Mahomes will still lead the Chiefs to another Super Bowl.

One reason that supports this is the Chiefs’ playoff run last year.

Mahomes had a large drop-off in all of his stats last year. The Chiefs went 11-6, which was the worst record Mahomes ever had as a starter.

Going into the 2024 playoffs, many thought that there was no way the Chiefs could become back-to-back champions with the high level of play in the AFC and the ever-looming threat of the 49ers and Lions in the NFC.

After beating the Dolphins in the Divisional Round, they were underdogs in every other playoff game they played in. And what was the result? Mahomes won Super Bowl MVP as he led the Chiefs to the Lombardi Trophy for the second year in a row.

This year not much is looking different.

The Chiefs’ record is better than last year at this time, being the only undefeated team left in the NFL with a record of 6-0. This is also in spite of injuries to key offensive players like Rashee Rice and Isiah Pacheco.

Mahomes also just gained another threat in WR DeAndre Hopkins.

Despite having a clear down year, Mahomes will show everyone in the playoffs this year that he is still the best QB in the league.

Brennan Kirkpatrick is a second-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, please email blk5545@psu.edu

Peyton Waddell is a second-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email prw5142@psu.edu.

Austin Moran is a second-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email acm6506@psu.edu.

Alex Harkins is a second-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email arh6278@psu.edu.

Ethan Brinser is a first-year student majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email ejb6463@psu.edu.