Loosen your arm, Jimmy G.
Turning 40 turned Tom Brady into Scott Tolzien. Bill Belichick has to bench Brady and start Jimmy Garoppolo if the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots want to have any chance to repeat.
Brady completed just 44.4 percent of his passes and didn’t throw a touchdown in a 42-27 loss to Kansas City that kicked off the NFL season. It was the first time Brady completed less than half of his passes in a regular season game since Week 5 in 2013.
So what if he’s won five Super Bowls and probably is the greatest quarterback in NFL history? If Patriots fans are giving up on him – check Twitter – then he must be finished.
By the way, Brady had no turnovers, lost favorite receiver Julian Edelman in the preseason, lost replacement Danny Amendola during the game, got sacked three times and was under pressure often.
Benching Brady is easily Week 1’s top overreaction.
Here are more overreactions following opening weekend:
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OVERREACTION: Kareem Hunt is the next Ezekiel Elliott. Hunt ran for 148 yards and added 133 yards receiving in Kansas City’s win.
REALISTIC REACTION: Leonard Fournette and Dalvin Cook will have a say in that. Both guys ran for 100 yards in their debuts.
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OVERREACTION: Carson Wentz will lead the Eagles to the NFC East title.
REALISTIC REACTION: They were 1-point favorite to beat the Redskins on the road and did. The Cowboys are still the class of the division.
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OVERREACTION: The Ravens have a dominant defense like the crew led by Ray Lewis.
REALISTIC REACTION: They always torment Andy Dalton.
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OVERREACTION: The Jets are last year’s Browns.
REALISTIC REACTION: It’s hard to be that terrible, but New York is bad.
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OVERREACTION: T.J. Watt is better than his brother. He had two sacks and an interception in his debut with Pittsburgh.
REALISTIC REACTION: Watt’s memorable performance came against rookie DeShone Kizer, not a veteran QB.
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OVERREACTION: Matthew Stafford proved he deserved the richest contract in NFL history by tossing four TD passes vs. the Cardinals.
REALISTIC REACTION: Stafford isn’t even a lock for top 10 QBs right now.
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OVERREACTION: The Falcons won’t feel a Super Bowl hangover.
REALISTIC REACTION: A slim victory over the Bears wasn’t impressive.
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OVERREACTION: Carson Palmer is finished. He tossed three picks and missed a lot of throws in Arizona’s loss at Detroit.
REALISTIC REACTION: The 37-year-old Palmer is clearly on the decline, but he has some football left.
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OVERREACTION: The Jaguars will surprise everyone in the AFC South.
REALISTIC REACTION: Hard to be excited about one win for a team that hasn’t had a winning season since 2007.
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OVERREACTION: Odell Beckham Jr. should be the NFL MVP. The Giants are awful without him.
REALISTIC REACTION: With him, this offense scored less than 20 points in the final six games in 2016, including a playoff loss.
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OVERREACTION: Sam Bradford will be NFL MVP. Bradford, a free agent after the season, had 346 yards passing and three TDs in Minnesota’s 29-19 win over New Orleans on Monday night.
REALISTIC REACTION: Bradford torched a defense that has six new starters and has finished near the bottom in yards and points allowed three straight seasons.
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OVERREACTION: Rex Ryan is the new John Madden.
REALISTIC REACTION: Check back after Ryan says ”bam” and ”boom” during a broadcast.
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For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL
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Follow Rob Maaddi on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP-RobMaaddi
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