Overreaction Tuesday: Rich Talks Rams, Giants, Saints, Texans, Caleb & More

Overreaction Monday landed on a Tuesday this week, and Chris came armed with takes on the Rams, the Giants, a rash of quarterback injuries, and a Saints quarterback who might make Drew Brees look like a poor man's version of himself.

The first one came from Mike, who was in the building at SoFi Stadium on Monday night. The take: the Rams completely punted on Week 1 in Australia and should still be Super Bowl favorites. The theory was that they never wanted to make the trip, flew in the day before, figured they'd lose, and came back to normal.

Rich wasn't having the conspiracy. "They didn't punt on Australia. They whiffed on Australia," he said. "They know they have to beat the 49ers. They can't punt on a division game." He noted Sean McVay had some fun with it in his walk-off comment after Monday's win.

On the Super Bowl part, though, Rich is still on board. If he got a mulligan on his Super Bowl pick, he wouldn't take it. "I'd still take the Rams," he said, pointing to a team that won without Puka Nacua, is going to get Myles Garrett back, and has an Aaron Donald who "already looks super freakish again." His only caveat: "let's see how they matriculate the next three weeks before we get out that anointing oil." Given the NFC West or the field for the Super Bowl, Rich took the West. "I'm not getting off them. They're supremely talented. If they stay healthy, man."

Next up was the Giants. With Jaxson Dart out for a while and Jameis Winston looking rough in relief, the overreaction was that New York should call Russell Wilson to play until Dart is healthy.

"Jameis is great," came the reply from the room. "He's funny. He'd be a great hang." But after watching some of Monday's throws, the verdict was "I don't know, man." The room settled on the tell for when it gets serious: "We'll know when it's real. It's when we see Russ in Newark Airport," picking something up at an Auntie Anne's in Terminal 1.

Chris then argued that slow starts and all the early injuries prove teams need to take the preseason more seriously. "Make the preseason great again," he said, noting that Jim Harbaugh even admitted he would go back and do it over.

Rich pushed back on Chris's claim that the Chargers are basically toast. "They're not toast, number one," he said, though he admitted "it doesn't look good." He pointed to 21 new offensive coordinators around the league and said he doesn't know how "putting folks out there risking injury for games that truly don't count" is the answer, just so the first two weeks don't go as poorly as they have for the Chargers. In the end, he split the difference and sided with Chris on this one.

The next take went further: with major quarterback injuries hitting the Bears, Commanders, and Giants, all three will miss the playoffs. Rich drew the line at Chicago. "Bears aren't missing the playoffs, I don't think," he said. "Plus, Caleb could be back this week."

That led to a rant on behalf of Caleb Williams, who has become "the king of memes" after being carted off and possibly returning soon. "It's his body. It's what he's thinking. Who the hell cares?" Rich said. He'd be happy for Bears fans, for Williams, and for Monday Night Football if he plays.

Chris also gave some love to Bryce Young, predicting a top five finish in passing yards. Rich didn't call that an overreaction. "Canales is an outstanding offensive mind," he said, adding "just ask Baker," and noted that Jalen Coker and Tetairoa McMillan are both top 10. The next test is a Browns defense that is "pretty damn good."

Then came the big one. The final overreaction was that Tyler Shough will break Brees's Saints record for passing yards, 5,476 set in 2011. Shough leads the NFL in passing at 331 yards per game and is on pace for 5,627.

Rich refused to rule anything out, but set the terms. "If he pulls that off, then we have to call Drew Brees a poor man's Tyler Shough," he said. "From now till the end of time." He even promised to text Brees to explain.

When the crew realized that pace would set the NFL single season record, the joke spiraled. Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, and eventually "every quarterback in the history of the NFL will be a poor man's Tyler Shough from now on."