The NFL Shockers & Twists Didn't Stop in Week 2 | Overreaction Monday w/ Rich & Chris Brockman

Chris Brockman summed up the first two weeks with a line from the group chat: "week one was drunk and week two is hung over." Then he brought Rich a fresh batch of takes for Overreaction Monday, and Rich sorted them into real and ridiculous.

**Colts should have gone for it on fourth and eight**

Chris opened with Sunday night. With about three minutes left in overtime, he said, Indianapolis should have gone for it rather than hand the ball back to Patrick Mahomes. "We all know how that game was ending."

Rich disagreed. If there's a decision to second-guess from Shane Steichen, he said, it's "willingly giving the football to Patrick Mahomes first." Taking the ball second tells you exactly what you need and lets you use fourth downs. Rich did praise the deep shot to Laquon Treadwell, which was overturned from a game-ending fumble to down by contact after L'Jarius Sneed brushed his hip. That reversal, in front of Chiefs Kingdom, meant one thing to Rich: "I don't want to hear anymore that the refs are in the Chiefs' pocket. Okay, that narrative is boom toast."

Chris also hated the two run plays on first and second down after the bomb. The bigger story to Rich was Kansas City looking terrific, from Travis Kelce to Tyquan Thornton's overtime catch on third and forever to rookie running back Emmett Johnson. Rich also promised he'd be here all week, then caught himself on the idea of getting hurt again: "I shouldn't say that. Oh, I'm out of appendixes."

**Deshaun Watson deserves to start this week and beyond**

"I don't know about the and beyond," Rich said, "but this week, you bet he does." Watson went 24 for 30 for 238 yards and two touchdowns, his first multi-touchdown game since September 22, 2024, against the Giants, and only his sixth game since then. Rich said nobody wanted 400 yards and five touchdowns. They wanted efficiency and no turnovers, and they got it.

Rich especially loved Todd Monken's postgame message, basically "Browns are going to be the Browns. F that." His reaction: "That's a t-shirt. That's a mantra." Watson starts against Carolina in Week 3. Beyond that, Rich said, "if the performance warrants it, do what you got to do."

**Brock Purdy is the best QB outside of Josh Allen**

Rich couldn't argue. Purdy went 20 of 22 against the Dolphins, a 91 percent completion rate, for 287 yards, running for a touchdown and throwing for two. He is now the second player in NFL history with 250 or more passing yards on 90 percent completion in multiple games. The other is Derek Carr.

Christian McCaffrey added two touchdowns and reached 100 career scrimmage touchdowns in 114 games, the fourth fastest ever, bumping Jerry Rice to fifth. He also has 50 or more touchdowns for multiple franchises, joining Marshall Faulk and Randy Moss. All of it with the receiver room thinning out: Mike Evans left the game, Demarcus Robinson was carted off, and when Kyle Shanahan was asked if Brandon Aiyuk is an option, his answer was "No." Rich had the Niners third in his power rankings, behind the Bills and Seattle.

**The Bengals are the best team in the AFC**

"I'll call that an overreaction for the moment," Rich said, but he agreed the defense is vastly improved. Cincinnati has eight sacks through two games after needing five games to get there last year. It allowed six points in Houston, its fewest in a road game since Week 13 of 2015, and held the Texans to 18 rushing yards.

Ja'Marr Chase bounced back from a 12-yard Week 1 with seven catches, 75 yards and two touchdowns. The first one, where he stumbled, located the ball and got both feet down, is to Rich "the clubhouse leader catch of the year." Rich picked Cincinnati to win the AFC North, and the division may come down to the Bengals and Ravens. Best in the AFC is still an overreaction with Buffalo looking superb and Kansas City also 2-0. But when Chris insisted the Bengals are for real, Rich conceded, "I'm picking up what you're putting down."

**Jaxon Smith-Njigba belongs in the MVP discussion**

Rich answered with a Did You Know. Smith-Njigba had nine catches for 155 yards and three touchdowns and is now "the second player in NFL history to record each of his team's first four touchdowns of the season with all coming through the air." The other is Ahmad Rashad of the 1979 Vikings. He joins Tyler Lockett and Steve Largent as the only Seahawks with 150 yards and three touchdown catches in a game, and his 11 100-yard games since the start of last season lead the league. Chase is next with seven.

He did it with a backup, too. Sam Darnold went down five snaps in, and Drew Lock kept things afloat. Seattle has allowed 10 or fewer points in both games, has won 12 straight including the playoffs, a franchise record, and Mike Macdonald joined George Seifert by winning 16 of his first 18 road games. Rich's ruling: not an overreaction, but MVP is a quarterback award. Smith-Njigba is the clubhouse leader to repeat as Offensive Player of the Year.

**The Eagles are the biggest fugazi 2-0 team in the NFL**

"That's an overreaction," Rich said. Yes, it's a new offense and a new voice in Jalen Hurts' helmet, the line is struggling, and the win in Tennessee came in 100-degree heat. But drama is simply how Philadelphia operates. "This is the only way the Eagles know how to operate," Rich said. He noted the only time Hurts has had the same voice and playbook in back-to-back seasons was with Shane Steichen. "I don't want to call it fugazi," Rich said. "You are what you are in the NFL." Next up is a Monday night game against a Bears team likely starting Tyson Bagent.

**Tyler Shough has the Saints as NFC contenders**

NFC South, yes, Rich said. NFC, "I need to see more." New Orleans beat Baltimore by outscoring the Ravens 15-0 in the fourth quarter and has won the fourth quarter 25-3 across two games. Ravens defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver called Shough a "poor man's Josh Allen," which the desk upgraded to "Temu Josh Allen." Shough is the third Saints player in the last 10 seasons with a passing and rushing touchdown in the fourth quarter, alongside Trevor Siemian and Drew Brees. Asked to pick the Saints or Eagles in Philadelphia, Rich still took the Eagles.

**The Raiders are the Chiefs' biggest threat in the AFC West**

Rich said it's still Denver, though he loves what Vegas is doing. The Raiders are 2-0 with a first-time head coach for the first time since Bill Callahan in 2002, their last season with a playoff win. Kirk Cousins has six touchdown passes, tied for the most through two games in Raiders history with Ken Stabler's 1976 team, and it's the first time Cousins has opened a season with back-to-back three-touchdown games. The defense forced six fumbles, with Maxx Crosby and Nakobe Dean flying around. Denver, meanwhile, came from behind to beat a Jacksonville team riding a nine-game regular-season win streak. It was the Broncos' sixth win when trailing by 10 or more under Sean Payton.

**The Chargers are a mess and will miss the playoffs**

The mess part, Rich said, "you could just see it with your own two eyes." The new offense with Mike McDaniel isn't clicking, Justin Herbert is throwing bad picks, and Joe Alt struggled with Crosby. Jim Harbaugh has never been 0-2 anywhere, and the schedule stays brutal: at Buffalo, at Seattle, Denver, at Kansas City. Still, "missing the playoffs, I'll just still call an overreaction," Rich said. They have too many good players, and 21 teams have new offensive coordinators.

**The Vikings are the best team in the NFC North**

"I can't disagree with that," Rich said. Brian Flores has the defense rolling, and Minnesota turned a Bears offense that scored 59 in Week 1 into one that scored three. Rich understands the case for riding Carson Wentz but hates the message benching Kyler Murray would send. "That's not the vibe you want to give to your locker room," he said. With Caleb Williams out for now and Minnesota heading to Tampa before hosting Miami, the Vikings sit on top.

**Tweet of the week**

The show also debuted a new closer: Chris picks the best overreaction from his mentions. The first winner, Noah Hunt, suggested the Vikings make "a godfather offer to the Chargers for Herbert." Rich called it "the most absurd thing I've heard and that rhymes in a while." The verdict was that Harbaugh loves Herbert far too much for it to happen. The parting request to future entries: "Just make it a little bit more sensible than that one."