The hype around the New York Jets has been pretty intense, while Aaron Rodgers basked in all of the attention. After flaking out the past several years in Green Bay, Rodgers was trying to convey he impression that he was serious again about football. The question of his attitude and commitment was one of the biggest question marks around the 2023 season, along with the obvious issues around his age. We had just seen Tom Brady pull this off, but many of us were skeptical that Rodgers could come close to matching Brady’s maniacal work ethic.

The scene was set for the September 11th debut of Rodgers and the Jets last night on Monday Night Football. Rodgers ran into the stadium carrying the American flag in front of a delirious crowd.

Then, after a handful of plays, all the noise and enthusiasm was sucked out of the stadium. Rodgers was sacked and his ankle appeared to be twisted. He went down after trying to stand up and then left the game for good. Everyone is speculating on the severity of the injury, but it doesn’t look good at the moment.

For the Jets, a season-ending injury destroys their title hopes. The defense in New York is excellent, and they had put some great weapons around Rodgers. As you might expect, social media was filled with angry reactions from Jets fans.

Shockingly, the Jets managed to win the game in wild fashion due to their defense and some big plays. Josh Allen was terrible for the Bills, raising questions about whether he’s regressing. He had an embarrassing fumble and was intercepted three times by safety Jordan Whitehead. Garrett Wilson made a ridiculous catch in the end zone on the throw from Zach Wilson that should have been picked off. And Breece Hall was spectacular with 10 carries for 127 yards.

Other AFC contenders had to be happy with this result. The Jets are screwed if Rodgers is out for an extended period of time, yet they managed to drop a loss on the Bills.

In some ways this is a strange question to ask after the Buffalo Bills thumped the defending champion Los Angeles Rams last night to kick off the 2022 NFL season. But the question has to be asked.

Josh Allen has blossomed into a fantastic quarterback, and his ability to run the ball gives the Bills offense a tremendously effective weapon. But there’s a clear risk involved, and it’s clear that Allen is fearless at the moment, and that leads to some very bad habits and bad decisions.

Late in the game, Allen ran the ball and was hit very hard. There was no reason for him to run. The game was over. But he did it anyways.

Allen is a big guy, so perhaps he can take more of a beating than smaller players. That makes sense. But he’s not immune to injury because of his size, and one of the great advantages for quarterbacks in the modern NFL is that the rules will protect you, unless you decide to act like a running back.

We can go back 20 years for a comparison to Allen – Daunte Culpepper. Culpepper was a beast, and he led a similar, high-powered offense in Minnesota. And he loved to run the ball and run through defenders. And he suffered a serious ankle injury. He seemed indestructible like Allen, but he wasn’t.

It’s only one game, but the Bills look like they can live up to the offseason hype. And the addition of Von Miller to the defense seems like a stroke of genius. The Bills were slight favorites on the road last night against the Rams, and then ran away with the game in the second half.

Allen’s ability to run the ball can help lead the Bills to the Super Bowl, but he can also derail this season if he continues to be reckless.

You could see it on the first drive of the game. Josh Allen was ready to run the ball when needed, and he was being accurate with his throws despite the cold weather. That as it turned out was a terrible combination for the Patriots defense and the Bills went on to destroy New England 47-17 in a game that must have been pure nirvana for Bills fans.

Allen completed 21 of 25 passes for 308 yards and 5 touchdowns. He was the difference all night long, but this entire team came out to play. Bills players were called out by the press after a tough home loss to the Patriots earlier in the season when they were bullied in cold weather. They weren’t going to let that happen again.

Meanwhile, Mac Jones had a rough night even as he started the game with some nice throws. His first interception was a nice throw, but Micah Hyde made an amazing play on the ball for the INT.

The real problem, however, was the Patriots defense that gave up a touchdown to the Bills on their first seven drives of the game. Bill Belichick had to be sick after this performance, which of course had to make Bills fans that much happier.

The Bills were a 4.5 point favorite in this game, but it’s a game I didn’t want to touch as we didn’t know which version of Josh Allen would show up. Allen wasted no time showing he came to play, and this version of Josh Allen makes the Bills a serious Super Bowl contender. Allen’s problem has always been consistency. At times he can lose his accuracy. If he can be dependable throwing the ball and run when needed, the Bills will be tough to beat this postseason. Let’s see how he does.

The NFL playoffs kick off today with the Las Vegas Raiders visiting Cincinnati in the opening game. Playoff weekend extends through Monday night as the NFL pushes to continue its dominance on television and maximize ratings.

As we start the payoffs, NFL futures have the Green Bay Packers and Kansas City Chiefs as the favorites to meet in the Super Bowl as you can see above. Both teams are playing great football and a matchup of these two squads would probably give us a great Super Bowl, though we all know the NFL playoffs rarely work out that way. This is what makes the NFL great.

Here’s a quick look at the NFL lines for the playoff games:

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It’s Overreaction Monday, so we have to be careful of making too much of one game. But I’ve been skeptical about Josh Allen. Of course he’s a very good player, but is really one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL? If you just look at last season, the answer might be “yes.” But is one season enough to come to that conclusion?

After signing a massive contract, Allen got off to a rough start in week one against the Steelers defense. He struggled with accuracy as the Bills lost at home 23-16. Next week he and the Bills get another tough defense as they travel to Miami. Let’s see if Allen’s struggles continue . . .