Overreaction Tuesday: Rich Talks Patriots, Rams, Ravens, Bears, Commanders, & NBA Finals

Overreaction Tuesday arrived a day late and Garrett-soaked, with Chris Brockman lobbing hot takes and Rich deciding which ones counted.

Brockman led with the obvious: a Patriots-Rams Super Bowl, currently 30-1, that he plans to bet. From there he declared that Myles Garrett guarantees the Rams a return to the Super Bowl and a single-season playoff sack record. Rich would not call that an overreaction. He even revealed that his son Cooper asked whether the Rams could go 17-0, to which Rich, accused of being a passionate Rams fan, offered only that anything can happen.

The "super team" label came up, courtesy of a Chris Long podcast calling the Rams the closest thing the NFL has seen to one. Rich is wary of the phrase, noting the Eagles torched it years ago as Vince Young's "Dream Team." His own framing was cleaner: ask anyone for the best pass rusher and best cornerback in the AFC, and you would land on Myles Garrett and arguably Trent McDuffie. The Rams just acquired both.

Then came the Aaron Donald talk. Brockman relayed that Donald, contacted recently about a comeback, acknowledged he is 35 but admitted the idea has him interested if he can relight the fire. Rich was skeptical about anyone choosing to grind through a full training camp at this stage, but he teed up Eric Weddle as the perfect guest to weigh it. A midseason, part-time return, he conceded, is something the Rams would never turn down. Do they need it? No. Does everyone want to see it? Absolutely.

One take Rich did flag as an overreaction was Brockman's claim that A.J. Brown would become the first Patriots receiver ever to lead the NFL in receiving yards. The math is the problem. Leading the league last year took 2,000 yards, and Rich does not see a Patriot, even with Drake Maye throwing, reaching that in a schedule that includes snow games. Land in the 1,500-to-1,600 range, he said, and he is on board.

Things then got delightfully sidetracked on the Commanders, where a question about the running back position spiraled into riffing on a rookie whose name, the desk decided, belonged on a personal-injury billboard.

The closer was the NBA Finals, set to start the next day, and Brockman's declaration that Wembanyama and the Spurs had slammed Oklahoma City's championship window shut. Rich called it an overreaction on the spot. The Thunder, he pointed out, hold two first-round picks and the kind of assets that could chase a star, and he would counsel strongly against writing off Sam Presti. We thought Denver and Boston were each set up for dynasties, he reminded everyone, and both got exactly one.

It was, in other words, a normal Tuesday. Just with a meteor's worth of news behind it.