Don't overreact to Week 1, especially with the Packers

As it does every season, Week 1 will provide no shortage of red herrings.

Well before the opening game of the 2022 NFL season had concluded, the reigning-champion Los Angeles Rams looked like a team exhausted of fuel and without any answers. The quarterback, Matthew Stafford, appeared to lack his signature zip on his passes, seemingly validating the months of discourse around his troublesome elbow. The much-ballyhooed acquisition of wide receiver Allen Robinson produced just one catch for 12 yards, all of which occurred in garbage time. All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey extended his ignominious streak of allowing a long touchdown to six consecutive games.

When the clock finally ran to zero, the Rams had allowed 31 points while producing only 10 of their own, a stark departure from the high-scoring offense and dominating defense that carried the team to a Super Bowl victory less than seven months earlier on the same SoFi Stadium grounds. Inevitably, questions about Los Angeles' fitness to defend its title will surface over the coming days. The NFL reaction machine demands it.

But history suggests against taking that approach. The Rams, after all, still have nearly all the principal pieces that helped them take home the Lombardi Trophy earlier this calendar year as well as team leadership that will almost certainly reinforce the roster with talent over the course of the season. And while L.A. suffered an embarrassing loss Thursday, the defeat comes out of the conference and will have more narrative impact than influence over playoff seeding. It requires little imagination to see how little this game could mean a month or two from now.

Still unconvinced? Look no further than the Green Bay Packers.

A season ago, the Packers entered their Week 1 matchup with the New Orleans Saints favored by more than a field goal despite playing in the humid, swampy environs of TIAA Bank Stadium, a far cry from the typical September conditions in Wisconsin. Green Bay boasted the reigning MVP, an All-Pro wide receiver, one of the league's premier backfield tandems, and a stout offensive line. Yet, somehow, the unit produced just three points.

In the immediate aftermath of the poor showing, national pundits pointed to Aaron Rodgers' offseason standoff with the Packers and his open discussion of retirement as red flags. Others openly questioned whether the quarterback cared about the team at all. A Pro Football Hall of Famer essentially accused Rodgers of quiet quitting.

And a month later, absolutely none of those concerns retained a shred of relevance. The Packers went on to win 13 games and secure the No. 1 seed in the NFC while Rodgers earned another MVP award, the fourth of his career.

All of which underscores how often Week 1 can provide misleading information. Some teams require time to settle in after an offseason of change. Others artificially benefit from an element of surprise that won't sustain over the course of 18 weeks. These early games just don't reveal enough data points to support the dramatic reactions that annually spawn around this time.

With that in mind, which elements of the 2022 Packers could cause the strongest Week 1 overreactions? Let's explore.

The young receiving corps, especially if Allen Lazard misses time