The Miami Dolphins took down the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 1 in a thrilling 36-34 affair. This was a marquee matchup between two AFC teams who should be among the best in the conference in 2023, and it’s a big deal that the Dolphins came out on top. Mike McDaniel had an excellent game plan, and Tua Tagovailoa, Tyreek Hill, and the rest of the AFC East quad executed it expertly on the field.

Sure, this is just one game, and there are 16 more to go until the playoffs and 18 or 19 until the Super Bowl. But let’s not worry about those details now. For Dolphins fans, it’s time to celebrate with these three overreactions to the Dolphins Week 1 win vs. the Chargers.

3. Tyreek Hill is the NFL MVP

Tyreek Hill winning the NFL MVP Award in 2023 is only an overreaction right now because the league doesn’t count the votes until January.

Hill was, by far, the most electric player in the league on Sunday, making 11 catches for a staggering 215 receiving yards and scoring two touchdowns. He now leads the league in receiving and is more than on pace to become the first WR to put up 2,000 yards in a campaign, as is his stated preseason goal.

In addition to making history with 2,000 yards, if Hill does keep this up and take home MVP honors, he would be the first WR to do so since the NFL started handing out the current version of the award in 1957.

The MVP has gone to a quarterback every year since 2012 (RB Adrian Peterson), and a QB or running back has taken home the honors all but three times, with linebacker Lawrence Taylor (1986), kicker Mark Moseley (1982 strike year), and defensive tackle Alan Page (1971).

Because of his position, Hill will likely win Offensive Player of the Year, and not NFL MVP, if he keeps this up, but there is a first time for everything.

2. Mike McDaniel is Coach of the Year

Again, it’s still too early to hand out postseason awards, but why not put Mike McDaniel at the top of the NFL Coach of the Year list?

McDaniel schemed up an offensive game plan against the Chargers that helped his team put up 36 points against an improved defense that includes All-Pros Khalil Mack, Joey Bosa, and Derwin James.

The former Kyle Shanahan disciple is best known as a run-game guru, but on Sunday, he showed he knows how to draw up pass plays, too (especially when he has Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle going deep).

LA held Miami to just 70 rushing yards on the day, but Tua Tagovailoa aired it out to the tune of 28 completions for 466 passing yards.

If Tagovailoa stays healthy, and the Dolphins wideouts put up numbers like they did in Week 1, it will be hard to keep McDaniel off the podium come Coach of the Year time. At this point, Tua and Tyreek are on pace to become the first-ever 2,000-yard receiver and 6,000-yard passer in NFL history.

1. Dolphins are the best team in the AFC East

There’s a solid chance this is just a straight-up reaction — no “over” involved — but since the Buffalo Bills and New York Jets haven’t played yet, we can’t say for sure that the Dolphins are the best team in the AFC East this season.

Before the Dolphins Week 1 win over the Chargers, the last we saw Miami was in Buffalo, giving the AFC East champs everything they could handle in the playoffs with third-string QB Skyler Thompson.

Now, at full strength and health, the Dolphins beat one of the better teams in the AFC on the road and clearly looked better than the Patriots who, in fairness, looked better than many predicted in a close loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Unless Josh Allen and the Bills or Aaron Rodgers and the Jets look explosive on Monday night and like they are legit Super Bowl contenders, they won’t compare to what the Dolphins did on Sunday.

As all NFL fans know, on any given Sunday, anything can happen. And as Dolphins fans learned the hard way last season, Miami is just a Tua Tagovailoa concussion or a Tyreek Hill or Jaylen Waddle hamstring tweak away from going from Super Bowl contenders to a borderline playoff team or worse.

After the Dolphins Week 1 win over the Chargers, it’s not time for any of that, though. It’s time to gleefully overact. This is Miami’s team, after all, and optimism should always rule the day in sunny South Beach.

Let the rest of the soon-to-be snow-bound AFC East fans sit and focus on the negative.