There are 16 NFL teams mashing the panic button and 16 NFL teams making playoff plans after Week 1.

Half the league is winless. The other half is perfect.

All 32 of them should just relax and take a deep breath.

So should the fans.

I'm looking at you, Buffalo backers. Sure, Leodis McKelvin coughed up a fumble that allowed the Patriots and Bill Belichick — looking dapper as always in his cutoff "AFL throwback" sweatshirt — a chance to overcome a 13-point deficit in the final two minutes Monday night.

But vandalizing his yard isn't the way to voice your displeasure.

That's what sports radio is for. That's what cutting him from your franchise or trading him to Detroit in "Madden '10" is for.

Fans tend to jump on and off the bandwagon faster than teenagers on a Dance Dance Revolution mat.

Overreaction is the norm.

Take fans in Carolina, where the Panthers were a dark horse candidate to make it to the Super Bowl — and the Panthers fans were frothing at the mouth.

A 38-10 drubbing and a quarterback so scatterarmed he makes Rex Grossman look like Joe Montana later and the sky — and Jake Delhomme's stock — is falling.

Tell Chicken Little to take a chill pill.

The Indianapolis Colts were 0-1 last year after an embarrassing loss to Chicago. The Miami Dolphins were 0-1 following a 1-15 season and were considered by many the worst team in the NFL a year ago.

How did things turn out for those two teams?

Indy went on a late-season roll. Miami, using the gimmicky Wildcat formation, made the playoffs.

On the flip side, the Bills were 1-0 last season after destroying Seattle. Buffalo went on to start 5-0 and fans — including myself — were trying to figure out how low the over-under would be on the temperature at Ralph Wilson Stadium for the AFC Championship game under the lights in January.

It turns out the number was seven, which was also the number of wins the Bills ended up with.

Dallas opened with a dominating win over Cleveland last season, prompting Cowboys fans to anoint Tony Romo as the hottest thing in Texas since Eva Longoria-Parker, Jason Garrett as an offensive wunderkind and T.O. as a dude who was misunderstood everywhere else and a great teammate.

The Cowboys didn't even make the playoffs.

How many 1-0 teams this year will tank? How many 0-1 teams will catch fire?

That's the cool thing about the NFL. One game is just one game. A season can have as many twists and turns as Darren Sproles.

Statistics show it is the second game of the season that goes a lot further in deciding how disastrous a year will be.

Start 0-2 and plan on an early offseason of golf.

Since 1978, exactly 224 teams have started 0-2. Only 26 have made the playoffs.

If your favorite team starts 0-2, that is the time to break the glass over the panic button.

But not after Week 1.

Mike Kilroy is a staff writer for the Butler Eagle.