The NFL has been wacky this year. The Jets started off great and finished off terribly. The Lions started off terribly and finished off amazingly. The Colts, Raiders, and Broncos were all supposed to make the playoffs. The best record out of all of them is 6-11. Although I can describe it all here, let's dive a little deeper.
AFC East: The Bills were supposed to be a powerhouse (They were). Although many are questioning whether they have enough energy because of the incident with Damar Hamlin. Although he’s improving it took a lot of heart out of the Bills. The Dolphins started off great until Tua got injured. Everything went down and they started losing left and right. The Patriots have been weird all year. Losing, winning then losing again. Rhamondre Stevenson has been the leader of the Patriots averaging almost 4 yards per carry and being one of the most surprising players in the NFL this year. The Jets started off amazingly. Breece Hall and Sauce Gardner were doing great, but then Hall tore his ACL and has been out this whole year. The game that took the wind out of the Jets was their second loss to the Patriots in the game in which Zach Wilson went 7/22 with 77 yards. After that, they put Mike White in who got injured and then the Jets' season got ruined.
AFC North: The Ravens are a great team. When they have Lamar Jackson playing.
The Ravens started off really doing well and were on pace to win the AFC North until week 13. In that game, Lamar Jackson stained his PCL and has been out ever since. Ever since then the Ravens have not been the same team. The Bengals are one of the best teams in the league. Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase are one of the best quarterback and wide receiver ratios in the league. They have a chance to win the Superbowl. The Steelers have been better this year but not where their fans want them to be. Kenny Pickett needs to throw fewer interceptions and Dionate Johnson needs to stop dropping balls and Najee Harris needs to do a better job. Talking at the Browns is too disappointing so I'm going to leave them out of this article.
AFC South: This division disappointed, with no team winning 10 games. The Colts were predicted to win 12, but they ended up winning 4. The Titans were also to do well, but they were terrible at the end because of Ryan Tannehill’s injury. The Colts had Matt Ryan, Jonathan Taylor, and Michael Pittman Jr. and still did terribly. Jonathan Taylor disappointed and Matt Ryan threw way too many interceptions. The Titans Derrick Henry is an amazing running back, but he needs a good quarterback too! During the last few weeks of the season, Ryan Tannehill has been sidelined with an ankle injury putting Malik Willis in the spotlight. Malik Willis was not meant to be in the spotlight and ruined the Titans' playoff chances. The Jaguars did well exceeding expectations from most predictors. Trevor Lawrence, Zay Jones, and Christian Kirk all did better than expected and took the Jaguars to their first playoff appearance since 2017. The Texans went 3-13-1 just like voters expected them to go. They have no star players and NO ONE to be excited about (sorry Texans).
AFC West: The Chiefs did better than great. They went 14-3 and set records while doing so. Patrick Mahomes = the best quarterback in the NFL. Travis Kelce = the best tight end in the NFL. When you have the best player at two important positions you are going to succeed. The Chargers did well this year. Especially their defense star Khalil Mack. Last year they lost on a win- or-go-home SNF game, but this year it changed to clinching two weeks before the season ended. Justin Herbert, Austin Ekler, and Mike Williams exceeded expectations which led to the postseason. The Raiders disappointed many. Derek Carr struggled as well as Hunter Renfrow. Davante Adams had a good season having the 2nd most receiving yards in all of the NFL. Josh Jacobs had an amazing season but needs more help on offense. Most people were thinking back to the strong Broncos team built around Peyton Manning when Russel Wilson joined (it was very different than that). The Broncos went 5-11 and lost ugly. Russel Wilson was caught saying “I fell short this season”, where he admitted he did terribly. Throwing for only 16 touchdowns he really struggled. He also threw many too many picks in 11. Then his season was cut short with an injury and the Broncos have never looked the same.
NFC East: The Eagles are one of the best teams in the NFL going 14-1 when Jalen Hurts is taking snaps. Devonta Smith and A.J. Brown have emerged as pro bowl caliber wide receivers. Jalen Hurts injured his shoulder, but then came back in week 18. He completed 20 out of 35 attempts and one interception. Giants Daniel Jones has done well but is not enough to carry the Giants. Saquon Barkley had a much better year, but the question is, can he stay healthy? He had 1312 yards over 295 rushing attempts. He averaged 4.5 yards per carry on rushing the ball this year which is a significant improvement from the year before. The Cowboys had a very good year, but not good enough for their fans to be satisfied. 26 years ago was the last time the Cowboys won a championship, but their team is near winning now. Dak Prescott has done very well this year as well as Tony Pollard. The Commanders need better coaching. They have the quarterback, the defense, and the O line. They don’t have the right coaching.
NFC North: The Vikings are an overrated team. They were going 13-4 and having more points scored on them than they scored on their opponent! Justin Jefferson is an MVP candidate this year having the most receptions and receiving yards out of the whole NFL. Kirk Cousins had a good year, but he did throw too many interceptions. The Lions started off 1-6 and ended off 9-8, just missing the playoffs. Jared Goff had an amazing year as well as Amara St Brown. Aidan Hutchinson (the first pick in the draft last year) exceeded expectations and had 9.5 sacks. Aaron Rodgers played very well this year for the Packers, but they only went 8-9. The reason they went 8-9 is because the receivers can’t catch the ball! Christian Watson catches the ball, takes one step, and the ball’s on the ground because he dropped it. The defense also could not put pressure on the opposing quarterback and the secondary could not stop the opposing wide receivers. The Bears were terrible this year going 3-14. Justin Fields, David Montgomery, and Khali Herbert were all disappointments. Their defense was terrible and they're probably gonna pick the wrong person in the draft.
NFC South: Every team in this division stinks. None of them had 9 wins and they all started off terribly. The Buccaneers went 8-9 while having a 45-year-old quarterback. Tom Brady had a good year but struggled with the receiving core and the offensive line. Mike Evans and Chris Godwin were disappointed and they could not get Leonard Fournette any space. The Panthers almost made the playoffs for the first time since 2017. Every quarterback on the Panthers struggled. Sam Darnoald, PJ Walker did terrible. DJ Moore surprised many people with his play. Terrace Marshall Jr also did well but didn’t get any space on a jet sweep from the offensive line. The Saints' only good players are Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara. They have no quarterback or defense. Cameron Jordan and the rest of the defense were found arguing on the sideline and never played better again this year. The Falcons were surprisingly 7-10 this year. They were supposed to do badly but did okay while not having a quarterback. The only thing about the Falcons is they have no star players and their secondary was one of the best in the league. Don’t bet on this division, all the teams lose more than they win.
NFC West: This division was flipped over. The Rams were the defending champions but didn’t look like it during the season. Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp got injured and struggled when they were healthy. Also, the defense didn’t look like the team they were the year before. The 49ers did very well ending the season riding a 10-game winning streak. You may think their quarterback must be great but, the 49ers went through three quarterbacks this year. Trey Lance, Jimmy Garrapolo, and Brock Purdy. Trey and Jimmy got injured so they put Brock on the big stage and he surprised many never losing a game. Also, Deboo Samual had an amazing season. It also helps when your team has the best defense in the league. The Seahawks got lucky with Geno Smith. Smith was not supposed to be good, but he got hot at the right time and led them to the playoffs. Their only good player is DJ Mecktalf who needs a better offensive line to get him more space. The Cardinals are an overrated team. They can’t stay healthy, can’t score, and can’t defend. Kyler Murray had an okay year before getting injured and Deandre Hopkins couldn’t play for most of it because he was caught cheating.
Just like I said, the NFL was wacky this year!
Published in Sixth Edition of The Wolfpack Press, January 31, 2023.