Every NFL season comes with many surprises — but 2023 was especially filled with feel-good underdog and Cinderella stories this year.
Plenty of unexpected heroes emerged out of nowhere to team up for one of the most thrilling and unpredictable campaigns in NFL history. So with that all said, let’s dive into the 10 biggest surprises of the 2023 NFL campaign.
Texans Steal The AFC South From Jacksonville
Entering the regular season, the Houston Texans and Arizona Cardinals were listed at or near the very bottom in Super Bowl odds at every major sportsbook.
The Texans hired the energetic and fun-loving DeMeco Ryans as their new head coach and used the No. 2 and No. 3 picks on CJ Stroud and Will Anderson Jr., respectively. The future was looking ultra-bright and all, but nobody thought this team was ready for prime time.
T’was supposed to be another year of growing pains. Houston had won just 11 total games over the previous three years, after all.
So, what happened?
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Stroud was a mega star from the get-go, setting the record for most pass attempts without an interception to begin a career at 191. As well, his 470 passing yards in the Texans’ Week 9 home win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers marked a new rookie single-game record.
Anderson Jr. led the way on D with seven sacks. Rookie Tank Dell had 709 receiving yards and seven touchdowns before a season-ending injury. Nico Collins broke out with 80 catches for 1,297 yards and eight TDs.
It all came together for Houston in year one under Ryans and Stroud. They clinched a playoff berth with a thrilling Week 18 win over the Indianapolis Colts, then won the AFC South after the Jacksonville Jaguars fell to the Tennessee Titans in Week 18.
After three miserable years with next-to-nothing to celebrate, the Texans re-emerged as a contender in the gauntlet that is the AFC. The sky’s the limit for this group, alright.
Raiders Defense Makes Jump To “Elite”
There was one giant silver lining here in the Las Vegas Raiders’ disappointing eight-win season this year: The silver and black had an elite defense for the first time since 2002 — the last year the franchise reached the Super Bowl, no less.
2023 marked the first time the Raiders finished as a top-20 scoring defense since 2006…and the first time they placed in the top-10 since 2002.
Interim head coach Antonio Pierce inherited Josh McDaniels’ underrating squad and helped Vegas finish ninth in scoring D and 15th in yards. They were just outside the top-10 in pass D, too.
Maxx Crosby was the only Raiders’ defensive player named to the Pro Bowl. The fact Vegas finished with an elite defense with no big names outside of Crosby is a testament to the job done by Pierce and defensive coordinator Patrick Graham.
Baker-Led Bucs Retain The NFC South Throne
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost Tom Brady to retirement and carried over $80 million in dead money for 2023 — forcing the front office to pick up Baker Mayfield on a one-year deal worth $4 million.
The Bucs’ ceiling felt like five wins entering this year — if they were lucky.
Well, all Baker did was piece together a career year in Tampa Bay with career-bests across the board: A 64.3 completion percentage for 4,044 yards and 28 touchdowns.
Mayfield led the Bucs to a 9-win season and to its third straight NFC South division crown. Oddly enough, Mayfield and the Bucs were a considerably better team in 2023 than Brady’s 2022 squad.
And yanno how Brady’s Bucs were crushed by the Dallas Cowboys in last year’s Wild Card Round showdown? Well, Mayfield destroyed the Philadelphia Eagles on Wild Card Weekend to once again one-up the 2022 version of The GOAT. Take a bow, Todd Bowles. And an extra hat tip to Baker for shutting up the haters once and for all by finally breaking out in year six — with his fourth team, no less
Jordan Love’s Coming Out Party Leads Packers To Postseason
The Green Bay Packers won only eight games with Aaron Rodgers a year ago. Surely, regression was inevitable with Jordan Love replacing Rodgers at QB…right?
Not to mention that top wideout Allen Lazard left in 2023 free agency, leaving Love with Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs and rookie Jayden Reed as his top receivers.
Green Bay looked dead following a 3-and-6 start…and after falling to 6-and-8 with three games to go. But Love put on his Superman cape and rallied the Packers to three straight victories to close out the season — leading Green Bay to the NFC’s last wild card berth.
Love threw for 4,159 yards and 32 touchdowns in his first year as Green Bay’s starter.. And he did it without a single offensive weapon posting 1,000 yards of offense. And without Watson for eight games. SO NOW we see why the Packers drafted Love back in 2020 — and why they were so ready to move on from Rodgers. We all owe the front office – and especially Love — an apology
Mason Rudolph Saves The Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ suffered an ugly and unexpected 24-10 home loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 13 that dropped them to 7-and-5 with five games to go.
Making matters worse, starting QB Kenny Pickett suffered a high ankle sprain that required surgery — sidelining him indefinitely.
Backup Mitch Trubisky was awful in place of Pickett, and his struggles led to Pittsburgh dropping consecutive games to fall to 7-7. With that, their season looked practically done for — and a desperate Mike Tomlin decided to hand the starting job over to Mason Rudolph.
Out of nowhere, Rudolph put together the best football of his career and kept the Steelers’ slim playoff hopes alive. It started with a Week 16 shellacking of the Cincinnati Bengals, then carried over with a big-time road win over the Seattle Seahawks on New Year’s Eve.
The Steelers then took care of the top-seeded Baltimore Ravens — who mostly played their backups — to finish 10-and-7. The Jaguars’ aforementioned Week 18 road loss to the hapless Titans was the final domino Pittsburgh needed to fall to clinch an unlikely playoff berth.
Rudolph threw for 716 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions in his final three starts to rally Pittsburgh and guide them back into the postseason.
It makes ya wonder if Rudolph just bought himself a future starting gig…
Unlikely Faces Propel Colts To Nine Wins & Near-Playoff Berth
We already touched base on the Texans and Buccaneers entering the year with minimal expectations yet still reaching the playoff. The Indianapolis Colts almost made it not two, but three Cinderella postseason teams.
2023 was supposed to be year one of a painful rebuild for Indy. A first-year head coach in Shane Steichen, and a rookie quarterback in Anthony Richadson, the No. 4 overall pick.
On top of that, superstar running back Jonathan Taylor missed the club’s first four games recovering from ankle surgery. It was all adding up to another season of double-digit losses for the new-look Colts…or so we thought.
Richardson was limited to four games as a rookie before requiring season-ending shoulder surgery. Taylor himself missed seven games. Three-time Pro Bowl linebacker Shaquille Leonard was also cut midseason amid a disappointing year.
AND YET…the Colts remained in playoff contention all year long. Second-stringer Gardner Minshew never found consistency in the passing game, but running back Zack Moss played hero on offense by racking up 794 rushing yards and five touchdowns in 14 games.
Rookie third-rounder Josh Downs emerged as Michael Pittman Jr.’s sidekick by tallying 771 receiving yards. Free agent signing Samson Ebukam finished as the Colts’ sacks leader with 9.5.
Indy finished 9-and-8 and was just a couple of plays away from beating Houston in Week 18, which would have clinched a playoff berth. But the fact this team improved by five wins — with considerably less talent than last year’s roster — tells us one thing: The Colts got it right in hiring Steichen. This group should be a playoff team with a healthy Richardson and Taylor in 2024
Joe Flacco Revives Career & Paces Browns To Playoffs
The Cleveland Browns were 6-and-3 before Deshaun Watson was ruled out for the season with a shoulder injury that required surgery.
An ugly road loss to the Denver Broncos in Week 12 dropped the Browns to 7-and-4, and it just felt like the lack of a capable starting QB would lead to their demise. Truth be told, nobody really batted an eye when Super Bowl 47 MVP Joe Flacco was added to their practice squad in November.
Flacco had a “meh” outing in Week 13, a 36-19 road loss to the Los Angeles Rams that dropped Cleveland to 7-and-5. Then Flacco turned back the clock and led the Browns to four straight victories — throwing for over 300 yards and tossing multiple passing TDs in each.
Flacco’s 4-and-1 record propelled the Browns to a playoff spot and as the No. 5 seed in the AFC. He finished the year with 1,616 passing yards, 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions for a stellar QB rating of 90.2.
Flacco’s magic ran out when the Browns got crushed by the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Round. But it doesn’t take away the remarkable career revival of a 38-year-old who spent most of the year unemployed before the Browns came calling.
DaRon Bland’s Historic Year
The Dallas Cowboys’ defense was dealt a giant blow when All-Pro cornerback Trevon Diggs suffered a season-ending ACL tear in practice ahead of Week 3.
Nobody could have predicted it at the time, but as it turned out, the Dallas defense wouldn’t miss a beat in the slightest.
And it was all thanks to the emergence of 2022 fifth-round pick DaRon Bland, who was anything but “bland” this year. The second-year corner finished as the NFL’s interceptions leader with nine and recorded a ridiculous FIVE pick-sixes — a single-season record.
It goes beyond the high INT stats, too. Pro Football Focus graded Bland at 90.4 on the year — and Pro Football Reference’s data says he yielded a 60.8 passer rating when targeted.
Bland earned First-Team All-Pro and Pro Bowl nods for his historic season. And as miserable as the Cowboys’ season-ending playoff was to Green Bay, fans can at least get hyped about the Bland-Diggs cornerback tandem for 2023.
Defense, Not Offense, Bails Out The Defending Champs
Over Patrick Mahomes’ first five years as the Kansas City Chiefs starting QB, the passing game was unquestionably the club’s biggest strength. Steve Spagnuolo’s D was a good-but-not-great bend-don’t-break-unit that mostly did its job in helping out Mahomes.
But here in 2023, it was the Chiefs defense — not the offense — that saved the day and propelled KC to an eighth straight AFC West division title.
The Chiefs finished a mere 15th in point for at 21.8 points per game. They finished no lower than sixth in that category in the previous five years.
KC didn’t have a single 1,000-yard receiver or rusher. Travis Kelce had a down year, and rookie Rashee Rice was the only reliable receiver. Otherwise, KC’s receiving corps was held back by awful drops, dumb penalties and the inability to draw separation.
Yet KC won 11 games and cruised to another division title. And it was mostly thanks to the best defense KC has ever fielded under Andy Reid. The Chiefs finished second in scoring and fourth in yards allowed. Their 57 sacks were second-most in the NFL behind only the Baltimore Ravens.
Trent McDuffie and L’Jarius Sneed both had career years to form a prolific lockdown cornerback duo. Chris Jones and sophomore Geoge Karlaftis each tallied 10.5 sacks.
KC’s offense was a roller-coaster all year long, yet the regular season dominance continued. If Spagnuolo’s defense didn’t rise as a top-three unit this year, who knows where KC would have gone this year?
Rookies Lead Rams Resurgence
The Rams finished a miserable 5-and-12 in 2022 — the worst record ever for a defending Super Bowl champion. They had almost no cap space and limited draft capital last year.
All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey was traded to the Miami Dolphins in the offseason. Matthew Stafford, Aaron Donald and Cooper Kupp were all injury-prone vets in their 30s — and the latter had to miss the team’s first four games with a hamstring injury.
This was supposed to be another trying year for the Rams, and the playoffs looked like a long shot after a Week 9 blowout loss to the Packers that dropped Sean McVay’s group to 3-and-6.
Instead, the Rams never gave in and reeled off victories in seven of their last eight to finish with a 10-7 record to nab the NFC’s second wild card spot.
It all started with rookie wide receiver Puka Nacua — the 2023 fifth-round pick at No. 177 overall. He was the top rookie pass-catcher this year, racking up 105 receptions for 1,486 yards and six touchdowns.
Rookie Kobie Turner — not Aaron Donald — led the Rams with nine sacks. Fellow rookie Byron Young notched eight sacks of his own, tied with Donald for second-most on the team. First-year guard Steve Avila solidified the o-line and played a massive role in the unit’s turnaround — allowing only two sacks on 1,147 sacks, per PFF.
Second-year back Kyren Williams also deserves a mention after a breakout year that saw him post 1,144 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns.
The Rams’ improbable return to the postseason was short-lived, as they fell to Stafford’s old pals in the Detroit Lions on Wild Card weekend. Still, the fact a group of little-known rookie propelled LA to 10 wins and a playoff berth — one year after the team finished with just 5 wins — was a pleasant surprise.
The Rams are back and promise to be a force again in 2024.
What other major NFL surprises of 2023 should we have included on our list?
