The 2023 NFL season can best be described with the movie title of one of Clint Eastwood’s classic films: “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.”
There was a lot to love about this season…and a lot to dislike. And, of course, plenty that was too difficult to watch.
With the dramatic campaign in the books, let’s dive into the five good, the five bad and the five ugly of the 2023 NFL season.
Good: The Lions’ Renaissance
After spending more than 50 years as a poverty franchise in the Super Bowl era, Dan Campbell turned these Lions into a bona fide championship contender. They won their first division crown in 30 years and ended a 32-year playoff win drought with a W over the Los Angeles Rams on Wild Card Weekend.
Continuing the momentum, the Lions took down the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to reach their first NFC Championship Game since 1991.
Blowing a 17-point lead to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC title game was a tough pill to swallow, no doubt. But if someone were to tell you Lions fans three years after Campbell’s “bite off the kneecap” soundbite that his Lions would be a final four team, you’d take it.
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The window is just opening up with this loaded core full of veteran stalwarts and rising young superstars.
Bad: Quarterback Injuries
Injuries will always be part of the ultra-physical game of football. As unfortunate as it is, every team will lose a handful of key players whose injuries end up derailing their season.
But 2023 especially felt like a tragic year of injuries to star players — ESPECIALLY quarterbacks
Aaron Rodgers suffered a season-ending Achilles tear minutes into his New York Jets debut. Joe Burrow missed the final seven games with a torn ligament in his wrist, just as the Cincinnati Bengals were rounding into Super Bowl form.
Kirk Cousins suffered a season-ending Achilles tear in Week 8 while he was playing his best football yet. A broken finger sidelined Justin Herbert for the final four games of the year.
Kenny Pickett missed five games and Pittsburgh’s return to the postseason. Kyler Murray was limited to eight games recovering from his 2022 season-ending ACL tear. Colts rookie Anthony Richardson played four games before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury.
Daniel Jones played six games before suffering a season-ending ACL tear of his own. Justin Fields missed four games in his breakout year for the Bears, and the Browns were so banged-up at QB that they brought in Joe Flacco as the No. 4 option to help them into the postseason.
Ugly: Eagles’ Late-Season Collapse
The defending NFC Champions looked like the team to beat in November, even with a few holes on defense. They defeated Dallas, Kansas City and Buffalo in three straight games to open December with a 10-and-1 record.
But the wheels came off beginning with a 42-19 loss at home to the San Francisco 49ers. Then they were blown out by the Cowboys. Then they lost to Drew Lock’s Seahawks in Week 15.
After a win over the Giants on Christmas Day in Week 16, the Eagles closed out with losses to the lowly Cardinals and the G-Men. And then good for measure, Baker Mayfield’s Bucs throttled Philly 32-9 on Super Wild Card Weekend.
The humiliating collapse forced Nick Sirianni to replace both his coordinators, bringing in Vic Fangio as his DC and Kellen Moore as the OC.
Good: C.J. Stroud Leads Texans’ Turnaround
The Houston Texans’ long-term future immediately looked bright when they hired DeMeco Ryans as their new head coach — and when they used the No. 2 and No. 3 picks on C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson Jr.
That said, absolutely nobody thought they’d compete for a playoff spot, let alone the AFC South with Trevor Lawrence’s Jacksonville Jaguars there.
But thanks to Stroud’s historic rookie year, Anderson Jr.’s rapid rise to stardom and the breakout year of fellow rookie and wideout Tank Dell — the Texans exceeded all expectations and won the AFC South with a 10-and-7 record.
After destroying the Cleveland Browns in the Wild Card Round, Houston’s magical run ended with a tough loss to the Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional Round.
From 2020 to 2022, the Texans won a combined 11 games. In year one of the Stroud-Ryans era, they matched that win total.
Yep, the future has never once looked this bright for the Texans.
Bad: Falcons’ Offensive Power Outage
Even with a shaky QB room, the Atlanta Falcons had too much talent to disappoint on the offensive side of the ball this year.
Rookie sensation Bijan Robinson. 1,000-yard rusher Tyler Allgeier. Kyle Pitts. Drake London. Cordarrelle Patterson. And a top-five o-line in football. How could both Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke fail with that ridiculous set of weaponry?
Robinson came as advertised, and London improved from his stellar rookie year. But Allgeier and Patterson didn’t play up to their usual standards with the ball in their hands, and Pitts was a big-time disappointment with only 667 yards and three touchdowns.
Ridder and Heinicke combined for only 17 touchdowns and as many interceptions. They finished 26th in scoring with a mere 18.9 points per game, missing out on the winnable NFC South with a 7-10 record.
Ugly: David Tepper’s Rise To Worst Owner In The NFL
With Dan Snyder finally gone, there was a new wide-open debate for the worst owner in the NFL. And let’s just say it didn’t take long to find the new hands-down choice.
That would be Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper. He’s the one who pushed for the team to sell the entire farm to move up and take Bryce Young first overall. He’s the one who brought in Frank Reich as the new head coach. He’s the one who gave Scott Fitterer another year in the GM chair.
The result? Oh, you know, Carolina only finished with the worst record in football at 2-and-15 — thus giving the Chicago Bears the first overall pick of 2024. Oh, and Tepper got a $300,000 fine for throwing a drink at a Jacksonville Jaguars fan during a Week 17 game.
Carolina is now 31-68-0 through Tepper’s first five years as owner. And now he’s already on his seventh coach. Yikes.
Good: Jordan Gives The Packers A Lot To LOVE
Nobody expected the Green Bay Packers to do much in year one of the post-Aaron Rodgers era. But his successor, Jordan Love, had something to say about that.
After falling to 3-and-6 with eight games to go, the Packers looked headed for a second straight non-playoff season. But Love quickly put the banged-up Packers on his back and rallied them to a 6-and-2 finish to sneak in as the NFC’s final wild card team.
Love continued the magic by leading the Pack to a humiliating destruction of the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card Round by a final score of 48-32. The Cheeseheads gave the 49ers a big scare in the Divisional Round, but they narrowly dropped a heartbreaker 24-21.
4,159 passing yards and 32 touchdowns. With top weapons Aaron Jones and Christian Watson all missing valuable time? Yeah, this Love guy is gonna be special – and the Packers will be just fine in the post-Rodgers era thank you very much.
Bad: Commanders’ Dreadful Defense
If the Commanders were to make some noise in the NFC, it would certainly be thanks to a defense that had finished in the top 10 in two of Ron Rviera’s first three years…right?
Well actually, their defense was actually the reason this team finished 31st in 2023 — ahead of only the hapless Panthers.
Washington finished 32nd in scoring, allowing a ridiculous 30.5 points per game. Montez Sweat, who was traded to Chicago at the deadline, was Washington’s leader in sacks with 6.5 for crying out loud.
The Commanders were also dead-last in yards allowed, surrendering an average of 388.9 per game. They were also last against the pass and had the sixth-worst run defense.
It was a giant regression for a team that ranked seventh in scoring and third in yards allowed per game in 2022, despite having practically the same personnel. Following the 4-and-13 finish, Rivera was fired and replaced by Dan Quinn.
Ugly: Jaguars Go In Late-Season Self-Destruct Mode
The Jaguars entered their bye week with a 6-and-2 record, headlined by statement wins over two top AFC clubs in the Bills and Steelers. Everything spelled “Super Bowl contender” in Duval County, with Trevor Lawrence clicking and the Josh Allen-led defense putting the clamps on opposing defenses.
A week 12 road win in Houston at Jacksonville at 8-and-3 and on cruise control for the AFC South. But then the Jaguars inexplicably collapsed and lost their control on both sides of the ball, losing to the Burrow-less Bengals and Joe Flacco-led Browns in back-to-back weeks.
Following a four-game losing skid, the Jags got back on track with a win over the Panthers. All they needed was a Week 18 win over the hapless Tennessee Titans to get back into the postseason — and they couldn’t deliver.
T-Law put up a stinker in the win-or-go-home game, and the Jaguars fell 28-20 to their AFC South rivals to miss out on the postseason. So much for this team being ready to make the jump after an Elite Eight appearance a year ago…
On the positive side, how kind of them to gift-wrap the division to the Texans?
Good: Baker Mayfield’s Career Renaissance
The Bucs lost Tom Brady to retirement and carried nearly $80 million in dead money for 2023 — leaving the front office with no choice but to go bargain-hunting at QB. Ultimately, they settled on Baker Mayfield on a cheap one-year pact.
Expectations were low for a Bucs team that went just 8-and-9 WITH THE GOAT himself last year. Yet all Mayfield did was turn in his career year with his fourth NFL team — throwing for 4,044 yards, 28 touchdowns and only 10 interceptions.
Mayfield’s efforts led the Bucs to a surprise third straight NFC South division title. They crushed the Eagles in the Wild Card Round before just-barely falling to the Lions in the Divisional Round.
Sooo..Mayfield wasn’t a bust after all? The Browns and Panthers just screwed up and failed to maximize his talents the way Todd Bowles’ Buccaneers did.
Bad: Bills Choke Again
If there was a year for the Bills to do it, it was 2023. They rode into the postseason with five straight wins and an 11-6 record, enough to win home-field advantage over Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round.
But it just turned out to be the same old song and dance for Josh Allen and the Bills: A third straight Divisional Round loss, and their third playoff defeat to Mahomes’ Chiefs in four years.
This time, it was Wide Right Part II that ended the Bills’ playoff hopes. The Chiefs, more vulnerable than ever in the Mahomes era, came into Buffalo and won 27-24 en route to a second straight Super Bowl championship.
At this rate, we don’t think the time will ever come for the Allen and Sean McDermott-led Bills.
Ugly: Bill Belichick’s Foxborough Farewell
This is how it had to end? The greatest dynasty in NFL history? The greatest coach of all time leaving New England with an embarrassing 4-and-13 record — the franchise’s worst finish since 1992?
No, 2023 doesn’t take away all of Belichick’s accomplishments and those six Super Bowl rings he won in New England. But to finish this badly after such a historic run that will never be repeated?
Make no mistake, it was wise of Belichick and Robert Kraft to part ways after 24 years. But it just sucks Belichick’s final year in New England was so miserable that most Patriots fans were probably thrilled that he left.
Good: The AFC North
The Super Bowl champion may not have come out of the AFC North, but this division made a special piece of history that deserves special recognition.
ALL FOUR teams in the division finished with a winning record — making the AFC North the first division in the Super Bowl era to accomplish that feat.
MVP Lamar Jackson led Baltimore to the best record in football at 13-4. The Browns were the top wild card team at 11-6. The Steelers snagged the AFC’s last playoff spot at 10-7.
And the Bengals, despite missing Joe Burrow for the final seven games, hung in the playoff race and finished 9-and-8.
We know these teams all despise one another, but please do a hat-tip together. What the four teams accomplished this year with all those injuries and brutal schedules is truly something else.
Bad: Officiating
We’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge the issue. And quite frankly, we don’t know where to start.
The obvious missed pass interference penalties? The weak roughing the passer calls? The Lions-Cowboys “ineligible man downfield” fiasco?
Is Puka Nacua getting blatantly interfered with near the end of the fourth quarter in the Rams’ wild card round loss to the Lions? Are the refs missing Jerick McKkinnon’s obvious hold on Fred Warner moments before the game-winning touchdown in the Super Bowl?
Ugly: Your Annual Cowboys January Choke Job
No. 1 offense in the league. Fifth-best scoring defense. Dak Prescott’s career year. Win two games at home, and you’re in the NFC title game for the first time since 1995.
But of course, the Cowboys choked and blew it again. Of course. Of course, the seventh-seeded Packers crushed them 48-32 at Jerry World in the Wild Card Round to drop Dak to 2-and-5 in the postseason.
And of course, Jerry Jones brought back Mike McCarthy for a fifth year despite a playoff choke job. Never change, Cowboys. Never change.
