That was one epic marathon and grind of an 18-week NFL regular season, but now the real games begin.
While 18 NFL teams are left wondering what went wrong in their quest to be the last ones standing, 14 clubs punched their golden tickets to the postseason.
The field will be trimmed down from 14 to 8 in the coming days. At the end of it all, only one team will be hoisting the Lombardi Trophy loud and proud. So with that all said, let’s dive into our Super Wild Card edition of the 2023 NFL power rankings.
14. Green Bay Packers (17)
Jordan Love did what Aaron Rodgers couldn’t do a year ago: Lead his team to victory in a must-win game at Lambeau Field in Week 18.
Love put on a near-perfect outing against the archrival Chicago Bears in a 17-9 victory, doing more than enough to secure the NFC’s final wild card spot. Up next, a visit to AT&T Stadium, where they’ll meet Dak Prescott and the No. 2 seed Dallas Cowboys.
The Packers are considerable underdogs for this one, but we say bet against them at your own risk. They have a QB who just threw 32 touchdowns, a dynamic RB duo of Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon and young stud wideouts Jayden Reed and Romeo Doubs. If Christian Watson is cleared to play? Look out, Dallas.
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The pieces are here for Matt LaFleur’s group to pull off the upset. Regardless of what happens, 2023 has already been a successful year in Lambeau Land. The future is looking incredibly bright in the post-Aaron Rodgers era.
13. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (16)
Just as we all expected, Baker Mayfield led the Buccaneers to a better record this year than the 2022 group led by Tom Brady.
It wasn’t pretty this year, but Baker did just enough to help the Bucs lock down football’s worst division. All Tampa needed was nine points against the NFL-worst Carolina Panthers on Sunday to win a fourth straight NFC South division title.
Tampa Bay was bounded by Dallas in the Wild Card Round last year, but they definitely have the potential to upset the Philadelphia Eagles this time around. The banged-up Eagles are reeling, with losses in five of their final six games.
Yes, Philly took easy care of Tampa back in Week 3 with a 25-11 victory, but that was before Mayfield found his groove in Tampa’s offense. And way before the Eagles started to unravel on both sides of the ball.
Tampa has the No. 5 ranked rushing D, so they’re more than capable of giving Jalen Hurts and D’Andre Swift some problems.
Philadelphia also had the second-worst pass defense, so a Mike Evans-Chris Godwin tandem could easily take over this game and lead Tampa to a stunning victory.
Bottom line: Bet against the Bucs as you wish. They had nothing to lose coming into the year, and they have nothing to lose going up against the reigning NFC champs.
12. Philadelphia Eagles (10)
Will the championship-level DNA from last year’s NFC winners come into play? Or are this year’s Eagles just a beaten-down bunch with no fight left?
We just outlined why the Bucs are capable of an upset. It can happen, but the Eagles also carry significantly more talent on both sides of the ball. If they lose, 2023 will go down as a colossal failure, and you can bet GM Howie Roseman will make sweeping changes on the roster.
It was Super Bowl or bust for Philadelphia coming into this year. The regular season was one heckuva roller-coaster ride. Now let’s see how Nick Sirianni’s group responds after limping to the regular season finish line.
11. Houston Texans (13)
The Texans completed their incredible Cinderella story by outlasting the Indianapolis Colts in a nailbiter for the ages at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Couple that with the Jacksonville Jaguars’ loss to the Tennessee Titans, and DeMeco Ryans’ group unexpectedly capped off the regular season as AFC South division champions.
T’was an incredible one-year turnaround under Ryans and rookie phenom QB CJ Stroud. And fittingly so, the Texans first playoff game under Ryans will be against the Cleveland Browns — who helped Houston speed up their rebuild by giving up a king’s ransom in the Deshaun Watson trade.
Watson won’t be playing, of course, and the Texans instead must deal with the rebirth of Joe Flacco. The Super Bowl 47 MVP caught fire after joining the Browns in November, winning four of five starts while throwing 13 touchdowns against eight picks.
Cleveland allowed the fewest total yards in the regular season, and only four teams had more takeaways than Jim Schwartz’s group. What a test for Stroud in his first NFL playoff game, huh?
Giddy up, ladies and gentlemen. A thriller of a showdown awaits in H-town this Saturday.
10. Pittsburgh Steelers (11)
It was closer than it should have been, but the Steelers won a defensive slugfest in the rain against the Ravens’ B squad in Week 18 to lock down 10 wins and its third playoff berth in four years.
Mason Rudolph re-energized the offense when he took over the reins in Week 16. He had three touchdowns and no interceptions in Pittsburgh’s three-game winning streak to close out the year. A hat tip as well to Najee Harris and George Pickens for going beast mode down the stretch, too.
With that, the Steelers climb into the postseason with a showdown against Josh Allen and the surging Buffalo Bills. Winners of five straight, one can argue that Buffalo is the last team Pittsburgh wanted to play in the wild card round.
Not having TJ Watt for this game is a tough pill to swallow, sure.
But if we’re to be perfectly blunt, the Bills have a knack for not exactly playing their best football in January, and a Pittsburgh team coached by future Hall of Famer Mike Tomlin is more than capable of pulling off the upset.
9. Los Angeles Rams (9)
Sean McVay and Les Snead did it again, reminding everyone that they don’t need no stinking first-round picks to build a winner in La La Land.
After a miserable Super Bowl title defense of a season in 2022, the Rams’ rediscovered their championship pedigree and locked down a 10-win season and playoff berth.
Matthew Stafford and Aaron Donald stayed healthy and did their usual things. Cooper Kupp was a beast when he was on the field.
But it was rookie wideout Puka Nacua and second-year running back Kyren Williams who mostly powered the offense, as they went over 1,000 yards in receiving and rushing, respectively.
Rookies Byron Young and Kobie Turner combined for 17 sacks, providing Donald with much-needed support in the trenches. Indeed, this is an awfully dangerous wild card team that no NFC division winner would’ve wanted to face.
So it’s only fitting that it’s the Detroit Lions who must face the Rams. In case you didn’t hear, Stafford was the Lions’ quarterback from 2009 to 2020. Then he got traded to the Rams in a 2021 blockbuster deal that brought Jared Goff over to Motown.
Goff was supposed to be nothing more than a throw-in. Instead, he’s the guy who helped Detroit win its first division title in 30 years.
Does Stafford stick it to his old team one more time, or does Goff further balance out the evenness of the trade by leading the Lions to their first playoff win since 1991?
Get your popcorn ready, because this is going to be an all-time classic.
8. Miami Dolphins (4)
You don’t want to call an 11-win regular season a disappointment, especially if you’re a Miami team that last hit this mark 15 years ago. But it’s hard to celebrate being a wild card team when the division was in your lap for most of the regular season.
Miami lost three of its final five games to hand the AFC East over to the Buffalo Bills. Instead of being a No. 2 seed, the ‘Phins now must defeat the defending champion Kansas City Chiefs on the road just to get to the divisional round. Then they’ll have to win on the road again to reach the AFC title game.
Anywho, there’s no time for fretting. Miami needs Jaylen Waddle and Raheem Mostert to rest up and get ready for Saturday’s clash in Kansas City. They simply cannot expect Tyreek Hill to do it all against the league’s No. 2 ranked defense.
The Hill-returning-to-KC is another enthralling storyline for wild card weekend. But if Miami’s other weapons don’t step up, it’s going to be a quiet day for Hill — and another disappointing one-and-done outing for the ‘Phins in the postseason.
7. Kansas City Chiefs (8)
KC’s 11-6 record marked the franchise’s worst since Mahomes became the starting QB in 2018. The No. 15 ranked scoring offense was marred by injuries, costly drops, stupid penalties and inconsistent production all season long.
BUT…the Chiefs also fielded their best defense by far in the Andy Reid era. Steve Spagnuolo’s group ranked second in both points and yards. Only the Baltimore Ravens topped the Chiefs’ 57 sacks, too.
Defense wins championship, alright. And the Chiefs have two championships in four years AND a championship-level defense to claim a third Lombardi Trophy. Overlook these guys at your own risk, because they’re still awfully dangerous.
6. Cleveland Browns (3)
Carried by a punishing defense, offensive weapons Amari Cooper, Jerome Ford and David Njoku and the rebirth of Joe Flacco, the Browns finished as the AFC’s top wild card at 11-6.
Up next, a showdown with the very team that gave them Deshaun Watson two years ago: The CJ Stroud-led Texans.
Any team with a defense of the Browns’ caliber is scary in the postseason. But may we remind you that Flacco is literally one of the greatest playoff performers of all-time? 10-and-5 in the postseason with 25 touchdowns and only 10 picks.
Three AFC title game appearances and of course a Super Bowl 47 championship and MVP. So why can’t Joe Cool do it again and lead the Browns to an improbable playoff run?
5. Detroit Lions (6)
Of course it played out this way. Did you expect anything different?
Of course the Lions have to host old friend Matthew Stafford and his surging Los Angeles Rams at Ford Field on Sunday. Of course Detroit’s attempt to end a 31-year playoff-victory-drought comes down to defeating the ex-Lions franchise face.
It’s either a defining moment in the Lions’ history or another chapter of the “Same Old Lions” this Sunday. Does Detroit build off its thrilling regular season with a wild card round victory over the dangerous and swagger-filled Rams? Or Does Stafford get one more laugh?
Stay tuned to find out.
4. Dallas Cowboys (7)
Same ol’ story with the Cowboys here: A tremendous regular season that will mean nothing if they don’t endure a deep playoff run.
For the third straight year, Dak Prescott’s squad finished 12-5 in the regular season. Also the third straight year where Dallas finished top-10 in both scoring offense and scoring defense.
We don’t need to toot their horn anymore. Dallas is a regular season darling every year. This time, they have to — HAVE TO — at least reach the NFC Championship Game.
And they’re set up nicely to do so, needing only two home playoff wins to get there. Remember, Dallas is on a 16-game home winning streak.
3. Buffalo Bills (5)
Remember when the Bills were 6-and-6? The sky was falling, Sean McDermott was supposed to be fired and Stefon Diggs needed to be traded in the offseason and all of that? Good times…
Reminding the world that he may or may not be Clark Kent in disguise, Josh Allen put on the Superman cape and willed Buffalo to a five-game winning streak to close out the season. That included statement wins over the powerhouse Chiefs, Cowboys and Dolphins in Week 18 to snag a fourth straight division crown.
At this point, we don’t know how much further to hype up the Bills. It’s the same as the 2020, 2021 and 2022 squads: Elite quarterback. Elite wide receiver. Solid secondary playmaking weapons. A top-five defense. When do we stop?
McDermott’s squad has a label of being postseason chokers. This is their year to prove that 2023 is different. I mean, James Cook finished as the franchise’s first 1,000-yard rusher in six years, and future Hall of Famer Von Miller was sidelined for last year’s postseason.
No more excuses for Bills Mafia. They have too much talent to not at least reach the AFC Championship Game. Let’s see how they handle the pressure this time around.
2. San Francisco 49ers (2)
With the top seed, the 49ers mostly played their backups in Sunday’s home loss to the Rams.
The 49ers finish the regular season at 12-5, but one can easily argue that this is the best roster pieced together by Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch.
They were 3rd in both scoring offense and scoring defense. Christian McCaffrey ran away with the rushing title, and Brock Purdy himself was in the MVP discussion for much of the year. Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle and Deebo Samuel all went over 1,000 yards of offense, too.
Nick Bosa, Fred Warner and Javon Hargrave are as scary a defensive trio as it gets….and let’s not ignore the presence of Chase Young while we’re at it.
The 49ers are easily the most complete well-rounded team in football. And no team in the NFC can match their overall depth and star power. We don’t want to say it’d be a shock if they failed to reach the Super Bowl…but it kind of would be.
San Fran didn’t get a fair shot in last year’s NFC title game because of Purdy’s elbow injury. This is their chance at redemption.
1. Baltimore Ravens (1)
Nothing new to see here. The Ravens sat their key starters in Week 18 against Pittsburgh and locked up football’s top record at 13-4 anyway.
This year’s Ravens finish fourth in scoring offense — including No. 1 in rushing — and first in scoring defense. Only five teams surrendered fewer total yards than John Harbaugh’s squad, too. Oh, and Lamar Jackson is going to win his second MVP award in five years.
If there’s one reason to be skeptical? Jackson is 1-and-3 in playoff games. You’ll recall that the 2019 Ravens — led by MVP Lamar — went 14-2 in the regular season only to get crushed by the Tennessee Titans in the Divisional Round.
Granted, that was four years ago. Have the Ravens learned a valuable lesson, and are they finally ready to rock? Or will the “choker” label plague them once again in the coming weeks?
Only time will tell. But with no clear weaknesses on the roster — and with that blowout road win over the 49ers in their back pockets — the Ravens are unquestionably the team to beat.
Who do you think will win Super Bowl 58?
