This season in many ways represented a passing of the torch between eras, the final season of Tom Brady's illustrious career and the last year Aaron Rodgers would play in Green Bay, and Patrick Mahomes taking the next big step in his incredible start with a second Super Bowl ring in four years. The trio of AFC star quarterbacks took another step forward with Mahomes, Allen, and Burrow all finishing in the top four in MVP voting, and it was Eagles QB Jalen Hurts who made a massive leap in his second year as starter and finished as the runner-up to Mahomes in the MVP race. The Chiefs slipped past the Bengals in the AFC Title Game while the Eagles rolled past the depleted 49ers, setting up one of the best Super Bowls in recent memory, a back-and-forth evenly matched affair where a late pass interference allowed Kansas City to run down the clock and win the game on a Harrison Butker field goal with just 8 seconds to go. Butker hit the game-winner in the AFC Championship as well to defeat the Bengals, just seven days after they took out Josh Allen and the Bills on the road in the Divisional Round. The Eagles crushed the 49ers at home to reach the Super Bowl, a Niners team that endured season-ending injuries to Trey Lance and Jimmy Garropolo but saw former Mr. Irrelevant Brock Purdy step up to the challenge, going undefeated as a starter up until the NFC Title Game, where he went down with a torn UCL and left San Fran just about without a quarterback once Josh Johnson went down as well. It was the midseason acquisition of Christian McCaffrey that took the Niners' offense up a notch, helping them reach their third NFC Championship in three years. After an iffy first year, 2021 No. 1 pick Trevor Lawrence came into his own this season, leading a huge midseason turnaround for the Jaguars to win the AFC South and a playoff game as well, staging the third-largest playoff comeback in NFL history to stun the Chargers 31-30 in the Wild Card round. As epic a comeback that was, it was the Vikings' 33-point comeback over the Colts that marked the largest the league has ever seen, with Minnesota overcoming a 33-0 halftime deficit for a wild 39-36 win. The Vikings surprised a lot of people with a 10-2 start with a knack for narrow victories, though they came down to Earth and eventually fell in the Wild Card round to the Giants, who captured their first postseason win since Super Bowl XLVI in the highlight of a breakthrough year for Daniel Jones and co. While plenty of young stars continued to emerge, the two best quarterbacks of the generation both endured some of the most difficult seasons they'd ever had. Brady and the Buccaneers never got it going, finishing 8-9 in the first losing season of Brady's career, and after slipping into the postseason were bounced right away by Dak Prescott and the Cowboys, the final game of Tom Brady's immeasurable 23-year career. It was the end of an era for Aaron Rodgers too, as his Packers similarly struggled to ever really find their rhythm, coming up short in the final week of the season to the upstart Lions and missing the postseason at 8-9. That would be Rodgers' final game in Green Bay, as after 18 seasons was traded to the Jets in a monumental move with a ripple effect all across the league. Not only did those typical NFC powers struggle, but the reigning champion Rams regressed in a big way, with Matthew Stafford struggling to stay healthy and Los Angeles enduring a brutal 5-12 campaign that fell way short of the playoffs. One of their wins did come in a Christmas Day blowout of the Broncos, perhaps the biggest disappointment of the entire season as Russell Wilson looked lost all year while Nathaniel Hackett didn't make it through the year in an all-around disaster of a season that entered with such high hopes. Wilson's former team, the Seahawks, had better fortunes, with Geno Smith rather shockingly starring in his first starting role in seven years, winning Comeback Player of the Year and leading Seattle to an unlikely playoff berth. Their NFC West foe Arizona saw franchise QB Kyler Murray go down with a torn ACL late in the year, turning an already tough season a whole lot worse with an injury that will keep him out well into next season too. A scary moment took place late in the season when Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on the field of a Monday night game with Cincinnati, where he went into critical condition after collapsing and remaining motionless making a tackle, causing the game to be suspended and never resumed. Hamlin would end up making a recovery, with the timely assistance of the medical staff doing wonders for the situation, and one of the moments of the season was Buffalo returning the opening kickoff to the house in their first game following the incident. Patrick Mahomes was back on top of the league in a incredible all-around season with an MVP and Super Bowl LVII MVP, around the same time the football world said goodbye to the greatest player that's ever played the game after Tom Brady announced his retirement for good this time after 23 unbelievable years. The league is in good hands with so many talented young stars, and with two rings at the age of 27 Mahomes has the greatest chance of any to be the NFL's next all-time great QB.
Best Games
1. Vikings 33, Bills 30 OT - Week 10
Minnesota's terrific start to the 2022-23 season came by virtue of a lot of very narrow wins, but none took the league by storm more than this ridiculous road win over the Buffalo Bills. The Vikings trailed 27-10 late in the 3rd quarter, but the door opened up with a pair of touchdowns, and on a drive that included one of the most incredible catches you will ever seen on 4th and 18 by Justin Jefferson, Minnesota was stuffed at the 1-yard line with 50 seconds remaining. The Bills had to snap it pinned about as close to their own end zone as could be, but still ahead by three with the ball with under a minute to go, but the ball was fumbled on the snap and recovered by the Vikings for an incredible go-ahead touchdown, somehow putting them ahead 30-27 with 41 seconds to go. The Bills would work into field goal range and send the game to overtime as regulation expired, and after the Vikings kicked a field goal on the first possession of overtime, and interception of Josh Allen in the red zone on the ensuing drive sealed the unbelievable win for Minnesota. This game had everything, from incredible plays to stunning turnarounds to an insane final few minutes, and the wild win brought the Vikings to 8-1 and looking like contenders with another narrow W.
2. Colts 36, Vikings 39 OT - Week 15
It was a rare Saturday game for a Vikings team squeaking by with wins all season long, and coming off a loss played as disastrous a first half as they could've imagined to send them into a 33-0 halftime hole. Minnesota's offense finally found something with a pair of 3rd quarter touchdowns, but a 36-14 deficit entering the 4th didn't exactly resemble a team making a game out of it. But the Vikings were far from finished, scoring three touchdowns in the 4th quarter to turn a 22-point deficit into a 36-36 tie, with a Dalvin Cook 64-yard TD and two-point conversion on the first play of their third touchdown drive in a row sending the game to overtime. After the two teams exchanged punts, Greg Joseph kicked the game-winning field goal for Minnesota, securing the greatest comeback win in NFL history in an absolutely phenomenal game.
3. Chargers 30, Jaguars 31 - Wild Card Round
In a pair of playoff debuts for Justin Herbert and Trevor Lawrence, it was Herbert and LA that could do no wrong early on, cruising to a 27-0 2nd quarter lead and looking well on their way to a breakthrough playoff win. Now we know the history the Chargers have with bad losses, but suggesting that here might have been a little extreme. Yet somehow, someway the Jaguars figured it out, slowly cutting into the lead with touchdowns on four straight drives and shutting the Chargers' offense down at the same time to make this incredible comeback possible. Jacksonville cut it to 30-28 late and forced a three-and-out to get the ball back, and they moved down the field with a huge 25-yard Travis Etienne run on 4th down setting the Jaguars up for a game-winning field goal as time expired. It marked the third-largest comeback win in postseason history, and the first playoff victory for Trevor Lawrence and an all-time collapse for Herbert, Staley, and Los Angeles.
4. Chiefs 38, Eagles 35 - Super Bowl LVII
In one of the best Super Bowls in recent memory, these two teams went toe to toe in a really well-played offensive battle, with the top two MVP finishers looking the part in the third highest Super Bowl ever played. After Kansas City rallied back from a two-touchdown deficit to take as much as an 8-point lead, Jalen Hurts and Philly had an answer with a touchdown and two-point conversion, both scored on the feet of Hurts, tied the game at 35. Mahomes had 5:15 to work with and operated the final drive to perfection, and a 3rd down pass interference call essentially did the Eagles in allowing the Chiefs to run down the clock and win it on a Harrison Butker field goal with 8 seconds left. Both Mahomes and Hurts were terrific, with seven total touchdowns scored between the two, and it made for one of the best Super Bowls we've seen in some time. With a second ring already for Mahomes, he's continuing to rise up in the list of the greats with an all-time resume being built still just a ripe 27 years old.
5. Bengals 20, Chiefs 23 - AFC Championship
We were treated to another thriller in round two of the Mahomes-Burrow AFC Championship chronicles, and this time Kansas City got the better of them in a really good, evenly matched affair. A big 4th down conversion set the Bengals up for the game-tying TD early in the 4th, but both defenses were bending but not breaking down the stretch in the final quarter. Cincinnati had the ball with under a minute to go in a tie game but stalled, punting away to Kansas City with 30 seconds to go. What they can do in 13 they can do in 30, as the Chiefs got all the way into field goal range, largely aided by an inexplicable unnecessary roughness on a shove to an already out of bounds Patrick Mahomes, putting them in field goal range for Harrison Butker to hit the game-winner. In a second straight classic with the Super Bowl on the line, this time Kansas City came out on top en route to their second Super Bowl in four years.
Player Rankings
Patrick Mahomes (QB - Chiefs)
Remarkably Mahomes' first appearance on this list in the 2020s, it came after the second MVP and second Super Bowl of his career in an outstanding campaign to remind everybody exactly what the future of the NFL revolves around. Mahomes completed a career-best 67.1% of his passes and led the league with 5,250 passing yards and 42 TDs, tossing 12 INTs with the highest QBR in football and leading the Chiefs to a 17-3 Super Bowl-winning season. He was as sharp as ever in the postseason, completing 72% of his passes with 10 TDs and 0 INTs, saving his very best for Super Bowl LVII en route to his second Super Bowl MVP and putting together game-winning drives in both the AFC Title Game and the Super Bowl two weeks later. This season in many ways signified the passing of the torch from Brady onto Mahomes, and there's not a player in this sport better than the Chiefs' superstar talent until further notice.
2. Nick Bosa (DE - 49ers)
Even after tying the league-lead in sacks in 20212-22, Bosa made another leap this past season and capured the league lead for himself, totaling 18.5 sacks and winning Defensive Player of the Year as the main force on a lethal San Francisco defense that led the league in just about everything. The Niners' pressure is night and day with Bosa on the field vs. not, as he led the league in quarterback hits as well, finished second in tackles for loss, and was the easy choice for the DPOY with the highest share any winner has had since 2014. They'll have to pay Bosa the big bucks soon, but he's been as good a defensive player as any these last few seasons and should be well worth the mega deal he's in line for.
3. Justin Jefferson (WR - Vikings)
Jefferson has been on a fast track to greatness since entering the league in 2020, and he's already got a strong case as the league's best receiver only three years into his young career. He was fantastic this season in a strong year for the Vikings as a whole, leading the league with 128 receptions and 1,809 YDS, with that yardage total the sixth-most in league history and the youngest player to ever eclipse the 1,800-mark. Jefferson is already catches no stranger to superhuman catches - his 4th down grab late in their game with the Bills this season really was one of the best catches I have ever seen - and his ability to create immediate separation, blow by defenders, and go up and get even the toughest of balls has already separated himself as the league's most talented receiver. Already on a historic pace as the quickest in NFL history to 3,000 yards and still just 24, he looks like the top wide receiver in football for many more years to come.
4. Myles Garrett (DE - Browns)
Garrett put together a second consecutive dominant season, amassing 16 sacks for a second straight year to finish tied for second in the league. There might not be a more freakish athlete in football than Garrett right now - the combination of a build that is impossible to contain with speed that simply doesn't feel fair for a guy his size makes him a true nightmare of a matchup - and he's been the most consistent edge rusher in football over the last half-decade with five straight season of 10+ sacks. He led the league in pass-rush win rate this past year and has done all this damage without many other pass-rushers in Cleveland requiring serious attention, so those numbers could continue to rise as the Browns assemble more pieces around him.
5. Travis Kelce (TE - Chiefs)
No tight end in league history has been as consistently dominant as Travis Kelce, and 2022-23 may have been his best season yet in season 10 for the 33-year-old. Kelce finished with a career-best 110 receptions for 1,338 YDS and a career-high 12 TDs, miles ahead of the next-best tight end yet again as he continues to provide a luxury to Mahomes and Kansas City that no tight end has come close to in the entire 2020s. He delivered another fantastic postseason as well, totaling 27 catches, 257 yards, and 4 TDs over just three playoff games, enough to move him to second all time in playoff touchdown catches. By age 33 Rob Gronkowski had already retired from football, but Kelce only seems to be getting better with age. There might not be a higher ranking Kelce has held than here in 2023, where he's coming off yet another phenomenal year that ended in a Kansas City Super Bowl.
Best Performances
1. Josh Jacobs, Week 12 - 303 total yards, 2 TDs, 86-yard game-winner vs. Seahawks
Jacobs had already been in the midst of the best year of his career, but his numbers reached new heights after this monstrous performance he put together in Seattle, the most rushing yards a player had all season and the moment of his career to cap it off. Jacobs was only at 117 rushing yards plus 74 through the air by the time the game reached overtime tied at 34, really good numbers but not a performance that's going to go anywhere near this list. It was the extra session where he really made it a day to remember, as after running for 26 yards on the Raiders' first possession of OT, he exploded for an 86-yard game-winning TD on the first play of Vegas' next drive, winning the game in incredible fashion to push over the 300-yard mark and become just the 10th player since 1940 to achieve that feat. And crazy enough, Jacobs was a game-time decision heading into this game having been nursing a calf injury suffered two days prior.
2. Tua, Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, Week 2 - 462 yards, 6 TDs in comeback win vs. Ravens
It's not often you're going to find a collective of players work their way into this section, but what the Dolphins did in their Week 2 comeback was worthy of an exception. The new speed demon trio of Tua, Tyreek Hill, and Jaylen Waddle was a fun idea in theory, and all it ended up taking was one game under their belts together to come into their own as the league's newest electrifying offense. Baltimore was in firm control of this one with a 35-14 lead through three quarters, but something clicked for the Miami offense as after pulling within 14, it was a pair of huge Tyreek Hill touchdowns that brought the Dolphins all the way back to tie the game at 35. The Ravens would take a 3-point lead on the ensuing possession, but a flawless two-minute drive led by Tua and finished in a Jaylen Waddle score agave Miami the lead and the win with 14 seconds to go. It was a banner day for the Dolphins offense as a whole in just their second game operating together, with Tua throwing for 462 YDS and 6 TDs, Hill going for 11 RECs, 190 YDS, and 2 TDs, and Waddle looking like 11 RECs, 171 YDS, and 2 more TDs. Have a day.
3. Patrick Mahomes, Week 1 - 30/39, 360 YDS, 5 TDs in season-opening win
Mahomes opened up his 2022-23 campaign with maybe his best performance of them all, lighting up a helpless Cardinals defense in Week 1 with a near-perfect showing, finishing 30/39 for 360 YDS and 5 TDs in an easy 44-21 win. Kansas City scored touchdowns on their first three drives of each half, and this marked the third-highest passer rating Mahomes has ever had on an afternoon in which he was just getting anything he wanted. No quarterback in league history has been better to start a season than Patrick Mahomes, and this performance was a sign of what was to come in what ended up as the most accomplished season of his already storied career.
4. Joe Mixon, Week 10 - 211 total yards, 5 touchdowns in win vs. Panthers
The most unstoppable performance from a running back this season, Joe Mixon was a man on a mission on this random Sunday in Cincinnati, with his 211 scrimmage yards easily a career-high while finding the end zone five times in the Bengals' blowout win. Mixon punched it in three times in the first half and caught one more score with just 12 seconds to before before halftime, and he added one more touchdown from 14 yards out in the 3rd that pushed Cincinnati's lead up to 42-7. It wasn't just his knack for the end zone that made it such a big day - he totaled 152 yards on just 22 carries (7.0 yards/carry) and had another 4 receptions for 58 yards - averaging out to 8.11 yards per touch plus the five scores. Mixon had been off to a bit of a slow start to the season that point, but this was the performance of his career and got him right back on track for the rest of the year.
5. Mike Evans, Week 17 - 10 RECs, 207 YDS, 3 TDs to clinch NFC South vs. Panthers
In a Buccaneers season that had not been going as planned across the first 16 weeks, someone needed to step up if they wanted to avoid missing the postseason for the first time in Tom Brady's 23-year career. And that guy was Mike Evans, as the star exploded for Tampa Bay in their biggest game of the season, hauling in 10 grabs for 207 yards and 3 touchdowns, lifting the Buccaneer's offense off their feet in a game they absolutely had to have. After Tampa fell board 14-0, Evans caught a 63-yard bomb for a touchdown to put the Buccaneers on the board for the first time, and with the team trailing by two possessions in the 4th quarter caught back-to-back touchdowns in a seven-minute span to turn a 21-10 deficit into a 24-21 lead the Bucs wouldn't let go of. Evans had been in serious danger of falling short of 1,000 yards for the first time in his 9-year career, but this game locked it up for Evans and also ensured one more trip to the postseason for Tampa Bay.
Best Moment - Bills Opening Kickoff TD in First Game After Damar Hamlin Incident
Even as far as feel-good moments go, this one had an extra special meaning to it. In an awesome moment for everyone - even Patriots fans - Nyheim Hines returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown in the Bills' Week 17 game, their first game since Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest on the field in a terrifying moment that shut down the game permanently right then and there. Hamlin had been rushed to the hospital and put into critical condition, and it was the fast response of the medical team delivering CPR and getting him treated immediately that, in reality, saved Hamlin's life. And when the Bills kicked off for the first time since six days later, there was an extra sense of unity and buzz in the stadium that can't quite be put into words, and a feel that the team was playing for something deeper than football. And that energy quickly turned into cheers, and a lot of them, as Hines returned the opening kickoff to the house, a storybook moment and one of two return touchdowns he had on the day in Buffalo's win.
