The 2023 NFL season is finally here. We're now mere months away from crowning a champion in Super Bowl LVIII, which will be played on Feb. 11, 2023, at Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada. Of course, we have to play 272 regular season games and 13 more playoff contests between now and then, starting with the Kansas City Chiefs defending their title against the Detroit Lions on Thursday night.
How will things shake out during the regular season? We're glad you asked. We gathered our panel of experts (senior NFL writers Pete Prisco and Will Brinson, and NFL writers Ryan Wilson, John Breech, Jared Dubin, and Tyler Sullivan) to predict the order of finish for every division, the wild card teams, and which team will both win and lose the Super Bowl.
Here are a few notes before we get to the predictions:
- There was less agreement among our panelists this year than ever before, and it's not even close.
- We did not have a single unanimous division winner, and in three of the league's eight divisions, our voters picked three different teams to finish in first. That means 19 of the 32 teams received at least one vote to win their division.
- Just six teams were unanimously picked to make the playoffs, while 24 teams (75% of the league) got at least one vote for a playoff spot. Only eight didn't receive a single vote. (13 teams didn't receive a single playoff vote last year.)
- Teams with only one voter picking them to make the playoffs: Dolphins, Titans, Broncos, Giants, Commanders, Panthers.
- The one place there was unanimous agreement: the Rams finishing third in the NFC West and the Cardinals finishing last. All six voters had them finishing in the exact same order. Also, everyone had the Texans and Colts finishing either third or fourth in the AFC South, with an even 3-3 split for both teams.
- None of the six panelists picked the same Super Bowl matchup or the same Super Bowl winner. We have one vote for six different teams to win it all, and at least one for nine different teams making a trip to Vegas for the championship game.
- The only teams that multiple voters picked to reach the Super Bowl: Eagles (2) and 49ers (3). Everyone had a different representative from the AFC.
For more expert predictions, be sure to click here to see our picks for who will win all the major awards in 2023, including regular season MVP, Super Bowl MVP, and Rookie of the Year.
Alright, let's get to these predictions.
