Cover photo courtesy of WBUR Boston on Flickr
With the NFL commencing nearly 2 weeks ago, we have seen a lot of action in the 2022-2023 season. We have seen great matchups with great teams losing and winning each week. The Rams, who won the Super Bowl last year, already lost week one to the Buffalo Bills in an almost blowout final score of 31-10. The Rams came back this week with a close win over the Atlanta Falcons.
In order to make a good prediction, one would have to take a look at the top teams' standings so far. The Cincinnati Bengals, who were AFC Champions last year, have lost both games this season so far, going into week 3, 0-2. Although they had an amazing season last year by utilizing Heisman-winning quarterback Joe Burrow, this year they have not gotten back to their game just yet.
Another potential contender for this year's Super Bowl is the Green Bay Packers. Although they lost last year to the 49ers in the divisional round of the playoffs, they still have quarterback Aaron Rodgers, the 2020 and 2021 MVP and they have Aaron Jones, one of the highest-ranked running backs in the NFL. They seem to have a strong will and a huge presence in the NFL this year despite losing their season opener to Minnesota last week.
The Buffalo Bills are likely Super Bowl contenders led by Josh Allen, a quarterback out of Wyoming. He was a first-round pick in the 2018 NFL draft. He and the Bills bulldozed the Titans on Monday night at home with a 41-7 victory. I think the Bills are ready to come back this year with a strong chance of going to the Super Bowl.
Flipping back to the NFC side of the league, another team with a good shot at a Super Bowl trip is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Equipped with 7-time Super Bowl winning quarterback, Tom Brady has traveled to 10 Super Bowls over his 23-season career.
All of these observations and statistics should be counted for and thought about when making a good prediction but it is difficult as NFL teams change and grow a lot throughout the season. Another aspect of the NFL you can look at is each team’s potential. For
example, the Bengals have lost both of their first 2 games. Both games have been close (Steelers by 3, Cowboys by 3). The Bengals record is not very good but if you look past their record, you can see that Joe Burrow and the Bengals still have some good potential despite losing a couple of games. The Bengals lost to the Jets last year who finished the season 4-13 despite the Bengals going to the Super Bowl and narrowly losing by 3 to the Rams in LA. Taking into account all the great teams in the NFL right now, I think the 2 teams who will face each other are the Bengals and the Packers. The Chiefs will knock out the Bills again and lose to the Bengals in the AFC Championship., Rodgers and the Packers will knock out Brady and the Buccaneers in the NFC Championship. Who do you think will make it to the Super Bowl? Leave your opinion below!