NFL 2023-24 Season In Review: A Chaotic and Fun Season For the Books

With the NFL season coming to a close with the Chiefs winning Super Bowl 58, one of the best ever, we now enter the mill of off-season changes and spring football. It’s one of the most somber times for football fans everywhere as we await the draft, free agency and of course the alternate football season. Now, we take a look back at every team’s year, and look back on a chaotic NFL season.

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Buffalo Bills

The lasting impression of the Bills’ season is going to be another playoff loss to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. It’s become a near-annual ritual for the NFL playoffs. The second coming of Wide Right is forever going to be a painful sting, and another year is gone from the prime of Josh Allen. Buffalo was 6-6 at their bye week, though they rode a 5 game win streak into the playoffs. Allen had turnover issues, throwing a whopping 18 interceptions. Some may not have been the worst, but giving the ball away that many times is cause for concern. If they can’t fix their defense and turnover problems, they’ll be stuck in the Chiefs’ shadow forever.

Miami Dolphins

It’s hard to think the Dolphins were once considered one of the contenders in the NFL early in the season. The offense was borderline unstoppable, and Tyreek Hill had a legitimate MVP case. But with a chance to clinch the division in the final weeks of the season, Miami played unimpressive and dropped games against Baltimore and Buffalo, the latter of which was acting as a division championship. Just a few weeks prior, the Dolphins choked against the Titans in the final minutes, ultimately changing the Dolphins’ trajectory towards the obvious playoff loss at Kansas City in sub-zero temperatures. The Fins beat themselves late in the year.

New York Jets

The New York Jets made a lot of noise in the previous NFL off-season, earning a spot on HBO’s Hard Knocks show by bringing in Aaron Rodgers to be the new quarterback on a good team. Just a few plays into an emotion-filled season opener, the hype train crashed as Rodgers went down with a season ending Achilles injury. While the Jets won that game, and 6 more after that, the season was essentially lost. In what has been called the “year of the backup quarterback,” Zach Wilson and the rest of a truly awful QB room played horribly. Maybe next year, they’ll be more fortunate, and also invest in a stronger O-line.

New England Patriots

The greats don’t usually go out with a bang- they go out with a whimper. This can be said for Bill Belichick, who is no longer the head coach of the Patriots after a year filled with losses and a QB controversy between some bad quarterbacks. Mac Jones repeatedly proved that he was not the answer, but Bailey Zappe never did much better. The team was just never in a good spot, finishing with just 4 wins. Belichick’s NFL coaching career may have just ended with a brutal test of fan’s loyalty, not something New England had seen until just a few years ago. They’ll be in this sad spot for a few more years as they rebuild from the ground up.

Baltimore Ravens

Lamar Jackson took home his second MVP award with a dominant season, proving his doubters wrong by throwing for 3,678 yards and 24 TDs while completing 67% of his passes. Tack on 821 rushing yards and 5 rushing TDs, and you have one of the greatest single seasons by a quarterback ever. Baltimore took this offensive success, and won 13 games in the regular season en route to an AFC championship game appearance. Then, the Ravens collapsed against one of the best teams in the NFL, and now this season will be remembered as another lost year. When will the Ravens find their playoff stride? Hopefully, they find it sooner rather than later.

Cleveland Browns

The Browns surprised many, winning 11 games, and having a playoff appearance locked up by the final week of the year. Crazier still is the amount of starting quarterbacks that took snaps for Cleveland, as 5 QBs lined up under center to start for a playoff team that featured an impressive defense led by NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett, and an offense that somehow managed to pull themselves together on a late season surge, winning 7 of their last 10 games to pull themselves into the playoffs. Their final starting QB was NFL Comeback Player of the Year Joe Flacco, who provided the stability to take Cleveland to the playoffs, despite losing to Houston.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers did what they do best for another year- finish over .500 and have an elite defense. They managed to squeak out enough wins to put themselves in a battle to make the playoffs, despite very few seeing Pittsburgh as a legitimate post-season team. You normally don’t see a team fire an offensive coordinator mid season and bench their normal QB in the most critical part of the year finish with 10 wins and a playoff appearence, but the Steelers did it. They also learned their lesson about starting Mason Rudolph in a playoff game, as they got absolutely destroyed.

Cincinnati Bengals

The Bengals started the season with some of the most lofty expectations in the NFL, with their super bowl window looking as open as ever. But not only were they 3-3 at their bye week, but their star QB Joe Burrow went down with a season ending injury in week 11. Backup Jake Browning played well in his absence, even cobbling a 3 game win streak, but the Bengals were the sole AFC North team to not be in the NFL playoffs. Now, this season will only be remembered as a lost season with their high-talent core. All Bengal fans can do now is wait for next season, where better health will lead to them contending once again.

Houston Texans

The Houston Texans stole the draft this summer, and reaped the benefits instantly. CJ Stroud had a historic rookie year, throwing for an eye-popping 4,108 yards and 23 touchdowns to only 5 interceptions- historic numbers for a rookie. He didn’t play like a first-year starter, playing like a veteran the whole season. He threw to targets such as breakout WR Tank Dell, and turned a once-dead offense into something interesting to watch all season. Will Anderson Jr took the defense to new heights, and despite a few early struggles, Houston made the NFL playoffs and won a game. This team is going to be fun to watch for a while.

Jacksonville Jaguars

A playoff appearance in 2022-2023 led many Jaguars fans to believe the rebuild was over and the team could go on to become a real contender in the NFL. An 8-3 start with the team looking as good as ever (including a 5 game win streak) only helped confirm that the Jags looked like a true playoff team. Yet somehow, they collapsed, reminiscent of the Titans collapse in 2022. Through their final 6 games, they only managed to beat the hapless Carolina Panthers. Now, there’s more questions than answers in Jacksonville, but hopefully those can be answered in 2024.

Indianapolis Colts

For the rebuilding Colts, you couldn’t ask for a much better season. Anthony Richardson showed he could be a great QB talent, but injury prevented him from playing a full rookie season. Despite that, the Colts know for a fact who their starter is next year. In “the year of the backup,” Minshew Mania swept over the NFL once again, as Gardner Minshew II led the Colts to a near-playoff spot. In fact, their last game of the season was a win-and-in against the Texans, where it came down to a single drop on 4th down at the very end of the game. That’s not bad for a team very few expected to be anywhere near sniffing the playoffs.

Tennessee Titans

It’s sad to see the decline the Titans have been on since making it to the AFC Championship in 2019-20 and being the 1 seed in the AFC in 2021-2022. Now, after 2 underachieving seasons in a row, (7 and 6 wins respectively) it’s time to see some major rebuilding happen. Longtime RB Derrick Henry had a down year- by his standards, “only” rushing for 1,167 yards and 12 TDs, but this is a far cry from his 2,000 yard season in 2020, and his 1,500 yard seasons he had in 2019 and 2022. Is he finally finished in the Music City? That’s the big question, but another one to ask is if Will Levis will continue his NFL success.

Kansas City Chiefs

For the first time in years, the Chiefs looked vulnerable. The WR core looked iffy, often dropping easy passes. It’s easy to forget a paper-soft schedule allowed Kansas City an early 6 game win streak, but that streak ended with a loss to the Denver Broncos, a team that had been undoubtedly dominated by the Chiefs for years. In marquee match ups against the Eagles, Packers and Bills down the stretch, they came up short. They certainly would have had more trouble with the Bengals if Joe Burrow was playing. Despite all of this, Kansas City, guided by the NFL’s greatest sensation Taylor Swift, found themselves with 11 wins, and winning every playoff game through the Super Bowl.

As of writing, we have learned of the tragic and horrific shooting at the Chiefs super bowl parade. We would like to keep all the victims and their families in our minds, thoughts and prayers, and pray events like this never happen again. Together, we are #KCStrong.

Las Vegas Raiders

Prior to the season, the Raiders were seen as a nonthreatening team in the NFL, and just looking at the final record would certainly support that. However, there is hope for Raider fans, as they learned about their future head coach Antonio Pierce through the final stretch of the season. However, it was still an ugly year of Raider football. They suffered multiple losing streaks of 3 games, lost a game 3-0, but most importantly they couldn’t get any consistency. Now, they enter an off-season where they need to stabilize. Next year, the focus is finding that consistency they lacked in 2023.

Denver Broncos

The Russell Wilson era in Denver will go down as one of the NFL’s biggest disappointments ever. Not even Mr. Unlimited could save the floundering Broncos, nor could one of the best NFL coaches in Sean Payton. After a 1-5 start, including giving up 70 to the Dolphins, Denver turned their season around somewhat. They had a 5 game winning streak, and looked competitive for a playoff spot. Ultimately, they slumped back into early season form, and the Wilson era presumably ended with his benching in the final 2 games. Just an awful ride for Broncos Country.

Los Angeles Chargers

It was a frustrating season to be a Chargers fan. The Justin Herbert injury is the main thing you can point to, as the team went on a horrendous 5 game losing stretch without him. However, you can’t ignore that this team failed to put themselves in a good spot with Herbert playing. The team was 5-7 at the time of his last game. There was so much inconsistency with Brandon Staley heading the squad, and now the Chargers are going to try and become a real NFL contender with Jim Harbaugh instead of an awful defense called by an awful coach.

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys have a major problem- a major culture problem. The Detroit Lions have been both 0-16 and played in the NFC Championship in the time since Dallas last played in that NFC Championship. It’s now one of the NFL’s longest running jokes, and it should be a sign they need to change something. A 48-32 loss in the Wild Card round to the 7 seed should not be what a 12 win “America’s Team” does. Dak Prescott may not be the answer, and Mike McCarthy is also uninspiring. The whole situation in Dallas needs a hard reset, or this playoff futility will continue for many more years.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles had a hot start to their season, at one point they were 10-1. They won marquee match ups against the Dolphins, Cowboys, Chiefs and Bills during this stretch. They were borderline unstoppable, and they looked like they would be returning to the Super Bowl once again. But then, the surface cracks that didn’t look threatening at 10-1, suddenly looked a lot deeper and more concerning on a 1-6 run. They looked defeated by the time they were in the playoffs. It’s a shame one of the most promising teams couldn’t keep the previous season’s momentum, instead choosing to choke away the season.

Check out our Eagles centered podcast Eagles Elite, every Wednesday Night at 8:30 EST, one of the premier NFL shows on Shady Sports

New York Giants

The Giants looked like they were onto something when they made the playoffs in 2022. They were a much different team in 2023, one filled with losses and injury. Week 1 featured a blowout loss to the Cowboys, and that set the tone for a 6 win season. Daniel Jones was out for the season in week 9, and New York never recovered for the rest of the season. The Tommy DeVito story was one of the better ones in the NFL, but it came to a crashing halt by week 16. The season was ultimately a loss for the Giants, and it leaves fans wondering if they really can go back to competing with the NFL’s best anytime soon.

Washington Commanders

While Dan Snyder, one of the worst owners in NFL history no longer owned the Commanders, the mess he left behind was still there, rotting away in the form of a 4 win team trotting out Sam Howell week after week. They finished the season on an 8 game losing skid, and got demolished by at least 10 points in 7 games this season. Their big defensive line pieces in Montez Sweat and Chase Young were both traded to different pastures. Positives are scarce for this team, but “Scary” Terry McLaurin recorded another 1,000 yard season. To make a long story short, Washington has a lot to do to become an NFL contender once again.

Detroit Lions

There is one word you can use to describe the Lions’ 2023 season: Special. Ending so many droughts, winning the division, winning 2 playoff games to appear in the NFC Championship. Jared Goff earned his pay, he played so well during the season and rallied the fan base to his side. The rookie class delivered so much for this team, and should continue to be elite for years. 12 wins in a single season was unimaginable just a few years ago, but now the franchise is ready to become one of the best in the NFL. That’s one heck of a turnaround.

Green Bay Packers

Loads of expectations were put on Jordan Love, as he was taking over for Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers is a surefire NFL Hall of Famer. Love delivered, taking Green Bay back to the playoffs, and winning a game as the 7th seed. It sure didn’t look good when the Packers were on a 4 game losing streak early, but they strung together a late season surge to get to 9 wins and make the post-season. While not an overly impressive season, it was a good start for Love, the one-time quarterback of the future, who is now the quarterback of the present.

Minnesota Vikings

Injuries are one of the worst things to happen to a team in sports. They send teams into chaos, and ruin any sort of expectations for that team. The 2023 Minnesota Vikings suffered a QB injury to Kirk Cousins, which was the worst case. After a 1-4 start, Minnesota went on on 5 game tear to put themselves in the playoff race. then Kirk went down, and while Josh Dobbs, Jaren Hall and Nick Mullens did everything they could to keep the ship afloat, they ultimately lost 6 of 7 to finish the year at 7-10. With talent like Justin Jefferson on the roster, Minnesota needs to decide if they’re going to contend now, or bide their time and rebuild.

Chicago Bears

2023 was the most pivotal season for the Bears in the short Justin Fields era. This was the year where Fields was going to show if he was the QB of the future, or just another bust. He certainly had good flashes, but ultimately his season wasn’t the special one needed to convince people he could be a star QB in the NFL for years. Starting 0-4 didn’t help the Bears’ case for getting into the playoffs, but a good stretch in November and December made the Bears look like a strong team with a bright future. However, the Bears finished with a 7-10 record, and won the top pick in the draft. Time for change in Chicago.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Very few predicted Tampa Bay to be a playoff contender in 2023, but they managed to pull off a 9 win season and a playoff win. Baker Mayfield embraced the underdog identity, and had a season to remember. He showed he can be a leader, and he surpassed any expectation fans had of him being an underwhelming bridge QB. Despite a losing stretch from weeks 6-9, Tampa compiled wins in 5 of their next 7 games, including a 4 game winning streak. Mike Evans continued to play well in what could be his final season with the Bucs. Ultimately, it was not a bad season for the Buccaneers, the question is if they can build on it in 2024.

New Orleans Saints

One of the worst things in the NFL is when your team is just treading water, not making moves to rebuild or contend. The Saints are doing just that, choosing to sign Derek Carr and hope that the core of Alvin Kamara and Michael Thomas could propel them to better places. Unfortunately for the Saints, they barely got over .500, and couldn’t make the playoffs despite one of the easiest schedules in the entire NFL. Carr did not play well for most of the year, but a strong finish, winning 4 of the last 5 games, should inspire hope the Saints will move up the totem pole.

Atlanta Falcons

On paper, the Falcons were one of the most talented teams in the NFL. Bijan Robinson as the feature back, as well as Drake London and Kyle Pitts as the top pass catchers. Arthur Smith laughed in the face of all that talent, hardly using it.

Kyle Pitts had 3 TD receptions on the year, Drake London had 905 yards and 2 TD receptions, and the electrifying Bijan Robinson ran for only 976 yards and 4 TDs. This roster should’ve won more than 7 games, but not utilizing your top end talent won’t get you far. Next year, with new leadership, we should see what all this talent is capable of, and maybe they’ll get a good QB.

Carolina Panthers

2023 couldn’t have gone much worse for the Carolina Panthers. For the entire season, they were the worst team in the NFL by far, and while Bryce Young struggled, the QB they could’ve had in C. J Stroud balled out. The O-line couldn’t protect Young, and they didn’t have a strong top wide-out, as an aging Adam Thielen was the main target for Young. Carolina started 0-6, and finished the year 2-15. They don’t even get the top pick in this year’s NFL draft, as that’s been traded to Chicago.

San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers had one of the most impressive seasons in recent memory, especially with a QB no one expected to become one of the NFL’s biggest stars. Brock Purdy had his doubters entering the season, and he silenced them by leading his talent filled team all the way to the Super Bowl. Despite losing, the Niners had a great road to the big game. They won 12 games in the regular season, and only looked weak a few times- a 3 game losing skid, and a beat down at the hands of Baltimore in week 16. Expect San Francisco to keep this up.

Check out our 49ers dedicated team podcast Niners Nuts. Three episodes dropping weekly, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday at 12:00 pm ET.

Los Angeles Rams

Did the Rams have high expectations for their season this year? I doubt it after their super bowl winning defense was almost completely gutted, with no Bobby Wagner or Jalen Ramsey on that side of the ball. Once the season started, the Rams looked weak. They were 3-6 headed into their bye, but they won 7 of their last 8 to finish with a playoff appearance. The big story is going to be Puka Nacua’s ascension into NFL stardom as a rookie. Coming out of seemingly nowhere, Nacua quickly became a household name, and became one of Matt Stafford’s top targets. Not a bad find for the Rams.

Seattle Seahawks

Geno Smith’s breakout 2022 campaign put him on the map, but 2023 proved that may have been a fluky run. He threw 20 TDs, down from 30 in 2022, and threw for 3,624 yards which was down from a 4,200 yard 2022. Ultimately, that wasn’t the main reason why Seattle struggled, it was a rough 4 game tumble that sent them from 6-3 to 6-7. They were unable to battle back to the playoffs, but they were in it to the end. they were only eliminated in the final week of the season.

Arizona Cardinals

With QB Kyler Murray out for the first chunk of the season, it wasn’t going to be a fun year in the desert. When Murray returned, the Cardinals were a measly 1-8. With Murray, Arizona won 3 more games and looked like they had a little bit more life than they had previously. Their statements of the season were upsets against NFC East teams. The Cardinals beat Dallas in week 3, and Philly in week 17. These upsets showed that the Cardinals should have promise in the near future, but this is a season they will want to forget.

One great NFL season

This was a chaotic and fun season in the NFL. With so many fun stories, it was a great one to follow. Now we look forward to the off-season, and especially the UFL and Arena/Indoor season to see where the next great talent will come from. We also await the NBA Finals, NHL season finishing up and the MLB season starting up. Stay tuned to the Shady Sports Network for all your sports content in one place.

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