2023 NFL Season: Way too early picks for division winners
NFL head coach; Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor celebrates after Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Tee Higgins (85) scored during a 2-point conversion in the third quarter during an NFL wild-card playoff football game between the Baltimore Ravens and the Cincinnati Bengals, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2023, at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati.Baltimore Ravens At Cincinnati Bengals Afc Wild Card Jan 15 201
The 2023 NFL season is going to be a fun one. Let's make some very early predictions for the divisional winners in the coming season. It's never too early to make these kinds of predictions. The start of the 2023 NFL season is about three short months away, so hopefully the summertime flies by.
The air gets crisper when September hits and the cool breeze slowly but surely brings football weather. There's nothing like it. The 2023 season should feature a ton of parity, which is only a good thing, in my opinion.
How many repeat division winners will we see in 2023? Let's take a look at who I think will win the eight divisions in 2023.
NFL Picks: Joe Burrow #9 of the Cincinnati Bengals throws the ball during the first half against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on November 27, 2022 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
I think there are three good teams in the AFC North and one great team. The Steelers, Ravens, and Browns all have talent on both sides of the ball and could all make a run at the playoffs in 2023, but I don't see any of them as being anything more than a good team.
I think the Bengals are a great team, and until an AFC North rival can stop the Joe Burrow-led Bengals, they’ll win the division most years.
This might be the easiest pick in 2023. All three of the other teams in the division are sporting quarterbacks taken high in the 2023 NFL Draft and are all rebuilding in some way. The Jaguars should win 10-12 games in the 2023 NFL season and win the AFC South by four or five games.
Until a team like the Dolphins or Jets can dethrone the Bills, I’m sticking with them. I don't trust the Bills and Josh Allen in the playoffs, but I think Buffalo is the king of the division until proven otherwise.
However, I do think you could argue that the Jets and the Dolphins each have stronger rosters than Buffalo.
The defending Super Bowl champions are going to continue to win the AFC West until another team can prove otherwise. Like the AFC North, I think the Broncos and the Chargers are two good teams, but I don't think they are at the level of the Chiefs.
I could see three teams from this division making the postseason in 2023, but until another AFC West team dethrones the Chiefs, they’ll again win the division in the 2023 NFL season.