2023 NFL Predictions: NFC

Photo by Wesley Hitt from Gett Images

Well, we are finally here.

One day away from the beginning of the NFL season.

We talked about the AFC, so let’s get into the NFC.

Where the AFC is so wide open because of how good it is, the NFC is so wide open because we have no idea how good teams will be.

But don’t worry. I’m here to help.

1. Philadelphia Eagles

Look, I get it.

The Eagles defense didn’t face a ton of tough competition last year, and then got rolled over by the Chiefs in the Super Bowl.

They lost both coordinators.

A slide back is to be expected, right?

I wouldn’t be too sure.

Nick Sirianni is a good coach. Jalen Hurts is a good quarterback.

And that “overrated” defense still has Darius Slay, Fletcher Cox and maybe the best talent in the 2023 NFL draft in Jalen Carter, who slipped for possible character issues.

The Eagles swung big, he has stayed out of trouble and dominated pre-season.

I don’t expect a slide back.

2. San Francisco 49ers

In my humble opinion, the top two seeds in the NFC will go to the winner of the NFC East and the winner of the NFC West, as those are the 4 best teams in the conference to me.

And for the Niners compared to the Seahawks, I think Geno Smith is better than Brock Purdy but the Niners roster is better than the Seahawks roster.

But the Niners don’t need Brock Purdy to be great.

They need him to simply be good enough.

And he was good enough last year, almost leading the Niners to a Super Bowl.

Will Brock Purdy set records or win MVP? No. Not even close.

But he hasn’t shown he can lose you a game, and that’s truthfully all Kyle Shanahan needs.

That is, until he finds a way to lose it himself…

Sorry. Had to get one in.

3. Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions have not hosted a playoff game since 1993.

That all changes this year.

Dan Campbell was a joke when he did his opening press conference and Jared Goff was a QB the Rams couldn’t wait to get rid of, but now the script has completely flipped.

The Lions became an extremely tough team to play against, Goff had a fantastic year, and now without the giant Aaron Rodgers cloud hanging over the NFC North, it’s the Lions for the taking.

4. Atlanta Falcons

This is dumb, right?

Like I probably shouldn’t pick them.

But the defense is good. The running game is good. They have great receiving targets. I have no idea what Desmond Ridder is at QB but I don’t think he’ll be atrocious.

And the division is one of, if not the weakest in football.

But it’s the Falcons.

I’m sure I’ll regret this, but whatever.

5. Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys are the most talented team in the NFC. Period. I will not hear otherwise.

Dak, Pollard, CeeDee, an insane defense. They are extremely good.

But I do not like their coaching, and the Cowboys will always and constantly find a way to screw things up for themselves, which will cost them the division and find them down in 5th.

Tough, but that’s what they do best.

6. Seattle Seahawks

As I said above, I think the Seahawks are a top 4 team in this conference.

But the seeding rules are the seeding rules, and so 6th is where they fall.

There’s nothing that suggests Geno Smith’s season wasn’t sustainable, and their receiving group is one of the best.

The secondary is excellent too, but the front 7, while improved on paper, is still a big question mark.

And when that was the catalyst that had the Hawks struggle down the stretch of the season last year, and it’s not a known improvement, I just can’t bring myself to have them win the division.

But if it truly is fixed, this could be a team fighting for top seed.

I just need to see it.

7. Green Bay Packers

But that can’t be! They’re rebuilding! They just got rid of their quarterback!

Well, let’s look at the teams who have traded away their elite QB as of late.

The Pats lost Tom Brady, and immediately made the playoffs.

The Lions? Had one bad year, but immediately followed it up by falling just one game short of the playoffs.

The Seahawks didn’t seem to miss Russell Wilson at all.

The common theme in all of that is coaching and depth.

The Packers were not constantly winning the North simply because of Aaron Rodgers.

The coaching is good. The depth is good. The defense is good.

More importantly, Jordan Love looked solid in pre-season.

The cheeseheads should not start buying Super Bowl tickets, but there’s no reason for them to feel like it’s all doom and gloom.

Missing The Cut

As I said, it’s a wide open competition, so some will fall short.

New York Giants

I absolutely love Brian Daboll as a coach, and think he was crucial not only to the Giants success last year, but also the Bills success when he was there.

But this team just isn’t talented enough yet to be a consistent playoff team.

Minnesota Vikings

Two years ago, the Vikings went 8-9 and lost 8 one score games, missing the playoffs.

Last year, the Vikings went 13-4 and won 11 one score games, making the playoffs.

The moral of the story?

This team is fine.

But who the hell knows what’s going to happen?

New Orleans Saints

I love their defense and their weapons, and I think Derek Carr is a good quarterback.

But we still have yet to see Dennis Allen find any success as a head coach.

Great coordinator. Not a great head coach.

Super Bowl Representative

The last time a team lost the Super Bowl and made it back the very next season was the Patriots, who made it back in 2019 after losing to the Eagles.

The last team to do it without the cheat code known as Tom Brady was the string of 4 straight Super Bowl losses by the Bills in the early 90s.

Moral of the story, it is very hard to lose a Super Bowl, kick off the dust and get back to it the very next season.

So it can’t be the Eagles, obviously.

Let’s look at the other options.

The Niners? Hm. I don’t think Brock Purdy can get the job done.

The Cowboys? No, they’ll always find a way to screw it up.

The Seahawks? Eh. Maybe a year or two away still.

The Lions? Who am I even kidding there?

Damn.

I guess they’re going to do it…

The Philadelphia Eagles win the NFC.

Super Bowl Prediction

February in 2024, Las Vegas will host the Super Bowl and will host the Dolphins and the Eagles.

It’ll be the Dolphins first time there with coach Mike McDaniel and quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

It will not be the Eagles first time there, as I mentioned above.

Call me crazy, but I still think that experience matters.

The Philadelphia Eagles win the Super Bowl.

And that’s that. The 2023-2024 season begins tomorrow.

Here’s to a fun season at the games, at the bar, or on your couch watching 7 hours of commercial free football before turning on NBC for Sunday Night Football and realizing “Damn there are so many ads now watching football on TV really sucks.”