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Who will win Super Bowl 57? The league’s lengthy offseason, three-game preseason, 17-game regular season, and four-round postseason will culminate with Super Bowl 57 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, […]
Who will win Super Bowl 57? The league’s lengthy offseason, three-game preseason, 17-game regular season, and four-round postseason will culminate with Super Bowl 57 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
The Los Angeles Rams are looking to defense last year’s title and go back-to-back, but will have to do so without key pieces like Von Miller, Odell Beckham Jr., and Andrew Whitworth, key pieces in last season’s Super Bowl run.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers won it all two seasons ago, and with Tom Brady retiring and then un-retiring, the NFC South winners from last season will try to make it tow Super Bowls in three years.
Otherwise in the NFC, Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers are always a threat, but without top wideout Davante Adams, will their passing game be as good this season? Dak Prescott also lost his #1 target in Amari Cooper, but the Dallas Cowboys’ offense still has a lot of pieces, and Dallas could be in the Super Bowl mix as well. The Arizona Cardinals, San Francisco 49ers, Minnesota Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles, and New Orleans Saints all may be within reach of a title as well, though they would have to get through some powerhouses to get there.
In the AFC, Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals will look to get back to the big game after losing to the Rams in Super Bowl 56. Offensive line and defensive adjustments should make the Bengals even better, but with a healthy Lamar Jackson returning to the field, winning the AFC North again over the Baltimore Ravens is anything but a given.
The favorite in the AFC seems to be Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills: who also got even better this offseason with the addition of linebacker Von Miller. Being declared the best team in the conference and even the league in the preseason is high expectations to live up to, but if Buffalo continues their upwards trend, a Super Bowl win is certainly within reach.
You can’t forget Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, who have represented the AFC in the Super Bowl in three of the last four seasons.
The Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas Raiders, Tennessee Titans, and Indianapolis Colts could be in the mix as well. And after adding nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback Russell Wilson, the Denver Broncos could be at threat to win it all.
Without further ado, let’s dive in to my predictions for the Playoffs and Super Bowl for the 2022-23 NFL season. If you’d like to debate or discuss any predictions, join the conversation with @SakSports on Twitter.
2021-22 NFL Season: Buffalo Bills over Green Bay Packers
2020-21 NFL Season: Baltimore Ravens over Seattle Seahawks
2019-20 NFL Season: Kansas City Chiefs over Chicago Bears
The playoff teams and seeds are reflective of my 2022-23 NFL division-by-division predictions. For a full team-by-team breakdown including projected records, and to see why you favorite team may or may not be here, check out my divisional breakdown of the league for the 2022-23 season.
AFC East, AFC North, AFC South, AFC West
NFC East, NFC North, NFC South. NFC West
Following my predictions, the playoff seeds in each conference are as follows. If teams records are tied, I will generally assign the higher seed to the team I see as stronger/more likely to make the playoffs.
The Los Angeles Chargers are an improved team this season after bolstering their defense with Khalil Mack and J.C. Jackson, among other moves. Justin Herbert’s offense is already electric, and with a lights out defense, the Chargers could be a very scary team. Unfortunately, I’m not sure Los Angeles can go from allowing the third-most points in the league last season to “lights out” that quickly.
The Kansas City Chiefs were almost exactly on par with the Chargers offensively last season (scoring just six more points) but bolstered a Top 10 defense as well. While Andy Reid did lose Tyrann Mathieu on the defensive side of the ball, the best defense can sometimes be a methodical, imposing offense. Patrick Mahomes can control the pace of this game to down his AFC West foes in the wildcard round.
Chiefs win 31-24
While I would love to see Russell Wilson go on a Super Bowl run in his first season with the Denver Broncos, I have to go with who I consider to be the better team rather than chase a narrative. The Baltimore Ravens were 8-3 last season before Lamar Jackson was injured, and I think they’ll pick up right where they left off this season.
The X-factor here is not knowing just how good Wilson and the Broncos will be. If Wilson’s offense can put up 25-30 PPG and the defense follows up last season’s third place finish in points allowed, Denver could be a dominant team. But assuming the Broncos offense is just a bit above average, Denver will likely be a very good but beatable team.
Ravens win 26-22
The fifth seed beating the fourth seed isn’t always necessarily an upset: I have both of these teams finishing 11-6 in the regular season, but I have the defending AFC Champions as the better team. After getting a taste of a Super Bowl berth last season, Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals will look to build on last year’s playoff experience and look to get back to the NFL’s biggest stage.
I like the Indianapolis Colts roster, hence picking them to win the AFC South over the Tennessee Titans, but I’m not sure they’ll have the firepower to compete with the Bengals in the playoffs. With Matt Ryan and Jonathan Taylor running the offense, and accompanied by a Top 10 defense from last season, I expect the Colts to have a lot of slow, methodical wins during the regular season. That won’t cut it here against Burrow and his talented young receiving core.
Bengals win 34-20
I can’t go with all chalk in the playoff bracket right? I’m not making this pick just for variety though: while I do see the Green Bay Packers winning the NFC North, Aaron Rodgers’ playoff history is a bit spotty. Last postseason, the Packers mustered 10 points in the divisional round against the 49ers. This year, without Davante Adams to throw too, I’m afraid Rodgers could lay another dud in the playoffs.
But this isn’t just about the Packers falling short: the Minnesota Vikings are a good team. A super talented offense supported by a defense potentially on the upswing should propel Minnesota back in to the playoff mix. And here, Kirk Cousins and the Vikings get to dispatch their NFC North rivals in the first round to set up a date with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Vikings win 24-17
The Los Angeles Rams should be one of the strongest teams in the NFC this season, either earning a first-round bye or in this case, finishing with the second seed and hosting the lowest-ranked playoff seed in the conference. Anything short of a playoff appearance and at least one playoff win would be a huge disappointment for Matthew Stafford and last year’s Super Bowl champions.
A healthy New Orleans Saints offense could be scary: with Jameis Winston, Michael Thomas, Alvin Kamara, Taysom Hill, and new addition Jarvis Landry. Defensive-minded new head coach Dennis Allen has lots of weapons to play with on his side of the ball too, including new signee Tyrann Mathieu. The Saints could theoretically make a deep playoff run if everything pans out, but asking New Orleans to beat the defending champions on the road is a tall task.
Rams win 30-20
For the past two seasons, the Arizona Cardinals have started strong and then fizzled out towards the end of the season. Arizona won enough games to make the playoffs last year, but didn’t stand much of a chance agaist the eventual Super Bowl champion Rams.
This year, considering Deandre Hopkins’ suspension, I think Arizona will start slow but finish hot. I’m not saying a deeper playoff run is guarunteeed, but at least a competiev appearence in the postseason.
And that’s what we’ll get here: an absolutely thrilling shootout with Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys. I think people are counting out Dallas: they did lose Amari Cooper, but last season’s #1 offense will still find plenty of ways to advance and score the football.
Cowboys win 38-31
The Kansas City Chiefs have dominated the AFC for the past three seasons, but two teams have given them trouble: the Bills and Bengals. Of course, Cincinnati actually knocked the Kansas City out of the playoffs last season en route to their Super Bowl appearance, while Buffalo fell just short against Mahomes and the Chiefs. The winner of this game will get the winner of Chiefs-Ravens in the AFC Championship, and both teams will know very well it could be Mahomes on the opposing side the following week.
As for who wins this game, well, just look how I have the two teams ranked. I see Buffalo as the best team in football, with both an elite offense and strict defense. Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins, and Joe Mixon have a pretty solid offense of their own, but Cincinnati’s defense may not be able to keep up with Allen, Stefon Diggs, and Gabriel Davis.
Bills win 33-27
Two numbers stand out to me here: Patrick Mahomes is 3-1 against Lamar Jackson in his career (with Jackson’s first win in the series coming last season) and Jackson’s 1-3 playoff record pales in comparison to Mahomes’ 8-3 record in the postseason.
I like the Baltimore Ravens to make the playoffs this season, likely as AFC North winners. I even have the Ravens downing a hungry Denver Broncos team in the first round. But the buck stops against Mahomes and the Chiefs: they’re jut too formidable of an opponent.
The Ravens are a star receiver (especially since they traded Marquise Brown) and defensive piece or two away from being a team I could pick to beat the Chiefs in the playoffs.
Chiefs win 34-26
It looks like the Dallas Cowboys are my sleeper pick to make a deep playoff run this season. Is Dallas the second-best team in the NFC? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean the Cowboys can’t get hot in January. With an NFC Championship Game appearance on the line, Prescott and the Cowboys will be tasked with downing last year’s Super Bowl champions.
Fortunately for Dallas in this situation, the Rams roster isn’t quite as good as last year’s. Plus, it’s downright hard for teams to even appear in the Super Bowl in back-to-back seasons, so it’s reasonable to assume Los Angeles might not make it back in February 2023.
Cowboys win 27-20
I gave the Minnesota Vikings a feel-good win over their NFC North rivals in the wildcard round, but defeating Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers is a much taller task. This matchup could potentially be an offensive showcase, with loads of weapons on both sides of the ball: from Brady, Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Julio Jones, and Leonard Fournette on one side, and Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook, Justin Jefferson, Adam Thielen, and Jalen Raegor on the other side.
But I hold two things to be true: Tampa Bay’s offense is better (easily, they finished #2 in the league last season in scoring) and their defense is much firmer as well. The Vikings run ends here as Brady inches a step closer to his eighth Super Bowl title.
Buccaneers win 30-17
In the moment NFL fans will have all been waiting for, Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes get to go toe-to-toe in the playoffs once again, this time with a Super Bowl trip on the line. Allen and the Bills losing to the Chiefs in overtime last season was such a painful loss that it sparked a rule change: guaranteeing each team a possession in overtime in the playoffs from this point forward.
Buffalo was really heating up last January, facing the Chiefs while coming off the heels of the NFL’s first-ever “perfect offensive game.” Obviously, Buffalo’s defense could have played better in the Bills 42-36 loss, but Allen’s offense was still on point.
If that game was ran back ten times, the Bills would win in four or five instances. That logic alone gives the Bills a chance to beat the Chiefs in any rematch. But in this scenario, the Bills are the home team, and they added sack-happy Von Miller to their defense.
I picked them to go the Super Bowl last season, and I’ll pick them again. Give me the best quarterback in football right now: nope, not Mahomes, but Josh Allen.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Dallas Cowboys gave us one of the most thrilling games of the season in last year’s opener, and are sure to have another high-flying affair on Week 1 Sunday Night Football. Dak Prescott vowed to Tom Brady that the two quarterbacks would meet again, in the postseason, after last year’s Kickoff Game loss. While it takes another year in this prediction, the postseason rematch finally gets set: with a trip to Super Bowl 57 on the line.
Like I mentioned before, I don’t think Dallas is necessarily the second-best team in the NFC, but I liked their matchups to get to this point. But against the conference’s top seed, one that possesses a killer offense and scary defense, the Cowboys run may come to an end.
I’d love to see Prescott and Brady trade blows here, with the game being decided in the fourth quarter. But ultimately, Brady heads to his 11th Super Bowl and his second with Tampa Bay.
Buccaneers win 38-31
Super Bowl 57 pits the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, two seasons removed from their last Super Bowl win, against the on-the-cusp Buffalo Bills, who have never won a Super Bowl. I picked the Bills to win the Super Bowl last preseason, and though they didn’t even make it to the AFC Championship, I think it was still a good pick: if Buffalo hadn’t run in to Kansas City, and perhaps if the overtime rules were different, I do believe the Bills would’ve defeated the Cincinnati Bengals to reach Super Bowl 56.
Beating Tom Brady in the Super Bowl is tough. Brady has come out on top seven out of ten times on the NFL’s biggest stage, dropping two championships to the New York Giants and one to the Philadelphia Eagles. This time, he gets a longtime AFC rival in the Bills: a team he’s 33-3 against in his career. But this isn’t the same Bills team that Brady was beating up for two decades as a member of the New England Patriots: not at all.
Josh Allen is the best all-around quarterback in the league when you combine his monster arm with his big frame and speed on the ground. He’s get Stefon Diggs, Gabriel Davis, and Isaiah McKenzie to sling the ball to. The Bills have a solid offense line, and a stout defense.
Obviously, I’m high on the Buccaneers by picking them to get to the Super Bowl, but I just think it’s Buffalo’s year. I picked them to win it all last year as well, but this year, I’m even more confident that Buffalo will end their title drought and hoist the Lombardi Trophy. Eliminating Tom Brady in the Super Bowl will be especially sweet for Bills fans, and leave the future Hall of Fame quarterback with yet another burning decision: can he really retire without going out on top?
The Buffalo Bills win Super Bowl 57 over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by a score of 27-23
Header Photo Credits (L-R): CBS Sports, Adrian Krauss/Associated Press, NFL.com, Smiley N. Pool/Dallas Morning News
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