We may think we have a general idea of what’s going to happen during this NFL postseason, but this silly game of football has a way of surprising us. Let’s be honest — it usually does.
Will a certain journeyman quarterback rise to the occasion? Will a legend remind us he’s not quite done yet? Will there be another Cinderella team/compelling underdog story we simply lose our minds over? No one knows, and no one could possibly accurately predict the chaos to come. Maybe that’s why this month presents itself as the best on the entire football calendar.
We get it now!
As the 2023 NFL Playoffs officially kick off this weekend, here are five bold predictions from For The Win on what lies ahead.
5
Tom Brady will make yet another Super Bowl
Ohhhh sure, soooo original.
I hear you.
But this is no ordinary Tom Brady year. No, this is the year that the wheels very much fell off for Brady, one that showed huge flaws in the QB and the team around him. If he’s forced to throw more than five yards in a come-from-behind effort, I can imagine opposing defenses will be very excited.
BUT!
How sure are you about the Eagles right now? Is Jalen Hurts 100% healthy? And the Cowboys — the Buccaneers’ first opponent in the postseason on Monday — haven’t exactly inspired confidence as of late, particularly with their quarterback position.
The Niners have Mr. Irrelevant at QB with Brock Purdy, and while that’s been a surprisingly good thing, maybe it’s different in the postseason. The Giants, Seahawks and Vikings all have major holes in their games.
Which means it’s happening. Again. Get ready for another month of Brady magic and all the stuff that comes with it.
— Charles Curtis
4
Brock Purdy is going to become a genuine sensation
Since taking over the quarterback role in San Francisco, Purdy has a 6-0 record for the streaking 49ers. He’s got a 13:3 touchdown to interception ratio and has thrown at least two touchdown passes in each game where he’s been the team’s primary QB — Kenny Pickett, for comparison, has zero games with multiple touchdown passes this fall.
Kyle Shanahan’s offense is a plug-and-play wonderland for a flawed quarterback. Jimmy Garoppolo was enjoying his most efficient season as a pro before getting injured in December. Purdy has been even better; since Week 13 he ranks fourth in the NFL in expected points added per play (behind Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes and, uh, Jared Goff).
Purdy and the Niners get the league’s 17th-ranked passing defense in the Wild Card round. The Vikings (26th) or Giants (22nd) await in the Divisional round. That’s a glowing opportunity to continue his legend as the player who rose from Mr. Irrelevant to the center of a genuine Super Bowl contender. The rookie doesn’t need to do more than dump the ball off to his skill player superstars and avoid turnovers — but if he can get that done and run San Francisco out to 12 straight wins (and then possibly a Super Bowl bid) the Tom Brady comparisons are gonna begin.
And they won’t be completely unearned.
— Christian D’Andrea
3
The Bills will lose another Super Bowl to an NFC East team
The Buffalo Bills don’t have the most glamorous Super Bowl history. Actually, teams that don’t have Super Bowl history are probably happier than the Bills are with the one they have.
Buffalo has an 0-4 record in the Super Bowl, losing four in a row from 1991-94, all to NFC East teams. The first loss was to the New York Giants, the second to Washington and the third to the Dallas Cowboys.
Well, whaddya know. The same year the Bills reach contender status again and enter a season as the consensus Super Bowl favorites, the NFC East rises up from the bowels of awfulness to send three teams to the playoffs. That includes the Giants and Cowboys, who Buffalo fans likely still hold contempt for.
However, it’s the one NFC East team that hasn’t beaten Buffalo in a Super Bowl that poses the biggest threat. The Philadelphia Eagles have the best odds of any NFC team to reach the Super Bowl, and a first-round bye only makes their path easier.
So it’s obviously not a stretch to say Philly could reach the championship game and play the Bills, who have the second-best odds in the entire NFL. There’s nothing bold about that. But it is a stretch to say the Eagles or any other NFC East team would win. Buffalo will be favored over anybody they play. Another loss will be devastating for that fanbase.
— Prince J. Grimes
2
The Jackonville Jaguars will play in the AFC Championship Game
Well, let’s get bold, shall we?
But really – the Jaguars (winners of five straight) are playing great football right now and are just as hot as any of the other AFC division winners. They have a young QB in Trevor Lawrence, who has looked like a stud for most of the second half of the season, they have a coach who has recently won a Super Bowl, and they have a defense that can make game-winning plays.
Plus, they have this guy:
This is the greatest national anthem of all time pic.twitter.com/FNxHfEaSvw
— Max Klingshirn (@maxkling26) January 8, 2023
You’re suddenly on my side, aren’t you?
— Andy Nesbitt
1
We'll learn to appreciate Daniel Jones a bit more (or in the first place)
Is “Danny Dimes” the best quarterback in the league? Please. Far from it. Is he still the walking turnover drawing scorn and ridicule during the first part of his career? Please. Also, far from it.
I would still be hard-pressed to call Jones a franchise player, but this was easily the finest year of his career, and he didn’t screw up a Giants playoff berth. Just imagine where New York would be if Jones weren’t forced to throw to WR1 Darius Slayton and Richie James all the time. In such a scenario, it might be cooking with gas!
At any rate, 2022 was a solid, efficient, if unextraordinary, year for Jones. I have a hunch that’s about to change in the postseason with the defense-less (pun intended) Vikings on deck and Brian Daboll properly getting his quarterback ready for any challenge after the fact. I don’t know if we’ll be singing the praises of Jones over the ensuing weeks, but we’ll definitely talk about him in different tones.
— Robert Zeglinski
