As the dust settles on the thrilling 2022 NFL season, sports enthusiasts and analysts are already gearing up for the excitement of the 2023 campaign this fall. The Kansas City Chiefs put an exclamation point on last season with a nail-biting 38-35 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles at Arizona’s State Farm Stadium. The extraordinary Patrick Mahomes once again took center stage, earning the MVP award and steering the Chiefs to their second Lombardi Trophy in a mere three-year span.
In stark contrast, the 2022 season proved to be a forgettable one for the Los Angeles Rams. Just a year earlier, the dynamic duo of Matthew Stafford and Cooper Kupp propelled the SoFi Stadium-based team to their second Super Bowl triumph in franchise history and first since moving to the City of Angels. Their unforgettable last-minute touchdown snatched the coveted Lombardi Trophy from the grasp of the Cincinnati Bengals in 2021.
However, the Rams’ title defense in 2022 fell disastrously short of expectations. They concluded the regular season with a dismal 5-12 record. To put this disappointment in context, only the Houston Texans, Chicago Bears, and Arizona Cardinals fared worse throughout the entire league last season.
The Rams and the 2023 Season
Heading into the 2023 campaign, based on NFL odds, the Rams are one of the favorites for success next season. They have priced up the 2021 champions in the middle of the pack, with teams such as the New York Jets, Los Angeles Chargers, and Dallas Cowboys all having a better chance of winning in their eyes. And that’s without mentioning the big five.
It has been rumored in recent weeks that the Rams are interested in retaining quarterback Baker Mayfield at SoFi Stadium to continue providing competition for the championship-winning Stafford. The 2017 Heisman trophy winner hasn’t hit the heights expected of him since making the jump to the NFL. However, there is an understanding that he would prefer to be a guaranteed starter in the new campaign. As such, there’s a chance that the Rams could lose the talented QB, which would be a bitter blow ahead of the 2023 season.
Given the above, it’s understandable why the bookies wouldn’t tip Sean McVay’s side for success in the upcoming campaign. Here are the teams that they consider the favorites.
Kansas City Chiefs
Following their success last term, it’s no surprise that the Kansas City Chiefs are the favorites for the Lombardi in 2023. The Missouri-based outfit has reached at least the conference championships in the last five seasons. On three of those occasions, they have been victorious and converted two of those three Super Bowl appearances into national championships.
They have the best quarterback in the world in Patrick Mahomes, and at just 27 years of age, he still has plenty of years of dominance left in him. Add to that tight end Travis Kelce and young running back Isiah Pacheco – who shone brightly at Super Bowl LVII – and the Chiefs will take some beating next season.
Buffalo Bills
Many people felt that there was one team that could take it to the Chiefs last season: the Buffalo Bills. The Vills have been on the cusp of a breakout for several years but have still not fulfilled their enormous potential. In quarterback Josh Allen, they have a player that may rival Mahomes for MVP honors in years to come.
Last season, they had a 13-3 record as they topped the AFC East for the third consecutive year. And they may well have matched the Chiefs’ 14-3 had it not been for their regular season game on the road at Cincinnati being canceled following the horror injury to Damar Hamlin. And while that match against the Bengals started but never finished, the postseason game between the pair most certainly did take place.
Unfortunately for the Bills, however, they were taken apart by the Ohio-based outfit on home turf. The NFL was already selling tickets to a neutral location conference championship game between the Bills and the Chiefs; however, Joe Burrow was in scintillating form as his side romped to a 27-10 victory. Josh Allen and company. They will have to put the disappointment of that defeat behind them ahead of the new season and the ghosts of the 90s, which still haunt them.
Cincinnati Bengals
No team has come closer to lifting their Lombardi curse than the Cincinnati Bengals in recent years. They are one of just 11 teams in the NFL that have never tasted Super Bowl success, and for 21 years between 1990 and 2021, they hadn’t even won a single postseason game. The emergence of quarterback Joe Burrow has changed all that.
The 26-year-old former UCLA superstar led the Bengals to the Super Bowl last year before taking his side to a second consecutive AFC Championship game in this year’s playoffs. There, they were narrowly defeated by the eventual champion Chiefs. But with the likes of Burrow and wide receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, success is undoubtedly just around the corner for Cincy.