12th February 2023 saw the Kansas City Chiefs emerging as the champions of the 2022-23 NFL season at Super Bowl 57. This brought to an end weeks’ of endless speculation, where eager American football fans hoped that their teams would emerge the victors in what has been an exceptionally exciting 2022-2023 NFL season.
The football league, which kicked off on 8th September 2022, has witnessed a few surprising twists and turns, including the cancellation of one of the matches, a spectacle that has not been witnessed in many years.
Consequently, as we anticipate the next NFL season later in the year, it would be interesting to review the just concluded 2022-23 NFL season and find out the season outcomes and the winners and losers in the season.
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The Super Bowl and Final Outcomes in the 2022-23 NFL Season
A good review into the winning performance of the top team in LVII Super Bowl, shows that the win from the Kansas City Chiefs was almost miraculous, considering that their breakthrough only came in the last minutes of the game in the fourth quarter. An unbelievable comeback, especially with the QB Patrick Mahomes nursing an injury. A lot of commentators and picks guru’s, such as Pay Per Head, fancied the Chiefs to come out on top in the end, in what was certainly a game between the best two offensive teams in the NFL.
The defining moment at the State Farm Stadium in Arizona came through the Kansas City Chief’s win with 38 points against the Philadelphia Eagles 35 points. This was Kansas City Chiefs latest win in the last four years. It was preceded by their previous win in the Super Bowl LIV against the San Francisco 49ers where they triumphed by 31-20.
Prior to the final winning match, the top four teams in the NFL 2022-23 were the San Francisco 49ers, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles. The Kansas City Chiefs faced off with the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC championships at the Arrowhead stadium in Kansas where they scored a 23-20 win against their opponent.
On the other hand, the Philadelphia Eagles faced off against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championships to triumph with 37 points against the San Francisco 49ers 7 points at the Lincoln Financial Field.
Pre-season Championships and Divisional Playoffs
It is no secret that the NFL 2022-23 season brought with it unexpected outcomes in the various AFC and NFC championships. For instance, most football fans expected the indomitable Buffalo Bills to emerge among the top contenders for the Super Bowl LVII championship, but sadly for Bills fans they came up short. There is a good chance we’ll see much better things from Buffalo in next season.
However, this was not to be as each of the 32 teams gave their best performance in the highly competitive sports league. More information on all the 32 teams in the league is extensively covered at the NFL’s own site.
The season started with top AFC and NFC teams pairing up, with the debut game being played between the LVI Super Bowl defending champions, Los Angeles Rams and the fearless Buffalo Bills on September 8, 2022.
The Playoffs commenced on January 14, 2023, with top teams in the run up to the final matches being the Jaguars against the Chiefs, The Giants against the Eagles, while the Bengals paired up with the Bills and finally, the Cowboys faced off against the San Francisco 49ers. There were some surprising results in the Playoffs, which ultimately led to the Super Bowl matchup that we saw between the Eagles and the Chiefs.
Top Players in the 2022-23 NFL Season
The 2022-23 NFL season also saw the quarter back, Patrick Mahomes emerging as the 2022-23 NFL MVP (Most Valuable Player) award winner. this happened at the NFL Honors awards held in Phoenix, and considering his heroics at Super Bowl LVII, is of no surprise at all. There are not many players who could have put in that performance, carrying a serious injury. He is probably still feeling the physical effects of his exertions, but when he looks back on his career it will no doubt have been worth it.
He beat other valuable finalists, Bengals Joe Burrow and Eagles Jalen Hurts, to clinch his second MVP award after his first one in the 2018 NFL season, and if he can stay fit enough, who’s to say he can’t do it again.
Other top players in the NFL 2022-23 season include Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, and Tom Brady among others.
Mishaps and Injuries
Like many other football championships, the 2022-23 NFL witnessed a fair share of player injuries and mishaps too. The teams with the most injuries included the Buffalo Bills, the San Francisco 49ers and the Indianapolis Colts to name but a few. To be fair to the Bills, this is one of the key reasons they weren’t there to contest the Super Bowl in the end.
Indeed, many teams were not spared, with players encountering knees, ankles, concussions, and shoulder injuries among other serious injuries that litter the NFL each year.
Popular players from winning teams also bore injuries leading up to the final Super Bowl performance. For instance, the player of the season, Kansas City Chiefs Patrick Mahomes endured an ankle injury, which left his fans apprehensive about his performance in the final Super Bowl LVII championship matches.
This was his second injury in the NFL 2022-23 season, having had an earlier injury at the AFC championship between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Cincinnati Bengals.
The 2022-23 NFL season also saw one of the games being cancelled after a Buffalo Bills player, Damar Hamlin collapsed when the game was midway. The incident happened during the week 17 of the season and the game was not rescheduled, something which has not been witnessed in decades.
So, we think you’ll agree, that the NFL 2022-2023 season has been one hell of a ride, and we can’t wait for the 2023-2024 season to begin.
