What If The NFL Was Like March Madness?
SportsLogos.Net News
With the 2023 NCAA men’s basketball tournament starting this week, what if the NFL was like March Madness? Well, that is the exact question that I will be answering in this article as I will be power ranking the best 16 teams in the league as if they were selected in one of the four tournament regions by the selection committee on Selection Sunday.
1 Seed: Kansas City Chiefs
The number one overall seed in this hypothetical region and tournament should not come as a surprise to anybody. Coming fresh off of a Super Bowl victory against the Philadelphia Eagles, this pick should be a unanimous one among the selection committee with future hall of famers Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid being the biggest reasons why. Not much of an explanation needed here for this one.
2 Seed: Philadelphia Eagles
As mentioned above, the Philadelphia Eagles are coming off a Super Bowl defeat vs. the Chiefs and that is the only reason why they are not the number one overall seed in this hypothetical scenario. Although Philadelphia lost both of their offensive and defensive coordinators to head coaching jobs, they reloaded with new offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, defensive coordinator Sean Desai, and were able to keep several key players from their Super Bowl roster. With Jalen Hurts taking the next step and emerging himself as a top quarterback in the league in addition to Head Coach Nick Sirianni having big game experience and knowing what it takes to get back to the big game, Philadelphia will be just fine as long as General Manager Howie Roseman is still there as they look to get back to football’s biggest stage and get revenge this upcoming season.
3 Seed: Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills have everything you look for in a Super Bowl contender: franchise quarterback (Josh Allen), WR1 (Stefon Diggs), and a top defensive unit in the league. The only thing that stands in their way is how elite the AFC conference is, specifically not being able to get past the Kansas City Chiefs in the playoffs. Buffalo yet again this past season did not meet expectations in winning a Super Bowl, as Josh Allen was the biggest reason for it with his turnover issues and hero ball play after losing his former offensive coordinator Brian Daboll and Sean McDermott and his staff getting outcoached by the Cincinatti Bengals in the AFC divisional round.
4 Seed: San Fransisco 49ers
The 49ers, led by their elite defense and the game’s best offensive play caller in the league in Head Coach Kyle Shanahan are well worthy of the number four seed, even with their current quarterback situation in Jimmy Garoppolo leaving for Las Vegas and Trey Lance and Brock Purdy dealing with their own respective injuries. Although former defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans left for a head coaching job with the Houston Texans, the 49ers will still be a top team and Super Bowl contender in the NFC next season. The biggest reason in their NFC Championship game blowout was Purdy getting hurt and exiting the game early, as long as one of Lance or Purdy stays healthy, they will be completely fine under General Manager John Lynch and Shanahan leading the way.
5 Seed: Cincinnatti Bengals
The only reason why the 49ers are ranked higher than the Bengals is because the NFC is way easier conference to get out of than the AFC. If the 49ers and Bengals played today, I’d take the Bengals in a heartbeat. Led by superstar quarterback Joe Burrow, the Bengals have cemented themselves as a top three team in the AFC as long as he is there and showed the ability in this past and last season’s playoffs that they can beat anybody, even Kansas City. Cincinnati feels like the sneaky five who can make a run and win the national championship, as Burrow and company look to win their first Super Bowl in franchise history next season before Burrow and Chase get paid the brink trunks and take up the majority of the salary cap in the future.
6 Seed: Minnesota Vikings
Last season, the Minnesota Vikings were able to have a record of 11-0 in one possession games, good enough for an NFL record. Even with the historic record, the season ended in a disappointing home playoff wild card loss to the New York Giants, where the defense got shredded for well over 300 yards, multiple scores, and made Daniel Jones look like Patrick Mahomes. So far this offseason, Minnesota has done everything in their power to improve the defense including hiring new defensive coordinator Brian Flores, signing cornerback Byron Murphy, and defensive end Marcus Davenport. Minnesota will look to get past the wildcard round next season with a very improved defense and year two of the Kevin O’Connell era.
7 Seed: Jacksonville Jaguars
This past season, the Jacksonville Jaguars exceeded all expectations. Coming off of back-to-back number one overall picks in the draft, nobody saw them making the playoffs, yet even winning a playoff game which included the third largest playoff comeback in NFL history after going down 27 points to the Los Angeles Chargers. The biggest reason why was because of Doug Pederson outcoaching Brandon Staley, as Jacksonville has finally found their guy after the disaster of what was Urban Meyer. Jacksonville also found their guy at quarterback in Trevor Lawrence, who took the year two leap and has already emerged himself as one of the best signal callers in the game. Jacksonville’s future is bright, as the sky is the limit for the sunny franchise in Northeastern Florida.
8 Seed: Los Angeles Chargers
The Los Angeles are your classic number eight seed who can make an unexpected sweet sixteen, if not more kind of run in the tournament. They have all the talent in the world, led by stud quarterback Justin Herbert. The only thing holding them back is their coaching, as Head Coach Brandon Staley held his team back in the playoffs and was surprisingly not fired after their playoff collapse to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Chargers upgraded their offensive coordinating staff by firing Joe Lombardi and hiring Kellen Moore, which is an upgrade, now the only thing is if they can finally put both coaching and their all-world talent together to finally make a deep run in the playoffs next season.
9 Seed: Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys are the team who enters the season with extremely high expectations, only to let down their entire fanbase and enter the postseason tournament as a higher and not lower seed. This offseason, Dallas has made some very good moves in being able to retain defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, the release of long-time running back Ezekiel Elliott, and trading for cornerback Stephon Gillmore and wide receiver Brandin Cooks. Will these moves be enough to put them back to where they want to be, that is still yet to be determined, but Dallas still remains a top ten team in the league regardless because of their top tier defensive unit and high-octane scoring offense.
10 Seed: Miami Dolphins
The Miami Dolphins are going all in after their trade acquisitions of wide receiver Tyreek Hill, linebacker Bradley Chubb, and most recently cornerback Jalen Ramsey over the past two years. A lot of draft capital has been given up for the moves, as the Dolphins are copying the Rams philosophy of going all in in order to win a Super Bowl now. The three biggest obstacles that stand in their way are quarterback Tua Tagovailoa’s health, the AFC East, and their conference as a whole. If Miami can overcome all three of these obstacles, they will be way better than the 10th best team in the league, as new defensive coordinator Vic Fangio looks to use the superstar players and talent he has on the defensive side of the ball to stop the quarterback kings of the AFC.
11 Seed: New York Giants
Much like the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Giants also exceeded all expectations this past season, also led by their Head Coach in Brian Daboll. In only one season, Daboll changed the culture and everything about Big Blue as New York was good enough to make the NFC Divisional round with a bottom tier roster in the league. This offseason, New York signed quarterback Daniel Jones to a four-year contract worth $160 million while also simultaneously franchise tagging running back Saquon Barkley in the same day. The Giants are rolling the dice with their quarterback and running back, and look to build off their surprising season this past year next season.
12 Seed: Seattle Seahawks
Much like the Jaguars and Giants, Seattle also exceeded expectations this past season in making the NFC Wildcard round coming out of one of the most difficult divisions in the league in the NFC West. However, Seattle exceeded expectations due to their quarterback play and not Head Coach Pete Caroll as Geno Smith was able to rewrite the trajectory of his career and cement himself as one of the better quarterbacks in the league at the age of 32, good enough to warrant a three-year $75 million dollar contract extension this offseason. Seattle has the Head Coach, quarterback, and the draft capital to open up a Super Bowl window in the weaker conference in the league in hopes of a Cinderella run next season.
13 Seed: Baltimore Ravens
The Baltimore Ravens are a confusing franchise. On one hand they always draft and develop well, but on the other hand it feels like they never reach their goal in a Super Bowl title year in and year out ever since they were last crowned world champions in 2013. Regardless of the moves and decisions that Baltimore decides to make this offseason, they must somehow find a way to bring back their franchise quarterback Lamar Jackson if they ever want to lift another Lombardi trophy again.
14 Seed: New York Jets
This past season, the New York Jets showed that they are a quarterback away from being one of the best teams in the AFC and league. This past week on the Pat Mcafee show Aaron Rodgers came out and said that his intention next season is to play for Gang Green, as New York will have its best quarterback since Joe Namath and look to escape the mediocrity that they are known for with Rodgers leading the way and at the helm whenever the trade for the future first ballot hall of fame quarterback becomes official with the Green Bay Packers.
15 Seed: Detroit Lions
After defeating the Green Bay Packers in week 18 of the regular season away on the road at Lambeau Field with a playoff spot on the line for Green Bay, the Lions proved that they deserve to be more recognized and taken seriously as a franchise. Although Head Coach Dan Campbell may be weird and quirky in his own ways, the city of Detroit, the fans, and players all love and adore him. What General Manager Brad Holmes have done in Detroit in only a few years has been outstanding, as the moves they have made so far this offseason have shown that they are only getting better over time and look to challenge the Vikings for the NFC North crown next season.
16 Seed: Pittsburgh Steelers
The last team and seed in this hypothetical scenario is the Pittsburgh Steelers. While the Steelers did have a down year under Head Coach Mike Tomlin as they only finished with a record of 9-8 and missed the playoffs for the first time in Tomlin’s career, nobody should be panicked or worried about where this team is headed. With the improved play of rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett down the stretch with a more than good supporting cast around him and TJ Watt on the defensive side of the ball, the Steelers will be just fine as long as Tomlin is there and will very much take advantage of the fourth-place schedule that they will play against this season. Book them for over nine wins, you won’t regret it.
