The Chiefs won the Super Bowl last year, but the Eagles, 49ers, and Bengals are ready to take their place.
The NFL regular season starts in just a few hours, and a lot has happened since the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Philadelphia Eagles to win Super Bowl LVII and until they play the Detroit Lions.
Since Patrick Mahomes became the starting quarterback, the Chiefs have been doing better and better. For the first time since 2016, the Lions came close to making the playoffs, and rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs seems ready to carry the load for the offense.
But there’s been a lot more going on during the downtime.
The Chiefs will try to win back-to-back Super Bowl titles, which hasn’t happened in the NFL since the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
Since he took over as the team’s lead quarterback, Patrick Mahomes has been great. He has taken the Chiefs to five straight AFC Championship Games, three Super Bowls in the last four years, and two wins, including last year’s win over the Philadelphia Eagles.
Last time, Tom Brady led the New England Patriots to back-to-back Super Bowl wins. But the job is very hard and keeps getting harder every year.
The Chiefs start their season against the Detroit Lions on Thursday night.
Aaron Rodgers was traded from the Green Bay Packers to the New York Jets in the most important move of the summer. The four-time Most Valuable Player and Super Bowl winner brings a lot of knowledge and great quarterbacking skills to a team that really needs them.
Rodgers will have a lot of targets to help the offense get going again. Dalvin Cook was added as a running back, and Allen Lazard, Randall Cobb, and Mecole Hardman were brought in as wide receivers. When you combine them with Garrett Wilson, the Jets’ attack is ready to take off and fly.
Last season, the defense made a huge step forward, while the offense hasn’t been above 25th in points scored or yards gained since 2018, when Sam Darnold was throwing the ball.
The Jets’ season starts Monday when they play the Buffalo Bills.
Tom Brady won’t be on the bench of an NFL game for the first time since the 1999 season. After the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were knocked out of the playoffs in February, he said he was “for good” leaving the NFL.
Brady left the NFL as probably the best quarterback the league has ever seen. He has thrown for 89,214 yards and 649 touchdowns, which are both records. He has won the Super Bowl seven times, made the Pro Bowl 15 times, and been the MVP three times.
He has also turned down a number of requests to come back to play, and he seems to be focused on a number of things off the field.
NFL’s crackdown on gambling
Since the Supreme Court made it possible for states to approve sports betting, several sports betting companies have become sponsors of NFL teams. But because of this, the league has had to figure out how to deal with players who bet on games.
Jameson Williams, Quintez Cephus, C.J. Moore, Shaka Toney, and Stanley Berryhill are some of the players. Before the 2023 season started, Eyioma Uwazurike, Isaiah Rodgers, Rashod Berry, Demetrius Taylor, and Nicholas Petit-Frere were all banned.
Some people have hope.
Last year, seven teams went to the playoffs that hadn’t been there the year before. It means that the 18 teams that didn’t make the playoffs last year have a chance to play in January or even February.
The New England Patriots, New York Jets, Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns, Tennessee Titans, Indianapolis Colts, Houston Texans, Las Vegas Raiders, Denver Broncos, Washington Commanders, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears, Carolina Panthers, New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, Los Angeles Rams, and Arizona Cardinals all have a chance to move up.
Nineteen teams were still in the running for the Super Bowl on the last day of the 2022 season.
At the end of the 2021 season, the Jaguars were the worst team in the league. In 2022, Jacksonville won the AFC South Division title under Trevor Lawrence’s leadership. In 18 of the last 20 years, at least one team has won its league the year after coming in last.
The Jets, Browns, Texans, Broncos, Commanders, Bears, Falcons, and Cardinals are looking at you.
Before the season started, there were several changes in the head coaches.
Jonathan Gannon took over for the Arizona Cardinals, Frank Reich became the head coach of the Carolina Panthers, Sean Payton came back to the league and got the job with the Denver Broncos, DeMeco Ryans will lead the Houston Texans, and Shane Steichen will lead the Indianapolis Colts.
Renaming the stadium
In the summer, the Cleveland Browns and the Jacksonville Jaguars both changed the name of their stadiums.
Cleveland Browns Stadium will be the name of the Browns’ home field. EverBank Stadium will be the site of the Jaguars’ games.
