Football fans around the world are already in a frenzy of expectations as the 2023 NFL season approaches. The new campaign officially gets underway on September 7th when the reigning champion Kansas City Chiefs welcome the Detroit Lions to Arrowhead Stadium in Missouri. Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs to a second Lombardi trophy in five seasons back in February when he launched an astonishing second-half comeback to overthrow the NFC Champion Philadelphia Eagles.
Andy Reid’s side has reached the AFC Championship game in each of the last five seasons and if you are somehow who likes to track football betting odds, it will come as no surprise to hear that they are the +600 favorites for the Lombardi once again this season. The team that they vanquished at State Farm Stadium back at Super Bowl LVII are the +650 second favorites, while the Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals are all considered contenders. In this article however, we will be focusing solely on the NFC, and without further ado, here are our predictions for the winner of each division in the upcoming campaign.
NFC West Winner – San Francisco 49ers
If veteran Super Bowl-winning quarterback Matthew Stafford can replicate the form he showed in 2021 and if Wide Receiver Cooper Kupp also up his game, a shock could be on the cards and the Los Angeles Rams may well surprise a few people. But even if those two, who are arguably two of the league’s best players on their day, the NFC West’s San Francisco 49ers are unquestionably the team to beat.
Last season, the Levi’s Stadium side made it all the way to the NFC Championship game. And had it not been for an injury to 3rd choice quarterback and last year’s Mr. Irrelevant, Brock Purdy, they may very well have defeated the Philadelphia Eagles and qualified for the Super Bowl. In the end, however, it wasn’t meant to be, but if they can keep any one of their first three QBs fit and firing for a full season, then they will romp to divisional glory, and who knows where beyond there.
The final two teams in the division are the Arizona Cardinals and the Seattle Seahawks, and both teams have seen better days. The former finished last season with a dismal 4-13 record, the third worst in the entire league. The latter meanwhile did manage to reach the postseason, however, they are a shadow of the team that once contained the likes of Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch, and Richard Sherman.
NFC South Winner – Carolina Panthers
The NFC South is perhaps the division in the entire conference with the least quality. Last year Tom Brady and his Tampa Bay Buccaneers topped the standings with a paltry record of eight wins and nine defeats. This year, however, we feel that the Carolina Panthers may finally return to their best.
They have been without a true franchise quarterback since Cam Newton’s injury struggles got the better of him. However this season, they selected Bryce Young with the first overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and we feel that he could lead the Panthers back into the postseason for the first time since 2017. The bookmakers can’t see the Panthers reaching the lofty heights of 2015 and that magical Super Bowl appearance, making them +6500 for the Lombardi this season.
NFC North Winner – Minnesota Vikings
Last season, the Minnesota Vikings were one of the stars of the show throughout the regular season. They built up an impressive record of 13 wins against three losses. However, they found out that the regular season counts for nothing once the postseason gets underway, and they were stunned by an upstart New York Giants side in the divisional round.
We fancy them to top their division once again this year. But whether their playoff campaign goes any better than last year remains to be seen. They may well find some resistance in the form of the Detroit Lions, whose victory over the Green Bay Packers on the final day of last season stopped the Wisconsin-based outfit from reaching the playoffs. Now, the Lambeau Field side is without longtime quarterback Aaron Rodgers, and they may well struggle in the upcoming campaign.
NFC East Winner – Philadelphia Eagles
The NFC East is a stacked division, to say the least. Last year, three of the four teams in the division, namely the Philadelphia Eagles, the Dallas Cowboys, and the New York Giants, all made the postseason. But it was the Pennsylvania side that impressed more than anyone else.
Throughout the regular season, they built up a record of 14-3 to secure top-seed status in the NFC. We expect them to do something similar this season. And if Jalen Hurts can build upon his all-time great Super Bowl performance, both he and his Eagles may go one better than they did last year in 2023.
