Ranking The Eight NFL Teams Who Could Go Worst To First In Their Division

One of the great things about the NFL is that fortunes can change very quickly for teams who struggled in the prior campaign. A play here or a play there over the course of a season can catapult a team’s record from the basement to the thick of the playoff race. We’ll rank the eight teams who finished last in their division in 2022 by their prospects of winning it ahead of the 2023 season.

The Cardinals finished with a putrid 4-13 record, and don’t figure to have much of a chance to rebound in 2023. Quarterback Kyler Murray likely won’t return to the lineup until the middle of the season, and Arizona has embraced the rebuild that many thought was coming. They’ll need a miraculous first-year coaching job from Jonathan Gannon to be in the mix.

After a long couple of seasons, Houston appears to be on the right track towards respectability. The organization was commended for hiring rising coaching star DeMeco Ryans, who was a solid player for the Texans a decade ago. Even though it feels unlikely that they’ll contend for a playoff spot this year, it feels like they could be back in the conversation in 2024.

The Commanders had an uneven start to the 2022 season but finished with a feisty 8-8-1 mark. Washington would seem to have the easiest path to winning their division, but the competition will be fierce. The other three teams in the NFC East made the postseason a year ago, and none of them figure to take notable steps back in 2023.

It’s going to be one of the main storylines of the upcoming season. Can former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton reignite a Denver offense that was dormant for the majority of last season? It stands to reason that the Broncos will be improved this year, as there isn’t anywhere to go but up. However, predicting the fall of Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West is usually a losing affair.

Cleveland supporters will argue that the franchise never really had a chance to do damage in 2022 because of quarterback Deshaun Watson’s lengthy suspension. Browns fans better hope that a full offseason and a fully guaranteed contract can motivate their signal caller to get Cleveland back into AFC North contention. The road will be tough, but the Browns have the talent to pull it off.

It might seem unfathomable for Chicago to go from worst to first and win the NFC North in 2023. It may be sufficient for them to find out if quarterback Justin Fields is the long term answer. It’s a fair tempering of expectations, but the division doesn’t have any intimidating teams. If Fields is able to make a leap, Chicago could have a chance come the last few weeks of the season.

It would be extremely disappointing if the Jets weren’t a factor in the AFC East race. New York has one of the better rosters from top to bottom in the NFL, and were missing reliable play under center. That figures to be less of an issue now that Aaron Rodgers is in the Big Apple. The Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins will make things interesting, but New York believes they can make the leap.

They may not have the same buzz heading into the 2023 campaign as some other teams, but the Falcons have as good a chance of any team of going worst to first. The NFC South is completely up for grabs, and head coach Arthur Smith will look to ground and pound his way to wins with rookie running back Bijan Robinson.