by Terri Bey
The 2022-23 NFL season is in the books. This past season has been one of the strangest seasons I have ever experienced as a fan. There was tons of drama on and off the field, including a star quarterback’s divorce, and a near tragedy involving a player who nearly died on the field. Of course, there were great games and even some surprises from some teams, and with others, things never changed. Here in this blog, I will give you the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the 2022-23 NFL season. I hope you enjoy this blog and feedback is encouraged.
THE GOOD :
The Minnesota Vikings: This team had been showing signs of improvement under former head coach Mike Zimmer, but I always felt somehow he stood in the way, as he and the team’s QB Kirk Cousins were not on the same page. New coach Kevin O’Connell has this team, including Cousins playing hard and winning the division. Let’s see how they play on Wild Card Weekend.
Mike Tomlin: Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin and his team just missed the playoffs, thanks to a terrible first half of the season, having a 2-6 record, thanks in part to QB Mitch Trubisky being a total disaster. Also, the young QB Kenny Pickett was not ready yet, and star defender TJ Watt went down with an injury during the opening game of the season against the Cincinnati Bengals. Mike Tomlin did get the team back on track, thanks in part to Pickett’s fairly quick learning the play-book and the team wound up with a 9-8 record. Once again, since becoming the head coach of the Steelers in 2007, Mike Tomlin has yet to have a losing record.
Tom Brady: I will start out by stating that Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Tom Brady had a very good season. It was not one of his MVP-like seasons, but it wasn’t a disastrous season as the sports and mainstream media would lead you to believe. For the record, Brady threw for 4,694 yards with 25 touchdowns and nine interceptions in 17 games with a 66.8 completion rating. That’s not too bad. Brady also set two records this season. I mean, of course, he did. Brady now holds the record for most completions with 490 and the record for most pass attempts with 733. The Tampa Bay offense struggled, but Brady did lead the team on five game-winning drives to get this team to the playoffs and the division title.
Medical Teams of All 32 Teams: On January 2, 2023, at Paycor Stadium in Cincinnati, OH, during a game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Buffalo Bills, Bills Safety Damar Hamlin tried to tackle Bengals WR Tee Higgins, and both went to the ground after the tackle. Hamlin got up and then fell backward onto the field. Both teams’ medical staff came running to Hamlin’s aid and had to perform CPR and automated external defibrillation (AED, and paramedics and an ambulance were on the scene immediately. Hamlin was rushed to the University of Cincinnati Hospital. He has since been released and has returned to Buffalo to continue recovering. Even though this near tragedy happened in Cincinnati, it could have happened during any of the other games. The medical staff of all 32 teams should be appreciated for their hard work.
NFL Players, Fans Coming Together for Damar Hamlin: I was very moved by the amount of support for Damar Hamlin during his time of need. I loved seeing Bengals and Bills fans coming together for prayer vigils in front of the hospital. I also saw the love he got from his teammates, from their tears and looks of concern on the field to prayer circle. I loved seeing Bengals QB Joe Burrow coming over to console Bills players. NFL players all over the country were tweeting their support. So many of my friends and acquaintances were praying for him and donating money to his charity. It was quite moving.
THE BAD:
Media’s Handling of Brady’s Divorce: As most people know, Tom Brady and Supermodel Gisele Bundchen ended their 13-year marriage. Reports had it that the marriage ended because Brady changed his mind about retiring from the NFL, which he did the previous season. Brady reportedly promised to retire to spend more time with Gisele Bundchen and the kids, Benjamin, Vivian, and Jack, from his relationship with Bridget Moynahan. The two split over Brady allegedly reneging on his promise.
The media went to town on this story. I observed a media that behaved as if a human being never got divorced. The Brady haters also had a field day, as they believed the media’s lazy narrative that “Brady left his family for football.” People will believe anything. I thought much of the media madness was in poor taste and to use an unfortunate and sad occasion in both of Brady’s and Bundchen’s lives to further discredit Brady was very tasteless and undignified, especially when there are children involved.
Aaron Rodgers: Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers was a bit of an enigma. The star quarterback was blaming the early season losses on the young receivers. The team did go on a run, but lost the final game to the rival Detroit Lions and missed the playoffs. Now, Rodgers is hinting that he may retire, or not. Like Brady, Rodgers did not have an MVP season. I do wonder if the reason is that WR Davante Adams left last year to go to the Oakland Raiders, as Rodgers was a bit ambivalent about staying in Green Bay.
THE UGLY:
The NFC South: What a lousy division this was. All four teams, the Atlanta Falcons, the New Orleans Saints, the Carolina Panthers, and the Divison Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers all finished with sub-.500 records. The Buccaneers finished with an 8-9 record, making it the first losing record in Tom Brady’s career. I have heard people say that a team with a losing record shouldn’t be allowed to play in the playoff, even if they win the division. Well, as many of these same people say, “Rules are rules,” especially when it comes to Brady or his former team, the New England Patriots, I am going to have to say to them, “Rules are rules.” Tampa Bay, with its 8-9 record, will be allowed to play in the playoffs because they won the division. That’s the rule. The 2010 Seattle Seahawks played in the playoffs with their 7-9 record, so there is precedent for this to happen.
TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS: This Division winner was a mess all season, starting with training camp. First of all, they have had lots of injuries this season, starting with the offensive line during training camp. They had to deal with the off-the-field issues with Brady, and some of Brady’s poor play early in the season. Many of the talking heads in both the sports and mainstream media started their usual writing off Brady and are trumpeting out the nonsense that he is the SOLE reason for the team’s struggles.
As I said earlier, Brady didn’t have his MVP-caliber season. He had poorly played at the beginning of the season, surprisingly unable to lead his team against the one-win Pittsburgh Steelers and the two-win Carolina Panthers. Brady usually has his way with the Steelers and the Panthers should have been handled easily, judging the way they were playing at that time. However, Brady was the least of the problems. When your offensive line is all banged up, the quarterback loses protection. Despite the false narrative about Brady, NO quarterback like to get hit.
Other problems were Brady and WR Mike Evans having difficulties getting on the same page, until lately. There were tons of dropped passes. The defense was very inconsistent. The biggest problem was offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich’s terrible play-calling. It was so predictable, that the opponents knew what was coming. First down was run up the middle every time. Leftwich never called a lot of play-action. The running game is sub-par. Head Coach Todd Bowles is the perfect example of the expression, “insanity is doing the same thing over again and expecting different results.” Coach Bowles was the head coach for the New York Jets and it didn’t turn out so well. Here, he is, once again a head coach, as Bruce Arians is now an executive of the team. Bowles just cannot run a team. Like Las Vegas Raiders head coach Josh McDaniels, Todd Bowles is best at being a coordinator.
That is a wrap of the 2022-23 NFL season. I hope you enjoyed this blog. Feedback is welcome and encouraged.
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