The NFL is built for parity. Every year, teams have the chance to reset, reload, and jump from the bottom of the standings to the top. How realistic is it for your team to go from worst to first? Well, out of the eight divisions last year, just one went from last place to first place, and that was the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC South.
The Seattle Seahawks went from last place to the playoffs, as did the New York Giants, and the Detroit Lions jumped from three wins to nine. Can anyone go from worst to first in 2023?
Let’s take a look at three of the top candidates around the league.
3 NFL teams that could go from worst to first in 2023
1. New York Jets
The New York Jets already saw a three-game improvement from 2021 to 2022. Can they do it again in 2023? A three-game improvement would put the Jets at 10-7 this coming season, not likely enough to make it past the Buffalo Bills in the AFC East but certainly enough to get to the playoffs.
At least, you would think.
The arrival of Aaron Rodgers has rejuvenated the hopes of the faithful Jets fan base and understandably so. A four-time MVP doesn’t walk through your door every day. Rodgers should significantly elevate a Jets team that already had one of the best defenses in the NFL and one of the better young cores of players around the league.
Does a lot need to go right for the Jets in order to surpass the Buffalo Bills? Absolutely. It’s much more likely that this team ascends to second place in the AFC East this year, but I wouldn’t rule anything out.
2. Atlanta Falcons
If I were a betting man, I would take it to the bank that the Atlanta Falcons are the most likely NFL team to go from worst to first in 2023. Maybe I’m vastly overestimating this team, but think about the context of the 2022 Atlanta Falcons.
They trotted out Marcus Mariota for the majority of their games. Mariota, the same guy that Falcons head coach Arthur Smith was part of benching when he was on the coaching staff with the Tennessee Titans. At times last season, the Falcons had one of the most dangerous offenses in the league despite being rather one-dimensional.
Now, Desmond Ridder takes the reins. The Falcons seem somewhat irrationally confident in Ridder’s ability to lead this team this coming season, or they’re really confident that they can turn to Taylor Heinicke and find success at any point in time.
At any rate, they have taken proper measures to support Ridder, investing in the offensive line while also bringing in players like Kyle Pitts, Drake London, and now Bijan Robinson in the top 10 of the NFL Draft the last handful of years. Because of the way the Falcons’ offense is currently constructed, the pick of Bijan Robinson actually makes a ton of sense.
A lot of people are just vehemently against taking running backs in the first round of the draft, but the presence of Bijan Robinson in the Falcons’ offense could be deadly. Tyler Allgeier ran for 1,000 yards in this offense last year, but the pick of Robinson is so much more than just finding a 1,000-yard runner.
The Falcons have aims on involving Robinson similar to the way we see Christian McCaffrey involved in the 49ers’ offense.
With a ton of free agent investments defensively, along with bringing in defensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen from the Saints, I think Atlanta is poised to take a massive step forward this season as long as Desmond Ridder can play at a competent level.
3. Denver Broncos
Can the Denver Broncos go from worst to first in the AFC West?
Do the Chiefs still play there?
The Broncos would likely have to win 12 or 13 games to get past the Chiefs in the AFC West, and considering this is a team that won just 12 games the last two seasons combined, that is a big ask. However, you just never know in the NFL, right?
Similar to the New York Jets, going from worst to first might be a tall order for the Broncos but going from worst to playoffs might be within the realm of realism. Why? The Sean Payton factor in Denver cannot be denied.
Sean Payton has very rarely not had competitive teams. Even the 2021 Saints, when Payton was in his final year with the team, found a way to win nine games. That was the only year in Payton’s tenure with the Saints in which his team didn’t have a top-12 scoring offense, and they still won nine games.
What can Payton do with Russell Wilson and company?
Wilson was battered to the point that he was unrecognizable most of last season. He was dealing with a knee injury that caused him to have arthroscopic surgery in 2023. He suffered a torn lat early in the season. He suffered a torn hamstring which led to his infamous high knees on the airplane to London scene.
He suffered a concussion late in the season as well.
Not to mention, the Denver Broncos were a jumbled mess offensively in just about every facet. Having a coach like Sean Payton could really right the ship in Denver. As bad as the Broncos were last year, they gave the Chiefs a couple of really good games and it wouldn’t surprise me to see them at least double their win total in 2023.