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Every year the NFL has six to seven new playoff teams which means that this year some teams won’t make the playoffs that made it last year, let’s go through which previous playoff team will miss it this year and who’ll make the playoffs that missed it last year. 

First let’s see the teams that made the playoffs. As for the AFC the New England Patriots, Cincinnati Bengals, Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, Las Vegas Raiders, Tennessee Titans and the Pittsburgh Steelers. For the NFC the Los Angeles Rams, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, Dallas Cowboys, Philadelphia Eagles and the Arizona Cardinals. 

Based on that list above, six to seven teams won’t make the playoffs this year so let’s go through who will miss the playoffs this year. As for the AFC I have the New England Patriots, Las Vegas Raiders, Pittsburgh Steelers and the Tennessee Titans missing the playoffs. For the NFC I have the Dallas Cowboy and the Arizona Cardinals missing the playoffs. 

So based on those teams missing the postseason that leaves six new teams to make the playoffs and here’s who I have entered the playoffs this year as a new team, For the AFC I have the Baltimore Ravens, Los Angeles Chargers, Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos. As for the NFC for new playoff teams I have the Minnesota Vikings and the New Orleans Saints.

Every year in the NFL there’s always two to three teams that double their wins. Let’s go through the teams from their last year records and see who can double their wins based on strength of schedule, roster additions from free agency and the draft, coaching hires and player development from the year before. 

• Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars won just three games last year and finished with a record of 3-14 which secured them the number one draft pick in the 2022 draft in which they drafted Travon Walker who has the potential to be a superstar edge rusher, the Jags also made significant free agency signings like guard Brandon Schereff, wideout Kristian Kirk, tight end Evan Engram and multiple other good pieces. The Jags also hired head coach Doug Pederson who’s won a superbowl and will help second year QB Trevor Lawerance develop more. I believe the Jags will finish with a record of  8-9 to 9-8 

• Detroit Lions

The Lions have made some nice pieces and additions that they’ve added this offseason like drafting multiple star players like edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson and receiver Jameson Williams. It’s also another year in head coach Dan Cambells system, with the Lions finishing last year with a poor 3-13-1 record in which I think will jump all the way to 7-10 to 8-9 this year making a huge leap from the 2021 season. 

• Carolina Panthers 

Another NFC team I believe will jump in wins is the Carolina Panthers who made a significant quarterback upgrade in Baker Mayfield this offseason, while that’s not the only piece they’ve added in the offseason the Panthers also drafted a assumed to be star tackle Ickey Ekwonu who’ll play the right side of the O-Line. The Panthers will also have key players developing like edge rusher Brian Burns, safety Jeremy Chinn and 2021 draft pick Jaycee Horn coming back from injury. Carolina finished with a 5-12 record last season as I don’t think they’ll double their wins but it’s very likely to see the team jump to 9-8 potentially 10-7 if things go their way during the season.

The New York Giants seem to be circling the drain more and more by the day with the team looking to cut Kenny Golladay after signing the former Lions receiver in the 2021 offseason. The Giants also have announced they are cutting starting linebacker Blake Martinez who was one of the defensive captains last season, with big blue seemingly to be in cap hell the team has had to make many detrimental cuts to the team with now Martinez cut, pro bowl corner James Bradberry being cut and now it’s rumored that the Giants are looking to cut Golladay. 

    Now you’re probably wondering how the Giants got in this bad of a cap situation. This disaster big blue is in is put all on the shoulders of former general manager Dave Gettlemen who made multiple bad draft selections like picking Daniel Jones with the number six overall draft pick in 2019, Deandre Baker in the first round and not being able to improve the offensive line also Gettlemen’s head coaching selections have been below par with hiring Pat Shurmer, Joe Judge and Ben Macadoo who were all disasters. 

This new Giants regime of first year head coach Brian Daboll and first year GM Joe Schoen is looking to fix this decade plus of subpar results and look to build from the ground up like they did with the Buffalo Bills.

The Minnesota Vikings add another wide receiver to an already stacked room. Jalen Reagor will be widely considered the number three receiver in Minnesota behind superstar receivers Justin Jefferson and Adam Thielan, with little expectations for Reagor in Minnesota he can get a fresh start. The Vikings traded a 2024 conditional fourth round pick and a 2023 seventh round pick in exchange for Reagor. 

Jalen was once considered to be a star receiver when he was coming out of the draft in 2020, Reagor was drafted in the first round in 2020 and never lived up to expectations in Philadelphia as a rookie, compiling just 31 catches on 54 targets in just 11 games and hasn’t really done much since. 

With the Eagles drafting DeVonta Smith in the first round in 2021 and trading for Titans superstar A.J Brown there wasn’t much room for Reagor to fulfill his draft position on this team.

Each year there’s always three sections of teams if you go off of rosters, schedule and many other facts. Let’s break down the four categories for each team. Tier one will be superbowl contenders that are widely viewed as teams that are expected to get deep into the playoffs, tier two will be playoff teams/ fringe superbowl contenders that the floor is the playoffs but if the everything goes right they can go deep into the playoffs tier three is a good not great team who’ll probably go 9-8 to 10-7 but is no threat and tier four is bottom of the league and a ceiling of .500 or below.

Tier one:

• Buffalo Bills
• Cincinnati Bengals  
• Kansas City Chiefs 
• Denver Broncos 
• Los Angeles Rams

    Tier two:

• Miami Dolphins
• Baltimore Ravens
• Indianapolis Colts
• Las Vegas Raiders
• Los Angeles Chargers
• Philadelphia Eagles 
• Green Bay Packers
• Minnesota Vikings
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers 
• Arizona Cardinals
• San Francisco 49ers

    Tier three:

• New England Patriots
• Cleveland Browns
• Pittsburgh Steerlers
• Tennessee Titans 
• Dallas Cowboys
• Jacksonville Jaguars
• New Orleans Saints

    Tier four:

• New York Jets
• Houston Texans
• New York Giants
• Washington Commanders
• Chicago Bears
• Detroit Lions
• Atlanta Falcons
• Carolina Panthers
• Seattle Seahawks

Saturday night had a couple games with teams capping off their preseason and also making decisions on starters and final cuts for the regular season which is in the near future. Let’s go through the two games last night and I’ll give you my biggest takeaways from those games.

• New York Jets vs New York Giants

Three days after Jets wide receiver Denzel Mims requested a trade he’s showing why he should be getting more playing time, Mims last night had a great game finishing with 102 yards and a touchdown to finish his night off. Mims likely just boosted his trade value after showing flashes of quality play. 

The New York Giants are once again going to struggle at the quarterback position and especially now with backup QB Tyrod Taylor going down with an injury. Taylor was brought in to be the anchor to starting QB Daniel Jones who’s struggled his entire career in New York but Davis Webb stepped in and looked promising last night. 

• Pittsburgh Steelers vs Detroit Lions 

The Steelers QB dilemma continues. With quarterbacks Mitchell Trisbuky and rookie Kenny Pickett battling for the starting job both looked excellent in Sunday’s preseason game with Trubisky going 15-19 for 160 yards and Kenny Pickett going 10-14 for 90 yards. We’ll know sooner than later who the starting job will go to but I believe it’s Trubisky. 

The Detroit Lions defense looked solid last night holding the Steelers to just 19 points. Many members in the media think Detroit could be a sleeper team for what Vegas thinks their win total is and by the way the Lions defense played last night that could be true. Third year cornerback Jeff Okudah coming off a season ending injury last year looked good last night poised to have a potential breakout year, and second overall rick Aiden Hutchinson looked promising finishing with half a sack and multiple tackles to finish off his first set of preseason games as a rookie.

Saturday night had a couple games with teams capping off their preseason and also making decisions on starters and final cuts for the regular season which is in the near future. Let’s go through the eight games last night and I’ll give you my three biggest takeaways from those games.

• Justin Fields shows out

Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields is headed into his second year as the starting QB for the Bears and looked very promising in Saturday night’s game against the Cleveland Browns, throwing 14-16 for 156 yards and three touchdowns. Fields is already looking better under this new regime in Chicago, even though new head coach Matt Eburflues is a defensive minded coach, Fields is making significant strides already. 

• Dolphins new QB-WR duo making a big impact

Dolphins new offensive duo is already looking scary in Tua Tagovailoa and Tyreek Hill, Hill and Tua connected on a deep ball 51 yards down the field on the very first play of the game. Tua and Tyreek combined for 64 yards on two catches which is what Miami hoped for in trading for Hill this offseason. 

• Ravens new WR Demarcus Robinson balled

The Baltimore Ravens may have found a gem in veteran wide receiver Demarcus Robinson this offseason. Robinson was once a big contributor in the Kansas City Chiefs offense but never played up to the standards that the team had for him which led to Robinson being cut. Robinson has only been a Raven for a few days and he’s already showing why he should be on this roster heading into the regular season. Demarcus racked up 135 yards on just four catches including a beautiful 67 yard bomb to find the endzone.

Friday night had a couple games with teams capping off their preseason and also making decisions on starters and final cuts for the regular season which is in the near future. Let’s go through the four games last night and I’ll give you my three biggest takeaways from those games. 

• Baker Mayfield settling into starter

Now that Baker Mayfield is confirmed to be the week 1 starter against his former team the Cleveland Browns, Mayfield has been playing great and is getting his swagger back. Mayfield finished the night with 9-15 passing for 89 yards and two touchdowns while showing poise and comfortability in the pocket. 

• Jameis Winston returning from injury 

The New Orleans Saints could be an interesting team under returning QB Jameis Winston, this was Winston’s first game back in quite some time after tearing his ACL against his former team the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last regular season. Jameis looked good, making connections with new wide receiver Jarvis Landry and rookie Chris Olave.  

• Pats offense continues to struggle

The Patriots have made headlines all season for the lack of offensive coaches and firepower on the team, last night against the Las Vegas Raiders the offense looked sluggish against former Pats offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels. Jones was sacked multiple times and threw a touchdown which was reversed due to penalties on the Patriots side, this could be the worst New England offense under Bill Belichick in his time on the Patriots.