If history is any indication, we’re about to witness quite a whirlwind month of football.
With the Wild Card round kicking off festivities for the 2023 NFL playoffs, we’re bound to witness more than a few Herculean efforts, mind-boggling comebacks, and emotional on-field (and off) moments we won’t soon forget.
But how do you pick a team to root for and get invested in if your squad is one of the 18 on the outside looking in? Or, if your favorite playoff team is likely to have a quick exit and they bring you no joy, only frustration — who do you pick then? Don’t worry. We’ve got you covered.
From a redemption story in the Pacific Northwest to another team quite literally living a five-month-long epic drama, here’s For The Win’s rooting guide — ranking all 14 teams by best choice — for the 2023 NFL Playoffs.
14
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Are you kidding? Unless you have a black hole where your heart should be, there is no reality where you should root for a Tom Brady-led team to have success in the postseason.
13
Dallas Cowboys
“America’s Team” has always been such a funny, self-aggrandizing nickname because no one actually likes the Cowboys outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth area! Well, except for Duke, Lakers, Celtics, and Yankees fans.
If you “root for” the Cowboys in the playoffs, it’s unquestionably for schadenfreude.
12
San Franciso 49ers
These 49ers are an insanely fun team loaded with Pro Bowlers and All-Pros. They also have the underdog story going for them with Brock Purdy at quarterback.
However, this organization has won five Super Bowls and appeared in two in the last decade. Half the current league would dream of even a fraction of that resume. San Francisco usually makes this whole postseason exercise elementary — in utterly dominating games and turning them into snoozefests — and, as such, must go down as soon as possible.
11
New York Giants
There’s something about watching Daniel Jones try and fail to complete explosive downfield passes while remembering the Giants already enjoyed some of the greatest luck in NFL history by winning not one but two Super Bowls with Eli Manning that makes you want them to fall short until the end of time.
Oh, and they’re a New York team. We can’t have a big-market New York team thriving in January.
10
Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens have no problem acting the part of a villain and have won a Super Bowl in the Twitter era. They’d be higher if we were sure the electric Lamar Jackson — who is impossible to root against on an individual level — would play. But it doesn’t seem that’ll be happening.
Quoth the Raven … oh, you know the rest.
9
Miami Dolphins
The Dolphins, like the Ravens, are a victim of circumstance under this criteria. Normally, if Tua Tagovailoa was healthy, you’d be hard-pressed to want a team with Tyreek Hill, Jaylen Waddle, and the innovative/hilarious Mike McDaniel to lose. But backup Skylar Thompson is set to play against the Bills on Sunday, making Miami more of a nuisance to watch.
8
Kansas City Chiefs
I, personally, would have the Chiefs higher on an extremely biased list. They have the best quarterback I’ve ever seen play the game, Patrick Mahomes, and they feature an incredibly entertaining brand of modern football. The rub is that Kansas City is so good — with four straight AFC title game appearances — that it almost makes this whole scenario feel pre-written.
I get a sense that people are tired of the Chiefs, and for as much as I love to watch them play — I understand. It’s time for a new AFC top dog, isn’t it?
7
Philadelphia Eagles
If the Eagles hadn’t already won the Super Bowl half a decade ago, they’d be higher here. You’d have the tortured football city factor in Philadelphia with a great team trying to get the monkey off its back. Easy-peasy. Instead, Philly is a massive NFC favorite, with little drama behind this assertion. Yawn. There are better choices.
6
Minnesota Vikings
Are the Vikings going to win Super Bowl 57? Probably not. Would it be lovely to see for the state of Minnesota, after all the trademark Vikings’ heartbreak over the years? Absolutely. Those purple Norse-loving folks have been to hell and back.
At the very least, regardless of the Vikings’ overall efforts, Justin Jefferson is a relaxing balm when you see him make plays, and his postseason debut should be a barnburner.
5
Los Angeles Chargers
They call it “Chargers-ing” for a good reason. For as much as the NFL has plenty of organizations that could be considered memes for consistent failure, perhaps no one pulls defeat out of the jaws of victory like Los Angeles. If there really is a significant swath of Chargers fans left after the move to L.A., it’d be pretty cool to think about them swooning over the incomparable Justin Herbert taking over an entire postseason for once.
4
Jacksonville Jaguars
Golden Boy Trevor Lawrence. The swashbuckling Doug Pederson. A rabid fanbase in Duval County desperate for a consistent winner. If you were to enter this postseason with a clean slate, without already having a team of your own, I find it hard to believe you could resist the allure of the Jaguars.
3
Seattle Seahawks
Seattle does have the relatively recent consistent postseason success and could do with being a bottom-feeder for a little while to know what that’s like again. But I’d be remiss if I were to root against Geno Smith and the best redemption story the NFL has seen in ages. If you can’t relate to the man that didn’t write back to all of his haters, we wouldn’t be friends.
2
Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals already captured our hearts last year during their Cinderella run to Super Bowl 56. And now that they’re an established powerhouse … nothing has changed! Joe Burrow is still launching bombs to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Their no-name defense still plays impeccably as a unit of one. And the city of Cincinnati has been waiting for that one glorious moment for decades.
If it weren’t for the team that has defined the entire 2022 season next on this list, the Bengals would undoubtedly be the best rooting choice for this playoff. They’re really fun, and they’re trying to chase away lingering demons.
What more do you want?
1
Buffalo Bills
Was there really any doubt the Bills would be No. 1?
They have the city desperate to finally finish climbing the Super Bowl mountain. They’ve got the second-best player in the sport who remains a co-face of the league in Josh Allen. And after Damar Hamlin’s terrifying collapse from cardiac arrest and continuing recovery, they’ve got the raw emotion and adversity to try and lift their brother.
With everything the Bills have been through this year — from being displaced by a historic snowstorm and losing Von Miller to an ACL tear to Hamlin — Buffalo winning it all would be like a perfect sports movie. I don’t think anyone, sans the others in the AFC playoff field, would have qualms with a deep Bills’ run to eventually hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
