Following the Chief’s victory over the Eagles in the Super Bowl,  the  2022-23 season concluded. Now we have to start looking to the future, so here are Seby’s super early predictions. 

NFC:

The NFC team that I think will make it to the championship will be the San Francisco 49ers. This season they went a solid 13-4 and lost to the Eagles in the postseason, proving a lot. After picking up star running back, Christian McCaffrey, halfway through this year, teams did not want to play them. The 49ers have tons of star talent as in Christian McCaffrey, Fred Warner, Deebo Samuel, Nick Bosa, George Kittle and Arik Armstead. In this upcoming season they have the 15 easiest strength of schedule. Looking at their schedule, I think they can easily lock up the first seed in the NFC and get themselves a first round bye. The only problem I can see with this star studded team is their QB situation. Throughout this season they had a total of three QBs to start a game for them, Jimmy Garoppolo, Trey Lance, and Brock Purdy. During their week two game, Lance suffered an ankle injury which would end his season. Garoppolo started the bulk of the games before suffering a season ending injury. Then finally was Purdy who helped them win some games in the postseason. I think they will go with the original starter for this year, Lance. In my opinion, the 49ers had a top three defense all year. They led the league in scoring defense, yards per game and defense success rate. They only allow their opponents to score on 24.3% of their offensive’s drives. Kittle, McCaffrey, and Samuel lead the way on the offensive side. Kittle and McCaffrey are arguably the best at their positions. On top of that, they have a solid offensive line. I know for sure we will see them in the conference championship.

AFC:

The team I think the San Francisco 49ers will face is the team that lost to the champs, the Cincinnati Bengals. After starting the season 0-2 they finished their season 12-4. This postseason is the reason I think they will be in Las Vegas next year. They beat a very solid Ravens team by a touchdown. Even though they were missing Lamar Jackson, they still have a very solid roster all around. After handing the Ravens a loss, they played a very good team, the Buffalo Bills. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills star quarterback was limited to only one touchdown in this game, which came on the ground. Allen also threw an interception in this game. The Bengals defense stood up and limited one of the best offenses in the league to only 10 points. Looking at next year, I can see Cincinanti losing three or four games. The Bengals offense is one of the main reasons they are a great team. Leading the way is Joe Burrow. Through three years in the NFL Burrow has been very impressive. Burrow’s targets include Ja’Marr Chase, Tyler Boy, and Tee Higgins, arguably one of the best wide receiver trios in the NFL. Burrow can always find an open player to throw to when these receivers are on the field. The Bengals running game includes running back Joe Mixon. The 6’1” 220 lbs running back is a threat to all other defenses. One thing holding this team back is their poor offensive line. Their line makes it hard for Burrow to get a pass off or Mixon to rush for many yards which is a huge setback for an offense with loads of talent. This offseason they should pursue some better lineman to help their offense. A move like that would make them a super bowl favorite. The Bengals defense includes Jessie Bates, Trey Hendrickson, Sam Hubbard and Vonn Bell. Overall this is a pretty well-rounded defense, not too many stars, but a lot of solid team players. This season, I believe that the Bengals had a top ten defense and a top five offense. With the right moves this offseason I think we will see the Cincinnati Bengals in the month of January and possibly even February.