NFL 2023 Regular season rankings and Wildcard picks

 The season is over, and it was an interesting one!  Let's see how the teams finally line up...

Power Rankings [Last week's rank]

1.  BALTIMORE RAVENS (13-4) [1]

2.  San Francisco 49ers (12-5) [2]

3.  Dallas Cowboys (12-5) [3]

4.  Buffalo Bills (11-6) [4]

5.  Miami Dolphins (11-6) [5]

6.  Kansas City Chiefs (11-6) [6]

7.  Detroit Lions (12-5) [7]

8.  Cleveland Browns (11-6) [8]

9.  New Orleans Saints (9-8) [10]

10. Philadelphia Eagles (11-6) [9]

11. Los Angeles Rams (10-7) [11]

12. Houston Texans (10-7) [12]

13. Green Bay Packers (9-8) [13]

14. Tampa Bay Bucs (9-8) [15]

15. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7) [17]

16. Jacksonville Jaguars (9-8) [14]

Divisional Power Rankings [Last week's rank]

1.  AFC North [1]

2.  NFC North [2]

3.  NFC West [4]

4.  AFC East [3]

5.  AFC South [5]

6.  AFC West [5]

7.  NFC South [8]

8.  NFC East [7]

Saturday games

#5 Cleveland Browns at $4 Houston Texans : The first week of the playoffs often has upsets, and I'll start with this one.  The Browns are higher ranked, but the Texans offense is surprising.  CJ Stroud is pulling off some of the magic he demonstrated at Ohio State, and I think that will confuse the Browns.  The Browns do well when they can control the pace of the game, but I don't think they'll be able to do that in this game.  TEXANS, 24-23

#6 Miami Dolphins at #3 Kansas City Chiefs : In this game, I pick the visiting team.  The Chiefs are still getting comfortable with some of their new offensive players, and those newbies cause some stupid penalties.  On the other hand, the Dolphins offense moves very well.  The Chiefs will not be able to defend their Super Bowl title.  DOLPHINS, 30-24

Sunday games

#7 Pittsburgh Steelers at #2 Buffalo Bills : This one will be a blowout.  BILLS, 31-17

#7 Green Bay Packers at #2 Dallas Cowboys : Ditto.  COWBOYS, 38-17

#6 Los Angeles Rams at #3 Detroit Lions : This will be the closest game of the day, but I don't think the Lions will ever trail.  LIONS, 20-13

Monday Night Football

#5 Philadelphia Eagles at #4 Tampa Bay Bucs : The Eagles still do not seem to have straightened out their issues, which opens the door for the Bucs.  At one time the Eagles led the league this season, and now it does not seem like they will advance past this round.  BUCS, 16-13