The 2023 NFL season was certainly one to remember, even if Super Bowl LVIII hasn't been played yet. The San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs will play in an epic rematch from four years ago, as Kansas City seeks its third title in five years.
For the 49ers, the Brock Purdy story continues. The last pick in the 2022 draft, Purdy is one game away from quarterbacking this talented 49ers roster to a championship. All he and the 49ers have to accomplish is beat Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes in the final game of the season.
Even with the 49ers and Chiefs squaring off in Las Vegas, there were plenty of memories in the 2023 season that are worth reliving. In honor of Super Bowl LVIII, these are the 58 best things we'll remember about this season.
1. Travis and Taylor: The relationship between the Chiefs tight end and the top artist in the world shook the NFL (and pop culture). Swift showed up at games in the press box cheering on her boyfriend every time he made a catch, igniting a whole new generation of fans as the Swifties united to football. The NFL had record playoff ratings and Kelce's podcast "New Heights" reached a whole new level. Get used to Travis and Taylor.
2. Aaron Rodgers injury: Just four snaps into his Jets career, Rodgers was lost for the season with a ruptured Achilles. Rodgers threw just one pass with the Jets before his season (and the Jets') came to a crashing halt. He did make it back to practice in a miraculous recovery and was added to the active roster, but never took another snap in 2023. The Jets missed the playoffs.
3. Bill Belichick, Patriots part ways: The coach with the most Super Bowl championships (six) and the franchise he led to new heights (Patriots) parted ways after New England had its worst season (4-13) under Belichick and its fewest wins in a season since 1992. Since Tom Brady left after the 2019 season, the Patriots failed to win a playoff game and went 29-38 in the four seasons since. Belichick doesn't have a head-coaching gig for 2024 either.
4. Cowboys get blown out in wild-card round: The Cowboys still failed to reach a conference championship game (a drought that has now lasted 28 years) after getting blown out by the Packers in the wild-card round of the playoffs. The NFC East champs and No. 2 seed became the first team to lose to the No. 7 seed in the expanded playoff format. Of course, this was the year Dak Prescott led the NFL with 36 touchdown passes.
5. Dolphins score 70: The Dolphins became the first team since 1966 to score 70+ points in an NFL game -- and just the fourth team in NFL history to hit the mark -- in their Week 3 win over the Broncos. The Dolphins actually had a chance to match the 1940 Bears record of 73 points, but Mike McDaniel passed on a field goal in the fourth quarter. Only two teams (1940 Bears and 1966 Washington) scored more points in a game than the Dolphins. The Dolphins were the second team to record 700 yards of offense in a game.
6. Eagles collapse: Philadelphia had the best record in the NFL at 10-1 before losing five of six to end the season (the first team to start 10-1 and finish with six-plus losses since the 1986 Jets). The Eagles led the NFC by two games after Week 12 before the collapse. They lost in the wild-card round to the Buccaneers.
7. Bears get No. 1 overall pick: The Bears traded the No. 1 overall pick last offseason to the Panthers -- and still got the No. 1 pick thanks to Carolina having the worst record in the NFL. Chicago went 7-10 and turned its season around after acquiring Montez Sweat at the trade deadline.
8. Midseason coaching firings: Josh McDaniels was fired after eight games in his second season with the Raiders. Frank Reich was fired after 11 games with the Panthers in his first season. Brandon Staley was fired after 14 games in his third season with the Chargers. Eight head-coaching vacancies emerged after the regular season.
9. Joe Flacco comeback: Flacco was on his couch before the Browns signed him to the practice squad to play quarterback in late November. He started that Sunday as Dorian Thompson-Robinson was ruled out with a concussion. The Browns went 4-1 in Flacco's five starts as he threw 13 touchdowns to eight interceptions, qualifying for the playoffs despite starting five different quarterbacks.
10. C.J. Stroud's rookie season: There may not be a quarterback in NFL history who had a better rookie season than Stroud, who led the NFL with 273.9 pass yards per game (4,108 passing yards, 23 touchdowns, five interceptions, 100.8 rating). Stroud became the third quarterback in the last 50 seasons to lead the NFL in passing yards per game and touchdown-to-interception ratio (minimum 10 starts). He was the youngest quarterback to win a playoff game (22) in NFL history and the highest-drafted rookie quarterback (second) to win a playoff game in NFL history. The Texans have a franchise quarterback.
11. Damar Hamlin returns: After suffering cardiac arrest on the football field in Week 17 of the 2022 season, Hamlin was practicing in training camp and ended up playing in an Aug. 13 preseason game -- eight months after collapsing. Hamlin played 111 snaps combined on defense and special teams in five games for the Bills.
12. T.J. Watt sacks leader again: Watt finished with 19 sacks on the season, becoming the first player in NFL history to lead the league in sacks three times. Watt has led the NFL in sacks in three of the last four years.
13. Brock Purdy's first full season: Purdy was an MVP finalist in his first full season as a starting quarterback, as the last pick in the 2022 draft finished with a franchise-record 4,280 passing yards with 31 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. Purdy led the NFL in touchdown rate (7.0%), yards per attempt (9.6), yards per completion (13.9), and passer rating (113.0). Purdy broke the record for yards per attempt in a season (minimum 350 attempts).
14. Joe Burrow injuries: A calf injury in training camp affected Burrow and the Bengals at the start of the season. When Burrow finally got healthy, a wrist injury sidelined him for the rest of the year and teh Bengals missed the playoffs. Cincinnati went 5-5 in Burrow's 10 starts, as Burrow had 15 touchdowns to six interceptions for a 91.0 passer rating.
15. Puka Nacua rewrites record books: Nucua had the greatest rookie season from a wide receiver in NFL history, having the most receptions (105) and receiving yards (1,486) for any rookie receiver. Nacua broke Bill Groman's 63-year record for most receiving yards by a rookie in helping the Rams earn a playoff berth.
16. "Tush Push" works for Eagles: A play that was deemed not aesthetically pleasing by some national media members, the Eagles carried on with the "Tush Push" as Jalen Hurts tied an NFL record for most rushing touchdowns by a quarterback in the regular season (15). The rugby-style play that dates football back to the 1940s could be under review this offseason, as the Eagles had the most success with the play.
17. Bobby Wagner leads NFL in tackles: The Seahawks linebacker finished with a career-high 183 tackles at age 33, becoming just the second player over the last 30 years to lead the league in tackles three times. He made his 10th consecutive All-Pro team.
18. Tyreek Hill makes more history: Hill led the league with 1,799 yards and 13 receiving touchdowns with the Dolphins, becoming the first player to have two seasons of 1,700+ receiving yards. He was selected as a First Team All-Pro for the fifth time.
19. Dan Snyder sells the Commanders: Snyder finally sold the franchise after going through plenty of off-field embarrassment, three different names, and two playoff victories in his 24 years as owner. A group led by Josh Harris purchased the Commanders for $6.05 billion.
20. NFL plays on Black Friday: For the first time since 1970, the NFL played a game on a Friday that wasn't in December. Amazon created the idea of having a game on "Black Friday" to coincide with its biggest shopping day of the year. Prime Video ended up paying $100 million to the NFL to have an annual game on "Black Friday" starting in 2023, banking they'll make the money up with the numerous eyeballs tuning into the game. With 9.61 million viewers, its likely to return in 2024.
21. Anthony Richardson's hot start: Richardson was lost for the season in Week 5 with a shoulder injury, but he took the league by storm. The Colts rookie and No. 4 overall pick was one of four players in NFL history with three-plus passing touchdowns and three-plus rushing touchdowns in his first four career games.
22. Playoff game on Peacock: For the first time in NFL history, the league broadcasted a postseason game exclusively on a streaming service. Saturday's nightcap of the Super Wild Card Weekend doubleheader on the NBC platforms were exclusively on the streaming service Peacock, not on free over-the-air television. With 22.86 million viewers, the Peacock deal is a good bet to return in 2024.
23. Lions playoff run: The Lions won their first division title since 1993 and won a playoff game for the first time since the 1991 season, snapping a 32-season drought. Detroit played in the conference championship game for the first time since the 1991 season and won more playoff games this year than in the last 66 years. The 12 regular-season wins tied a franchise record.
24. Christian McCaffrey touchdown streak: McCaffrey scored a touchdown in 17 straight games, which tied Lenny Moore's NFL record. The streak was snapped in a 34-3 win over the Jaguars in Week 10, which the 49ers tried to get McCaffrey into the end zone late. McCaffrey led the NFL in rushing yards (1,459) and scrimmage touchdowns (21).
25. Players can wear No. 0: The jersey numbering system was altered to allow the No. 0 to be worn by all positions currently allowed to wear single-digit numbers. Players wore No. 0 for the first time since 1973, the most prominent being Ravens linebacker Roquan Smith.
26. "Monday Night Football" flex: Any "Monday Night Football" game was allowed to be flexed between Weeks 12 and Week 17, provided the teams were given 12 days notice. The NFL did exercise this rule, as the Eagles-Seahawks game was moved from Sunday to Monday, replacing the Chiefs-Patriots matchup.
27. Mahomes-Kelce break Brady-Gronkowski mark: Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce had their 16th touchdown from a passer-receiver duo in the divisional round of the playoffs, breaking Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski's mark of 15. Mahomes and Kelce currently are at 17 touchdowns.
28. Throwback uniforms: Thanks to the "one-shell rule" being lifted in 2021, many teams had their throwback uniforms ready for play on the field in 2023. The Eagles ("Kelly green"), Jets ("Legacy White"), Buccaneers ("Creamsicle"), Titans ("Oilers") and Seahawks ("1990s era) brought back theirs. All will be part of the uniform rotation going forward.
29. Record playoff ratings: The league announced this year's 12 playoff games averaged 38.5 million viewers, making it the most-watched playoffs ever for the league. The divisional round averaged 40 million and the conference championship games averaged 56.1 million.
30. Tua matches Marino: Tua Tagovailoa became the first Dolphins quarterback to lead the NFL in passing yards since Dan Marino in 1992. He completed a career-high 69.3% of his passes for 4,624 yards with 29 touchdowns to 14 interceptions (101.1 rating).
31. Bills playoff failures: The Bills still struggle to beat the Chiefs in the playoffs, going 0-3 against Kansas City in the postseason over the last four years. Buffalo leads the NFL in points per game and points allowed per game since the start of the 2020 season (first team to lead in both categories in a four-season span since the 1990-1993 49ers), yet have one conference championship game appearance in that span. Josh Allen has 174 total touchdowns in that span, the most ever in a four-season stretch in NFL history.
32. Browns win close games: The Browns were 5-0 in games decided by three points or fewer this season, a huge catalyst toward their playoff push. The only team with a better record in NFL history was the 2003 Panthers (7-0) -- who reached the Super Bowl. Cleveland fell to Houston in the wild-card round.
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33. Another winning season for Mike Tomlin: The Steelers head coach extended his NFL record with his 17th consecutive non-losing season to start his career, as the Steelers finished 10-7 and qualified for the playoffs. Tomlin is 173-100-2 after his first 17 seasons, despite not winning a playoff game since the 2016 season.
34. Jaguars collapse: Jacksonville lost five of its final six games after an 8-3 start, just the sixth team since 2000 to miss the playoffs after an 8-3 start. Trevor Lawrence had 10 turnovers in the final four games as the Jaguars blew a two-game lead in the AFC South and had an opportunity to hold the No. 1 seed in the AFC heading into Week 13. Despite the collapse, the Jaguars finished with winning records in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2004-2005.
35. Year of the backup quarterback: The NFL had 61 different starting quarterbacks this season, just seven shy of the record set the season before. This season was the youngest average age of starting quarterbacks since 1956 (27). This also was the fewest yards per completion ever for quarterbacks (10.9).
36. DaRon Bland and his pick sixes: Bland set the NFL record for most interceptions returns for a touchdowns in a season (five), with the fifth one coming in a Thanksgiving blowout win over the Commanders. The Cowboys cornerback led the league with nine interceptions as opposing quarterbacks had a 27.6 passer rating targeting him.
37. Packers youngest playoff team since 1974: The Packers clinched a playoff berth on the final day of the regular season, having the youngest playoff team in average age since the 1974 Bills (a span of 49 years). Jordan Love finished the season with 4,159 passing yards and 32 passing touchdowns, marks only surpassed by Patrick Mahomes and Kurt Warner in a quarterback's first season as a full-time starter.
38. Mike Evans keeps 1,000-yard streak alive: Evans became the second player to have 1,000-plus receiving yards in a season for 10 consecutive seasons -- and the first to accomplish the feat in each of his first 10 seasons (Jerry Rice holds the record with 11). Evans finished with 79 catches for 1,255 yards and 13 touchdowns.
39. AFC North best division: All four teams in a the AFC North finished with a winning record (Bengals only team that didn't make playoffs). This was the first time every team in the same division had a winning record since the 1935 NFL West.
40. Kyren Williams misses four games, still top-three rusher: Williams became the first player to finish in the top three in rushing yards despite missing four-plus games since Bull Karcis for the 1937 Pittsburgh Pirates. Williams finished with 1,144 yards and 12 touchdowns despite playing only 13 games, leading the league with 95.3 rush yards per game.
41. Derrick Henry's final season with Titans? Henry hinted this could be his final season in Tennessee, after finishing the year with 1,167 yards and 12 touchdowns. He finished second in the league in rushing, becoming the 10th player to finish in the top two in the league in rushing four times.
42. Lions rookie duo: The Lions hit a home run with the draft picks of Jahmyr Gibbs and Sam LaPorta, as the pair became the first rookie teammate duo in NFL history to each score 10-plus touchdowns in their debuts. Gibbs finished with 1,261 scrimmage yards and 11 touchdowns at running back while LaPorta finished with 889 receiving yards and 10 touchdowns at tight end.
43. Ravens dominance: The Ravens were the first team in NFL history to lead the league in scoring defense, takeaways and sacks in a season. They had the best score differential against winning teams (+178) in NFL history and were the second team to lead in the final two minutes in each of their first 16 regular-season games since the 2007 Patriots. Baltimore finished with an NFL-best 13-4 record.
44. Chiefs get to Super Bowl again: The Chiefs beat the Ravens in Baltimore to advance to their fourth Super Bowl in five years, joining the 1990-1993 Bills and 2014-2018 Patriots as the only teams to go to a Super Bowl four times in a five-season span. The Chiefs have been to the conference championship game for six consecutive years, or each year Patrick Mahomes has been the starting quarterback. They won two playoff games on the road to get to Super Bowl LVIII.
45. Browns and Lions success: The 2023 season was the first time the Browns and Lions both won 11-plus games in a season in NFL history. The Lions ended up winning a franchise-record 14 games (including playoffs) while the Browns were the first team to make the playoffs starting four different quarterbacks in multiple games.
46. Comeback teams to make playoffs: This season was the first one in NFL history in which three teams made the playoffs in a season after being three-plus games under .500 at any point (Packers, Rams, Buccaneers). The Packers and Buccaneers each won playoff games.
47. 49ers' dominant players on offense: The 49ers were the first team since the 2004 Colts to have a 4,000-yard passer (Brock Purdy) and four players with 1,000 scrimmage yards in a season (Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, George Kittle).
48. Tommy DeVito mania: Thanks to the Giants' injuries at quarterback, the franchise turned to an undrafted rookie from Illinois to make a start in Week 10. "Tommy Cutlets" ended up making six starts for the Giants, throwing eight touchdowns to just three interceptions -- or four times the touchdown passes as Daniel Jones. The Giants went 3-3 in his six starts.
49. Montez Sweat dominant on two teams: Sweat is the first player in NFL history to lead two teams in sacks in a season, the Commanders and Bears. Sweat was traded to Chicago at the trade deadline and had six sacks for the Bears after having 6.5 sacks for the Commanders.
50. Bryce Young's struggles in Year 1: The No. 1 overall pick ahead of C.J. Stroud had one of the worst seasons by a rookie quarterback in NFL history. Young went 2-14 as a starting quarterback with a 73.7 passer rating and 5.5 yards per attempt, all last among quarterbacks in the NFL. The Panthers finished with the worst record in the NFL and are on their fourth head coach in three years. Young's 5.5 yards per attempt was the fourth worst in a season in NFL history.
51. Justin Jefferson -- still good: Jefferson finished with 1,074 receiving yards despite playing just 10 games. He's the third player in NFL history with 1,000 receiving yards in 10 or fewer games played (Jim Benton in 1945 and Wes Chandler in 1982). Jefferson still has the most receiving yards (5,899) after a player's first four seasons.
52. Jessie Bates worth the money: Bates was the top free agent signing this past offseason, becoming the first player with 125-plus tackles and six-plus interceptions in a season since Ray Lewis in 2003. Bates signed a four-year, $64.02 million contract with the Falcons, having 132 tackles and 11 passes defended in Year 1 with the team.
53. Raheem Mostert scrimmage touchdowns: Mostert finished with 21 scrimmage touchdowns to lead the league. At 31 years old, Mostert was the first running back since Priest Holmes in 2003 to have 20-plus scrimmage touchdowns in a season for a player over 30 (fifth all time to accomplish the feat).
54. CeeDee Lamb surpasses Michael Irvin: Lamb had 135 receptions and 1,749 receiving yards in 2023, surpassing Irvin's franchise records for catches and receiving yards in a season. Irvin had 111 catches and 1,603 yards in 1995.
55. Baker Mayfield's comeback: On a one-year deal with the Buccaneers (as the heir apparent to Tom Brady), Mayfield completed 64.3% of his passes for 4,044 yards with 28 touchdowns to 10 interceptions for a 94.6 rating. The Buccaneers made the playoffs -- and won a playoff game under Mayfield -- who was on his fourth team in three seasons.
56. Matthew Stafford vs. Jared Goff: Stafford vs. Goff was the first matchup in postseason history between quarterbacks both facing their former teams. Stafford played his first game as a visitor in Detroit as he had more wins, passing yards and passing touchdowns at Ford Field than all other Lions quarterbacks combined since the stadium opened in 2002. Even though Stafford won a Super Bowl in Year 1 with the Rams, the Lions emerged victorious in his first game against his former team -- Detroit's first playoff win since the 1991 season.
57. Patrick Mahomes playoff success: Mahomes has 14 career playoff wins, tied with Terry Bradshaw, John Elway and Peyton Manning for the third-most by a quarterback in NFL history. Only Tom Brady (35) and Joe Montana (16) have won more playoff games in a career. He will be the first quarterback ever to start four Super Bowls before age 30. Mahomes is the only quarterback with 10-plus playoff starts in NFL history to improve his numbers from the regular season to the playoffs in each these stats -- win percentage, completion percentage, touchdown percentage, interception percentage, and rush yards per game.
58. 49ers-Chiefs in Super Bowl: San Francisco and Kansas City will meet in the Super Bowl for the second time in five years, a rematch of Super Bowl LIV which the Chiefs emerged victorious in a fourth-quarter comeback. This is the eighth Super Bowl rematch in NFL history and the winner of the first game is 5-2 in the second meeting. This is also the fourth head coach matchup with multiple Super Bowl meetings (Kyle Shanahan vs. Andy Reid).
