Only one NFL team can win the Super Bowl each season. By definition, 31 clubs end every campaign having failed to achieve their ultimate goal.
However, some organizations took disappointment to an entirely different level in 2023. Some of those franchises have already fired their head coach and top decision-makers, others are moving forward with their current hierarchy in place, while a few are still contemplating staff changes.
Let’s run through eight NFL teams that failed to meet expectations this season and assess what went wrong.
The NFL’s Most Disappointing Teams in 2023
8) Atlanta Falcons
Preseason win total: 8.5
2023 Super Bowl odds: +7000
Season result: 7-10, third in NFC South
Year 3 of the Arthur Smith regime was supposed to end with a playoff berth. After using three consecutive top-10 picks on skill-position players and fortifying their defense through free agency, the Falcons hoped former third-rounder Desmond Ridder could upend draft trends to become a component starting quarterback.
MORE: NFL Offense Rankings 2023
But Ridder floundered under center, ranking just 26th in QBR, while veteran replacement Taylor Heinicke wasn’t much better. Atlanta suffered embarrassing losses to teams like the Tennessee Titans, Arizona Cardinals, and Carolina Panthers before culminating their season with a Week 18 loss to the New Orleans Saints.
Smith is gone, but the Falcons’ existing talent base remains intact. Can Atlanta lure a legend like Bill Belichick to town? And can the club’s next head coach find a quarterback solution?
7) Los Angeles Chargers
Preseason win total: 9.5
2023 Super Bowl odds: +2500
Season result: 5-12, fourth in AFC West
The Chargers are the only other team on our list that has fired its head coach (so far). Los Angeles didn’t wait until the end of the season to part ways with Brandon Staley, handing him his walking papers following a 63-21 prime-time loss to the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 15.
The Bolts probably would have won a few more games at the end of the season had Justin Herbert not been sidelined for the last month. Injuries to other critical veterans like RB Austin Ekeler, WRs Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, center Corey Linsley, and pass rusher Joey Bosa further lowered the Chargers’ ceiling.
But L.A. also had plenty of self-inflicted errors. The Chargers’ defense, which was supposed to be Staley’s specialty, couldn’t stop anyone (and actually improved once Staley departed). Wideout Quentin Johnston, the team’s first-round pick in 2023, finished 86th among 95 WRs in yards per route run in his NFL debut.
6) Seattle Seahawks
Preseason win total: 8.5
2023 Super Bowl odds: +3500
Season result: 9-8, third in NFC West
The Seahawks were going for it all in 2023. They used the No. 5 overall pick — acquired in the Russell Wilson trade — on CB Devon Witherspoon instead of finding a young quarterback to eventually replace Geno Smith. Seattle signed free agent defenders Dre’Mont Jones, Bobby Wagner, and Julian Love in free agency before trading a second-round pick for New York Giants DT Leonard Williams at the deadline.
But it was all for naught. The Seahawks went 0-4 at midseason while facing a quartet of the NFL’s best teams before suffering a debilitating Week 17 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers that ultimately left them out of the playoffs. Pete Carroll has since been forced out, leaving Seattle with more questions than answers as it conducts its first head coaching search since 2010.
5) New Orleans Saints
Preseason win total: 9.5
2023 Super Bowl odds: +3500
Season result: 9-8, second in NFC South
While the Seahawks were all in on the 2023 campaign, Seattle’s financial efforts paled in comparison to New Orleans’. The Saints pulled their usual salary cap tricks heading into last season, restructuring nearly every veteran contract on their roster and pushing money into future seasons. General manager Mickey Loomis’ club ranked third in cash spent last year and projects to be $80+ million over the cap in 2024.
MORE: NFL Head Coach Predictions 2024
Kicking the can down the road didn’t work, as the Saints underperformed their preseason win total, failed to win the NFC South title, and missed the playoffs entirely. Derek Carr was hardly an upgrade over Andy Dalton, but the veteran QB’s contract will keep him in New Orleans for at least one more season. Meanwhile, head coach Dennis Allen will return to manage the league’s oldest roster by snap-weighted age.
4) Miami Dolphins
Preseason win total: 9.5
2023 Super Bowl odds: +2500
Season result: 11-6, lost in Wild Card Round
While the Dolphins won more games in 2023 than the betting markets expected, Miami’s end result can hardly be considered a success. Mike McDaniel’s squad coughed up a late lead to the Tennessee Titans in Week 14 in a loss that ultimately cost them the AFC East title before being blown out by the Baltimore Ravens in Week 17 and losing to the Buffalo Bills in Week 18.
The Dolphins never looked competitive in a Wild Card Round loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, which highlighted Tua Tagovailoa’s inconsistencies and limitations. Tagovailoa’s 2024 base salary is guaranteed, but it’s hard to imagine Miami paying him like a top-end quarterback despite his gaudy statistics.
Tagovailoa isn’t the only offseason decision point for the the Dolphins. Left tackle Terron Armstead will be 33 in July and is openly pondering retirement. Defensive tackle Christian Wilkins is a pending free agent who might require the franchise tag. Jalen Ramsey is 29, while fellow CB Xavien Howard is a cut candidate.
3) Jacksonville Jaguars
Preseason win total: 9.5
2023 Super Bowl odds: +2800
Season result: 9-8, second in AFC South
Although the Jaguars got a bit unlucky that the Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts immediately competed with first-year head coaches and quarterbacks, Jacksonville has no one to blame but itself for failing to make the playoffs after winning the AFC South and advancing to the Divisional Round last season.
Trevor Lawerence struggled through myriad injuries and couldn’t repeat his ascendant 2022 campaign. Offensive line issues dogged the Jaguars all season, affecting the run and pass games. Trade acquisition Calvin Ridley flashed but was never consistent, while fellow wideout Christian Kirk missed five complete games and most of another with a late-season groin injury.
Doug Pederson’s team seemed ready to dominate its division for the next several years, but C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson might have something to say about that.
2) Dallas Cowboys
Preseason win total: 9.5
2023 Super Bowl odds: +1400
Season result: 12-5, lost in Wild Card Round
Mike McCarthy is still the Cowboys’ head coach at the time of publication, but his job status could change quickly. Dallas didn’t just lose in Round 1 of the playoffs for the second time in three years — Dak Prescott and Co. got blown out by a seventh-seeded Green Bay Packers team that barely snuck into the postseason.
MORE: Building the Perfect NFL Coaching Staff: OC Kyle Shanahan? TE Coach Dan Campbell?
Now what happens? Jerry Jones might typically be hard-pressed to fire a head coach who’s turned in three consecutive 12-win campaigns, but Dallas’ playoff failures might change Jones’ mind, as could the availability of elite head coaches like Belichick, Carroll, Jim Harbaugh, and Mike Vrabel.
The Cowboys haven’t advanced to the NFC title game since winning their last Super Bowl after the 1995 season. Changes may be imminent if Jones doesn’t think McCarthy can get Dallas back to the mountaintop.
1) Philadelphia Eagles
Preseason win total: 11.5
2023 Super Bowl odds: +750
Season result: 11-6, lost in Wild Card Round
The Eagles nearly won the Super Bowl last season. Had a few more plays gone their way, Philadelphia and Co. would have been hoisting their second Lombardi in six years. Jalen Hurts was an MVP candidate. Both Eagles coordinators landed head coaching positions. Nearly everything was going right at this time a year ago.
But if you saw owner Jeffrey Lurie’s expression during Philadelphia’s 32-9 Wild Card defeat to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, you know head coach Nick Sirianni’s job might now be on the line.
The Eagles’ offense never clicked in 2023 like it did in 2022, but the team’s defense did them in. After multiple defensive lapses, Sirianni demoted first-year DC Sean Desai in Week 15, handing play-calling over to Matt Patricia. Neither coordinator worked, as Philadelphia finished the year 29th in defensive DVOA and efficiency and 30th in points allowed.
Maybe Hurts can get back on track and develop more cohesion with OC Brian Johnson next season. Perhaps the Eagles can find answers at linebacker and corner and fix the defensive issues that plagued them all year.
But it might be a while before Philadelphia will forget this disheartening 2023 campaign.
Want to predict the results of the 2023 NFL postseason with our FREE NFL Playoff Predictor? How about looking into in-depth breakdowns of team depth charts or the NFL playoff schedule? Pro Football Network has you covered with all that and more!