NFL regular-season wrap-up: Our award picks, best moments, and more

With the 2023 NFL regular season in the books, it's time to make our predictions for each of the league's top individual awards. We also picked our favorite events of the campaign, including the best play and the wildest moment.

Most Valuable Player

Lamar Jackson, QB, Ravens

In a year where no player ran away with the MVP award, the quarterback on the best team will win it. In addition to helping Baltimore finish the season with the AFC's No. 1 seed, Jackson racked up a 67.2% pass completion rate - the highest of his career - to go along with 3,678 yards and 24 touchdowns to seven interceptions across 16 games. He also rushed for 821 yards and five TDs. Jackson had fumble issues early in the campaign, and his numbers aren't close to what he produced when he won MVP in 2019 - he tossed a league-high 36 TDs and ran for over 1,000 yards that year. However, he thrived this season in Todd Monken's new system, becoming more efficient in play-action and throwing outside the numbers, according to PFF, while utilizing an improved group of receivers. Jackson's MVP X-factor, however, was his ability to improvise and make off-script plays on clutch time while making very few mistakes. He'll join a list of 10 other players to win multiple MVP awards.

Icon Sportswire / Icon Sportswire / GettyDefensive Player of the Year

Myles Garrett, DE, Browns

It came down to Garrett, Micah Parsons, and T.J. Watt. They all have resumes strong enough to win DPOY, but the Browns star gets the edge for being more efficient and having a bigger impact on the opposing team's game plan. There was a moment this campaign when the Titans didn't snap the ball on time because they kept sending two tight ends in motion just to follow where Garrett would line up. Cleveland rested the 2017 No. 1 pick in Week 18, so he finished the season with 42 tackles (17 for loss), 30 QB hits, 14 sacks, and four forced fumbles. Yes, Watt's stats are better, and Garrett had a five-game streak without a sack a month ago. But this isn't a monthly award. Garrett was the NFL's most double-teamed edge, yet he had a higher pass-rush win rate than both Watt and Parsons, according to PFF, which also has him as the league's highest-graded defender.

The best player on arguably football's best defense, Garrett is the main reason the Browns started the season 7-3 despite missing their top running back and struggling at quarterback until signing Joe Flacco.

Offensive Player of the Year

Christian McCaffrey, RB, 49ers

With MVP becoming essentially a QB-only award, OPOY often goes to the most productive non-quarterback. Football's best and most versatile running back, McCaffrey was the NFL's leading rusher and topped the league with 339 touches, 2,023 scrimmage yards, and 21 total touchdowns this season despite not playing Week 18. He was the only player to even reach the 1,900-yard mark. The 27-year-old scored at least one TD in 13 of the 16 games he played while averaging 5.4 yards per rushing attempt. Tyreek Hill is a threat for McCaffrey here, but the Dolphins receiver didn't have 100 yards in any of his final four games and found the end zone only once in that span.

Christian Petersen / Getty Images Sport / GettyDefensive Rookie of the Year

Jalen Carter, DL, Eagles

Several rookie defenders played well this season, but no one comes close to Carter when it comes to game-changing plays and dominance. The No. 9 overall pick, Carter finished Year 1 with 33 tackles (eight for loss), nine QB hits, six sacks, two forced fumbles, and a 42-yard defensive touchdown. The only knock on his campaign is that his production in the season's second half wasn't as spectacular as what he did in his first eight games, but that isn't enough to take DROY from him. Carter, who was one of very few Eagles players who didn't disappoint in the campaign's final stretch, enters 2024 as one of the NFL's finest interior linemen.

Offensive Rookie of the Year

C.J. Stroud, QB, Texans

While the Panthers are concerned about Bryce Young after the first overall pick struggled in Year 1, the Texans should feel great about Stroud. The Ohio State product didn't set NFL rookie single-season records for passing yards and TDs - which seemed like a lock at one point - but he was by far the best first-year quarterback of his class. Despite missing two games due to a concussion, the No. 2 pick finished the season with 4,108 yards and 23 touchdowns against five interceptions, helping turn around a Texans team that won three games in 2022. Stroud also joined Tom Brady and Joe Montana as the only QBs in the last 50 years to lead the NFL in both yards per game and TD-INT ratio. He enters his first postseason having not thrown a pick in his last 144 attempts.

Cooper Neill / Getty Images Sport / GettyComeback Player of the Year

Damar Hamlin, DB, Bills

Hamlin didn't see much playing time, but the fact he was even available to play is truly incredible. The 25-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest during a January 2023 game against the Bengals. He came back and managed to record two tackles and play 111 snaps combined on defense and special teams across five appearances this season. Other comeback stories, such as Flacco helping the Browns make the playoffs in his age-38 campaign, are also spectacular. But Hamlin probably secured this award when he made Buffalo's initial 53-man roster.

Coach of the Year

Kevin Stefanski, Browns

Few award races were as close as Coach of the Year. A handful of coaches entered December as contenders, but three managed to separate themselves: Stefanski, Dan Campbell, and DeMeco Ryans. Campbell deserves a lot of credit for helping the Lions win their first-ever NFC North title. Ryans - a rookie head coach - led the Texans to the playoffs after the team won three games in 2022. But as impressive as those coaches are, none of them had to overcome as much adversity as Stefanski, who guided Cleveland to the postseason despite starting four different QBs due to injuries and losing Pro Bowl running back Nick Chubb in Week 2. He brought in Flacco midseason, and the veteran QB has been great. Under those circumstances, the Browns having double-digit wins and boasting a top-10 offense should be enough for Stefanski to win his second COY award.

Nick Cammett / Getty Images Sport / GettyAssistant Coach of the Year

Mike Macdonald, Ravens

The last two NFL Assistant Coach of the Year winners were defensive coordinators, and that should be the case again this season. Macdonald's second year coaching Baltimore's defense couldn't have gone much better, as the Ravens ranked first in points allowed and second in EPA/play allowed. No other team ranked in the top three for both categories. With creative and aggressive play-calling, Macdonald coached to his defenders' strengths and got the best out of under-the-radar players, including former No. 1 pick Jadeveon Clowney at age 30. Macdonald will be a hot commodity on the head coaching circuit.

Best play

Week 15 saw Tee Higgins make our favorite play of the season, thanks to an incredible second effort. With the Bengals down by seven in the final seconds versus the Vikings, Higgins went up to haul in a contested Jake Browning pass just outside Minnesota's 1-yard line and then extended the ball with one hand to cross the goal line and score the tying touchdown while being pulled out of bounds. Unbelievable. Cincinnati managed to kick the game-winning field goal in overtime minutes later.

THIS CATCH #ProBowlVote x Tee Higgins pic.twitter.com/wrZeJlZe1U

- Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) December 16, 2023

Best game

Eagles 37, Bills 34 (Week 12)

The heavyweight battle between Buffalo and Philadelphia in November lived up to the hype and featured everything football fans could've asked for. Big plays? Check. Double-digit comeback? Check. High scoring? Overtime? Star QBs putting on a show? Check. Check. Check. The two teams combined for 883 total yards, with Buffalo gaining its season high with 505.

The Bills, who had a 10-point lead in the third quarter, were close to putting the Eagles away after going up by three with 1:52 left in the fourth quarter following a Gabe Davis touchdown. However, Philadelphia put Jake Elliott in position to drill a 59-yard field goal in pouring rain in the final seconds to force overtime. Buffalo started the extra frame with a field goal to retake the lead, but Jalen Hurts came up clutch with a touchdown run - his fifth combined TD on the night - to walk off the Bills.

THE EAGLES WIN A THRILLER IN OT! #BUFvsPHI pic.twitter.com/sZpCdrwc7d

- NFL (@NFL) November 27, 2023

Wildest moment

This season's best moment was a play that ... didn't count! That's right. Tight end Travis Kelce throwing a wild lateral pass to Kadarius Toney before the wideout scored what would've been Kansas City's late go-ahead touchdown against Buffalo was the most talked-about event in the league. The play didn't count, as the officials threw a flag for offside against Toney, but it stole headlines like no other. Not only did that moment lead to a Kansas City loss, but it also had several fans questioning the referees and how the offside rule works. Patrick Mahomes and Andy Reid strongly criticized NFL officiating and were fined for it. Toney's offside penalty also perfectly summed up the Chiefs' offensive struggles in 2023, particularly at wide receiver.

Play was called back but can't believe Kelce tried this

: #BUFvsKC on CBS
: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/pWMED8SAQa pic.twitter.com/LREwwhaQ1N

- NFL (@NFL) December 11, 2023

Biggest storyline

Several great plays and moments took place around the NFL this season, but fans probably would've seen many more if not for significant injuries to starting quarterbacks all year. Injuries are part of the game, but the league's final product is significantly affected when several high-profile QBs go down with long-term ailments. That's what happened in 2023.

We should've known what was coming after Aaron Rodgers - who joined the Jets from the Packers as part of the offseason's biggest trade - tore his Achilles four snaps into his New York debut. Other starting quarterbacks who sustained early season-ending injuries included Joe Burrow (wrist), Kirk Cousins (Achilles), Deshaun Watson (shoulder), Anthony Richardson (shoulder), and Daniel Jones (knee). In Watson's and Cousins' cases, their injuries were one of many for their teams: Cleveland and Minnesota each started four different passers in 2023.

Courtney Culbreath / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Injuries also sidelined the likes of Matthew Stafford, Trevor Lawrence, C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young, and Justin Fields, among others, for at least one game. Oh, and Kyler Murray didn't play the season's first nine weeks while recovering from a torn ACL. There's a reason scoring is down across the league.

The good news for football fans is that all but one playoff team this year has its Week 1 starter available for the postseason. The only exception is the Browns with Flacco, the former Super Bowl MVP who has been a sensational storyline himself. After starting the season unsigned, he's sparked Cleveland's offense en route to the playoffs.

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