6 NFL Teams Building Momentum for the 2023 Season

The National Football League is a bottom-line league, where success is judged by wins and losses. However, this doesn't mean that franchises cannot feel good about campaigns that don't ultimately result in the postseason.

Championship contenders usually aren't built overnight, and a team showing progress today could easily look like a perennial contender a year from now. The Cincinnati Bengals are a prime example of how incremental growth can foreshadow future success.

In 2020, Cincinnati finished with a lowly 4-11-1 record. However, they found their franchise quarterback in Joe Burrow that season, identified key building blocks like Tee Higgins, Vonn Bell and Sam Hubbard, and then fleshed out a championship-caliber roster in the 2022 offseason.

We could see several teams follow a similar path in the coming months, especially with the salary cap possibly jumping to more than $220 million in the offseason.

Here, we'll examine six teams that may not be playoff-bound this year but are building a lot of momentum heading into 2023. We'll dive into where these teams have shown growth and what might lie in store during free agency and the upcoming NFL draft.

Teams are listed in alphabetical order.

The Chicago Bears are an outlier on this list because they haven't started stringing together wins. Chicago has dropped six straight and just lost 28-19 to the Green Bay Packers.

However, Chicago may have accomplished its biggest goal by finding a franchise quarterback. Second-year signal-caller Justin Fields has morphed into a dangerous dual-threat under the guidance of the new coaching staff led by head coach Matt Eberflus and offensive coordinator Luke Getsy.

Heading into Week 13, Fields had posted a respectable passer rating of 86.2 while rushing for 834 yards and seven touchdowns. With a solid supporting cast, Fields could easily become the sort of high-end signal-caller that we see in Jalen Hurts, Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen.

And the Bears will have plenty of offseason assets with which to build around Fields. Chicago is projected to have a league-high $115 million in cap space and could end up with a top-five draft selection.

Expect Chicago to focus on reloading the defense and improving Fields' supporting cast during the offseason.

Just as importantly, the Bears have shown that they have plenty of fight left in them. Despite lacking offensive weapons, missing Fields for one start and trading away key defenders in Robert Quinn and Roquan Smith, Chicago has kept it close against teams like the Atlanta Falcons, Miami Dolphins and, of course, the Packers.

Yes, Chicago lost by nine to Green Bay, but it also held a 19-10 lead going into the fourth quarter.

A scrappy team with a dynamic young quarterback and what appears to be a solid coaching staff—coupled with a glut of cap space—will be one to keep an eye on heading into the offseason.

Let's be clear: The Cleveland Browns offense did not look sharp in Deshaun Watson's first start in nearly two years. Watson's 11-game suspension for violation of the league's personal conduct policy, which came after 25 women filed lawsuits accusing him of sexual assault or misconduct, ended this week.

Watson, who finished 12-of-22 for 131 yards with an interception, played like a quarterback who hadn't seen a meaningful game in 23 months.

However, the Browns believe that Watson—a three-time Pro Bowler—is the franchise quarterback they've been missing. Cleveland also has several young building blocks like Nick Chubb, Myles Garrett, Greg Newsome II, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Denzel Ward and Martin Emerson Jr.

At 5-7, the Browns probably aren't going to the playoffs, but they have shown flashes of being a quality team, notably in wins against the Cincinnati Bengals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Cleveland isn't projected to have much cap space at just $2 million, but if Watson can return to Pro Bowl form, the roster is talented enough to be a big 2023 threat.

Questions remain about defensive coordinator Joe Woods, whose 18th-ranked defense has underperformed, given its talent. Cleveland will need to figure out Wood's future and retool a lackluster defensive line in the offseason.

But back-to-back wins could mark the start of a late-season run that creates a ton of momentum heading into 2023.

The Detroit Lions may not have their quarterback of the future in Jared Goff. However, They may be a quarterback away from being a top-tier NFC contender.

Goff has played well enough (93.5 rating coming into Sunday), while young players like Amon-Ra St. Brown, D'Andre Swift and Aidan Hutchinson have emerged as playmakers. Detroit is a well-coached team and has found an identity as a gritty, won't-quit squad under head coach Dan Campbell.

Detroit hasn't had a lot of recent success, but Campbell has his Lions believing that they can win.

"I think you create your own vibe, your own mojo. You create your own energy, and I think the more you buy into that and believe that, that's what you become," Campbell told reporters last month.

In recent weeks, the Lions have shown that they're learning how to win. They had a decisive 40-14 victory over the up-and-coming Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday and won three straight before losing to the Buffalo Bills by a late-game field goal in Week 12.

The Lions also have $23.2 million in projected cap space for 2023 and could end up with a top-five draft selection thanks to owning the Los Angeles Rams' top draft choice. Expect Detroit to focus heavily on reloading its 32nd-ranked defense in the offseason and perhaps take a swing at a new quarterback.

If Goff isn't a long-term answer, Detroit could conceivably find its next quarterback in the form of a prospect like C.J. Stroud, Bryce Young or Will Levis. Regardless of any quarterback changes Detroit makes, this is a team that no one can afford to take lightly in 2023.

The Jaguars suffered a lopsided loss to the Lions in Week 13, but that probably says more about how far Detroit has come than it says about the Jaguars.

Jacksonville is a team trending in the right direction after beating two playoff-caliber teams over the last month, earning victories over the Los Angeles Chargers and Baltimore Ravens. They have exciting young pieces in players like Travon Walker, Travis Etienne Jr., Devin Lloyd, Josh Allen and Christian Kirk. They also have a Super Bowl-winning coach in Doug Pederson.

Most importantly, though, the Jaguars have a franchise quarterback in Trevor Lawrence.

The No. 1 overall pick in the 2021 draft has started to play up to his draft status this season. He came into Week 13 with a 93.6 passer rating and showed signs of being special in last week's win over Baltimore.

Lawrence finished that game with a 78.4 completion percentage for 321 passing yards and three touchdowns while leading a comeback victory.

The 23-year-old Clemson product is on the cusp of being a breakout quarterback in the mold of Joe Burrow or Tua Tagovailoa. With Lawrence, Pederson and a young roster in place, the Jags are poised to take a big step in 2023.

Jacksonville is projected to be $24 million over the cap, but they have the most important pieces in place and have already shown that they can hang with some of the top teams in the AFC.

Expect the Jags to continue building through the draft and to take anther step toward respectability in the offseason.

If the Pittsburgh Steelers have shown one thing during the Mike Tomlin era, it's that they can never be counted out. They have never experienced a losing season with Tomlin as the head coach.

At 5-7, the Steelers are long shots to make the postseason this year, but that won't stop them from trying. Winners of two straight and three of the last four, the Steelers are still fighting.

And Pittsburgh has a real chance to make some noise down the stretch, with T.J. Watt back in the fold and rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett starting to play like a legit franchise quarterback.

Pickett's emergence over the past few weeks is the biggest reason why Pittsburgh will carry momentum into the playoffs. The Steelers lost Ben Roethlisberger to retirement last offseason, and for several weeks, Pickett played like a potential bust, and he still has just four touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Pickett hasn't thrown an interception since Week 8, though, and he's started to settle in. Against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, he finished 16-of-28 for 197 yards and a touchdown. He also picked up 14 yards on the ground.

If Pickett continues showing progress, the Steelers should be right back in the playoff mix next year.

Pittsburgh, which has $6.5 million in projected cap space, will need to improve its 25th-ranked defense in the offseason. It will also need to revamp an offensive line that has surrendered 32 sacks this season.

However, the Steelers have talented players like Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick, George Pickens, Pat Freiermuth and Najee Harris to go with a Hall of Fame coach and perhaps a franchise quarterback.

The Washington Commanders are the one team on our list that has a realistic shot at the 2022 postseason.

At 7-5-1, Washington resides in the NFC East basement, and Sunday's tie with the New York Giants was far from an ideal result. However, Washington could be a wild-card team, and it's certainly going to be interesting to follow in the offseason.

The big question is whether the Commanders can find their franchise quarterback in 2023. Washington returned to Taylor Heinicke after offseason addition Carson Wentz injured his ring finger on his throwing hand in Week 6.

After a 2-4 start with Wentz, the Commanders have gone 5-1-1 with Heinicke, but it's not as if the latter has turned Washington into an offensive juggernaut. He came into Sunday with an 82.7 passer rating and has simply made fewer mistakes than Wentz.

This, of course, is where Washington's momentum comes from. The Commanders have been racking up wins (or, at least, non-losses) by having a serviceable game-manager under center. That's a testament to the coaching of Ron Rivera and the talent on the rest of the roster.

With players like Brian Robinson Jr., Jahan Dotson, Montez Sweat, Daron Payne, Jonathan Allen and Terry McLaurin making up Washington's core, the Commanders are a playoff threat, even without a top-tier quarterback. The impending return of standout pass-rusher Chase Young (ACL) will further help Washington's cause.

Expect the Commanders to put a lot of offseason energy toward finding an upgrade at quarterback, perhaps in the draft or by using the bulk of their $12.7 million in projected cap space.

Even if Washington decides to roll with Heinicke again in 2023, it might be good enough. The past couple of months have shown that the overall roster and the coaching staff don't need to be replaced. The Commanders are already dangerous, and that will remain the case heading into 2023.

*Cap information via Spotrac.