Miracles, Magic, and Mahomes A recap of the 2022 NFL Season.

story by wesley schlachter design by john kowalski

As the Kansas City Chiefs celebrated their Super Bowl victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, it marked the end of a fantastic season. As the confetti rained down on the jubilant Chiefs, it showed that, despite the adversity that all teams faced, they had persevered.

Before the season, however, it did not look like the Chiefs were the runaway Super Bowl favorites. After trading away superstar wide receiver, Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins, and the rest of their Divisional rivals loading up on talent, it looked like the Chiefs were going to struggle just to make it to the playoffs, let alone win the Super Bowl. In the end, they would celebrate, as would their fans, both the ones who have been lifelong supporters and newer supporters due to their recent success.

“I like the Kansas City Chiefs because they won the Super Bowl,” said Liam Kelley (10).

The Miami Dolphins, now with Tyreek Hill, looked equipped to make a genuine push in the AFC. The one question mark was their quarterback, Tua Tagolvailoa. Despite only playing in 13 games due to injury, Tagolvailoa still posted career highs in many statistical categories. They would ultimately fall in the Wild Card Round to the Buffalo Bills.

The Buffalo Bills, who many regarded as their Super Bowl favorites before the season, were relatively underwhelming. They finished 13-3 and were defeated by the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC Divisional Round.

The Bills, however, were connected to one of the most emotional games in history. In a Week 17 clash between AFC powerhouses Cincinnati Bengals and Buffalo Bills, the game would be canceled early.

The game started relatively normally at first with scoring drives for both teams. Then late in the first quarter, Bengals QB, Joe Burrow threw a pass to Wide Receiver Tee Higgins. Damar Hamlin, the safety for the Buffalo Bills would make the tackle around midfield. Just moments later, Hamlin would collapse on the field.

Within seconds emergency personnel and team trainers were on the field and performed CPR. After around ten minutes of performing CPR and administering oxygen, Hamlin was removed from the in an ambulance. It was later revealed that Hamlin had suffered cardiac arrest and had lost both his pulse and breathing.

Miraculously, Hamlin would survive and just weeks later make an appearance at the NFL Awards ceremony as well as attending several games. It goes to show that no medical staff should be uncelebrated.

Other teams that had exciting storylines were the New York Jets, Detroit Lions, and Jacksonville Jaguars. All three teams are perennial losers, but not this season. The Lions would finish 9-8, the Jets would finish 7-10, but it

Their success would continue as they would come back from down by 27 points against the Chargers in the Wild Card and win 31-30. They would eventually fall to the Chiefs 27-20. Yet, they still showed drastic improvement. Meanwhile, some of the biggest disappointments were the LA Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The LA Rams were the reigning champions but, due to injury and just bad luck, would finish 5-12, tied for the fourth-worst record.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers were led by Tom Brady, who is argued to be one of the greatest of all time. He had previously announced his retirement but had returned to action. Then during the season, his wife would divorce him. Ultimately, his return would not be worth it as they would finish 8-9. Despite winning the weak NFC South, they would be eliminated in the Wild Card 31-14 by the Cowboys.

The home team Denver Broncos