2023 NFL Thrills and Chills, Part I

By Ed Berro

Here is a brief summary of the highlights and lowlights of Strat-O-Matic’s new football ratings:

ARIZONA

Offense:

Oh Yeah!        QB Kyler Murray has a decent card, HB James Connor has a top 10 rushing card, two 7-rated pass blockers

Oh No!            Murray missed a lot of time, backup QB Tune card is poor, weak run blocking with two 0s on the offensive line

Defense:

Oh Yeah!        Almost nothing good here, LB pass rushing is above average and FS Budda Baker has a good rating of 56 while SS Jalen Thompson is the only other primary 5 rating (50) on the defense

Oh No!            Poor run defense giving up a lot of short gains and very poor pass defense with poor defensive line pass rush

Special Teams:

Oh Yeah!        PK Prater a whopping 75% on 62-yard field goals, P Gillikin 51 yards on a roll of 7 with a worst punt of 31 yards

Oh No!            Punt return coverage is bad giving up 18 and 22 yards on rolls of 7 and 8, respectively

ATLANTA

Offense:

Oh Yeah!        HB Bijan Robinson has one of the best cards in the set, good offensive line with two 6-rated run blockers and two 7-rated pass blockers

Oh No!            Both QBs D.Ridder and T.Heinicke are among the worst in the set

Defense:

Oh Yeah!        FS Jessie Bates’ 66 rating; very good starting LB pass rush ratings of 11, 10, 8, and 6

Oh No!            Poor pass defense, 0 ratings at LCB in Jeff Okudah and SS in Richie Grant

Special Teams:

Oh Yeah!        Nothing positive here

Oh No!            Subpar special teams overall including poor punt and kickoff coverage

CAROLINA

Offense:

Oh Yeah!        Rookie QB Bryce Young’s card is not terrible, starting HB Chuba Hubbard’s card is okay

Oh No!            Two 0-rated pass blockers, new free-agent HB Miles Sanders had a very bad season

Defense:

Oh Yeah!        LE Derrick Brown’s 6 rating against the run, very good starting LB pass rush ratings of 12-3*, 10, 9, and 5

Oh No!            Poor run defense including 0-rated starting NT Tuttle, bad pass rush ratings (3, 2, and 1) on the defensive line

Special Teams:

Oh Yeah!        TD punt return and good kick return cards

Oh No!            XP miss on rolls of 10 and 11

CHICAGO

Offense:

Oh Yeah!        HB Khalil Herbert has one of the best cards in the set and backup HBs are good, TE Cole Kmet is good

Oh No!            Poor QB cards in Justin Fields and Tyson Bagent

Defense:

Oh Yeah!        Jaylon Johnson LCB 6 and Montez Sweat LE 5-12-2*, good run defense despite subpar defensive line ratings

Oh No!            Average to poor pass defense despite LCB 6, RCB 0 with 4s at SS and FS

Special Teams:

Oh Yeah!        PK Santos over 80% on 55-yard field goals

Oh No!            Poor punt return and kick return coverage

DALLAS

Offense:

Oh Yeah!        QB Dak Prescott has the best card in the set, three 6 run blockers and two 7 pass blockers on the offensive line

Oh No!            Starting HB Tony Pollard’s card is subpar

Defense:

Oh Yeah!        Stars shine with Parsons (RE 5-12-12*), D.Lawrence (LE 6-6), and D.Bland (RCB 6); Markquese Bell RLB 6 pass

defense rating, good pass defense

Oh No!            Poor interior run defensive ratings 4 and 0 at DT

Special Teams:

Oh Yeah!        PK Aubry astoundingly over 90% on 60-yard field goals, P B Anger 53 yards on a roll of 7 with a worst punt of 34 yards

Oh No!            Poor punt return yardage

DETROIT

Offense:

Oh Yeah!        Very good HB cards as both Montgomery and Gibbs are top 10 in the set, good QB card Jared Goff, very good offensive line with two 6-7s and one 5-7

Oh No!            Nothing negative here

Defense:

Oh Yeah!        LE Aiden Hutchinson 5-12-3*, good to excellent run defense

Oh No!            Poor pass defense with two starting 0 DBs

Special Teams:

Oh Yeah!        PK Badgley over 90% on 49-yard field goals

Oh No!            XP miss on rolls of 11 and 12, 20-yard field goals miss on rolls of 11 and 12

GREEN BAY

Offense:

Oh Yeah!        Good QB card in Jordan Love, good starting HB in Aaron Jones, three 7-rated pass blockers on the offensive line

Oh No!            Three 0-rated run blockers on the offensive linemen, subpar receiving group

Defense:

Oh Yeah!        Above average DEs in K.Clark 5-8 and D.Wyatt 5-6, good OLB pass rush

Oh No!            Three starting LBs rated 0 in pass coverage

Special Teams:

Oh Yeah!        Good kick return yardage although there are so many touchbacks this season that it won’t matter much

Oh No!            PK Anders Carlson is only 50% on 40-yard field goals, XP miss on rolls of 10 and 11

LOS ANGELES – NFC

Offense:

Oh Yeah!        Good HB Kyren Williams, good offensive line with two 6-rated run blockers and two 7-rated pass blockers, QB Matt Stafford’s card is okay

Oh No!            Nothing negative here

Defense:

Oh Yeah!        A.Donald RE 6-8 in his last season, good run defense

Oh No!            Very poor pass defense with four starting 0s at LB and DB combined and no 5s or 6s

Special Teams:

Oh Yeah!        Nothing positive here

Oh No!            Only 61% on 40-yard field goals, XP miss on rolls of 10 and 11, horrendous punt coverage, poor yardage on punt and kick returns, blocked punt

MINNESOTA

Offense:

Oh Yeah!        QB Kirk Cousins is among the best passers in the set, two 7-rated pass blockers on the offensive line, good WRs and TE, HBs A. Mattison and T. Chandler are okay

Oh No!            Cousins missed a lot of time, backup QBs are well below average

Defense:

Oh Yeah!        Good to Excellent run defense, Danielle Hunter LE 5-12-4*

Oh No!            Poor pass defense, no 6s and three starting 0s

Special Teams:

Oh Yeah!        Good kick return yardage although there are so many touchbacks this season that it won’t matter much

Oh No!            PK Greg Joseph is only 50% on 40-yard field goals

NEW ORLEANS

Offense:

Oh Yeah!        QB D.Carr is among the best passers in the set, two 7-rated pass blockers on the offensive line

Oh No!            Subpar HBs, realistic usage of terrible HB Jamaal Williams slows down the offense

Defense:

Oh Yeah!        Three 6s in D.Davis (MLB 66-9), P.Adebo (LCB 6), and T.Mathieu (FS 64)

Oh No!            Two 0-rated pass coverage OLBs

Special Teams:

Oh Yeah!        TD punt return, very good punt and kickoff coverage, PK Blake Grupe is 81% on 55-yard field goals

Oh No!            PK Blake Grupe is only 86% on 20-yard field goals, worst punting yardage in the set with P Lou Hedley

NEW YORK GIANTS

Offense:

Oh Yeah!        QBs Tyrod Taylor and Tommy DeVito have okay cards due to frequent and good must runs, HB Saquon Barkley’s card is decent

Oh No!            Four 0-0s on the offensive line, QB Daniel Jones’ card is poor even with good must run columns, poor WRs

Defense:

Oh Yeah!        Three 6-rated starters (Dexter Lawrence NT 6-5, Bobby Okereke RILB 65-5, and Xavier McKinney FS 64)

Oh No!            Three 0-rated starters including both OLBs, no starters with a primary 5 rating

Special Teams:

Oh Yeah!        TD punt return, PK Randy Bullock is 61% on 57-yard field goals

Oh No!            PK Randy Bullock is only 81% on 30-yard field goals

PHILADELPHIA

Offense:

Oh Yeah!        Two 6-rated run blockers and two 7-rated pass blockers on the offensive line, HB cards are decent, very good starting WRs in A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith, QB Jalen Hurts has positive yardage on all non-key linebuck results (the push play!)

Oh No!            QB Jalen Hurts card overall is subpar, 0-rated pass blocking starter RG Cam Jurgens

Defense:

Oh Yeah!        Good run defense

Oh No!            Very poor pass defense including two 0-rated LBs and 0-rated RCB James Bradberry

Special Teams:

Oh Yeah!        Good punt return yardage, PK Jake Elliott astounding 86% on 61-yard field goals

Oh No!            Terrible kick return coverage although only 17% of kickoffs are not touchbacks

SAN FRANCISCO

Offense:

Oh Yeah!        HB Christian McCaffrey has the best starter rushing card in the set, QB Brock Purdy has a good card, good receivers including best TE In the set in George Kittle, two 7-rated pass blockers on the offensive line

Oh No!            Two 2-rated pass blockers on the offensive line

Defense:

Oh Yeah!        Good to excellent run defense, good pass defense, good pass rush on the defensive line, four 6s in Nick Bosa LE 6-12-1*, Fred Warner MLB 66-4, Dre Greenlaw RLB 65-3, and Charvarius Ward LCB 6

Oh No!            One 0 and one 4 against the run at DT

Special Teams:

Oh Yeah!        Nothing positive here

Oh No!            Nothing negative here

SEATTLE

Offense:

Oh Yeah!        QB Geno Smith’s card is decent, two 7-rated pass blockers on the offensive line, good receivers

Oh No!            HBs Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet are subpar

Defense:

Oh Yeah!       Rookie LCB 6 Devon Witherspoon

Oh No!           Nothing negative here

Special Teams:

Oh Yeah!        P Michael Dickson and punt coverage are good, good kick return yardage

Oh No!            Nothing negative here

TAMPA BAY

Offense:

Oh Yeah!        QB Baker Mayfield’s card is decent, two 5-7 OTs in Tristan Wirfs and Luke Goedeke

Oh No!            HB Rachaad White’s card is poor, inside blocking is subpar with two 4-3s at G and 0-4 at C

Defense:

Oh Yeah!        Excellent run defense, NT Vita Vea 6-6, FS 66 Antonio Winfield

Oh No!            Poor pass defense, 5 starters with a 0 primary rating

Special Teams:

Oh Yeah!        PK Chase McLaughlin over 80% on 57-yard field goals

Oh No!            Poor punt return coverage

WASHINGTON

Offense:

Oh Yeah!        QB Sam Howell’s card is okay except for very high interception chances

Oh No!            HBs are subpar

Defense:

Oh Yeah!        DTs Jonathan Allen 5-6 and Daron Payne 5-4, LCB 6 Kendall Fuller

Oh No!            Very poor pass defense, overall four 0-rated and four 4-rated starters

Special Teams:

Oh Yeah!        PK Joey Slye over 60% on 63-yard field goals

Oh No!            P Tress Way poor yardage for 2023 and a block