Eagles Back to the Super Bowl? 5 Key Questions for 2nd Half of NFL Season

The 2023 NFL regular season is already halfway over.

Through the first nine weeks of the campaign, there have been surprises—C.J. Stroud has the Houston Texans in the playoff race, while Bill Belichick is on the hot seat—and plenty of familiar sights, like the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles leading their respective conferences. But what will be in store for the final nine weeks before the postseason begins?

Here are five key questions to keep in mind for the season's second half.

Will Any Team in NFC Challenge the Eagles?

The Eagles started last season 8-0 on their way to an eventual appearance on Super Bowl Sunday. Now Philly is 8-1 and heads into its bye week again atop the NFC. Can any team in the conference prevent the Eagles from going back to the big game?

The Detroit Lions, looking for their first playoff win since 1992, sit in the NFC's No. 2 seed at 6-2. The San Francisco 49ers (5-3), widely considered the biggest threat to Philadelphia in the conference, are on a three-game losing streak. The NFC South is a mess, while the Seattle Seahawks (5-3) just lost by 34 points and the Minnesota Vikings (5-4) are down to their No. 4 quarterback (albeit one who just won them a game).

Philadelphia has had plenty of close calls this season, including last week in a win over the Dallas Cowboys (5-3). And all eyes will continue to be on quarterback Jalen Hurts' knee. But Philly is clearly the NFC favorite as the NFL season hits its midway point. Whether the Lions, Cowboys or any other team can change that remains to be seen.

Can Chiefs' Offense Catch Their Defense?

This question is typically the other way around.

In Patrick Mahomes' first five seasons as Kansas City's starting quarterback, the Chiefs finished no worse than sixth in the league in scoring. That includes two seasons leading the NFL in points, including last year's championship run. And Mahomes, Travis Kelce and company overshadowed what was typically an ordinary Kansas City defense.

But this year the script has flipped. The Chiefs rank 12th in points per game, and some players have been open with their frustrations on offense. Kansas City's defense, meanwhile, ranks second in points allowed and fourth in yards given up, to go along with various other statistical improvements compared with recent years. Just last week, the Chiefs held the top-ranked Dolphins offense to 14 points in a win.

After the game, NBC's Peter King asked Mahomes if this is the best defense he's ever had in his time with the Chiefs. And the two-time MVP took things a step further.

"I think it's the best defense in the NFL," Mahomes said. "If we have a defense like that, we're gonna get this offense figured out, I promise you. And then we're gonna be a hard team to beat."

The Chiefs are already the odds-on favorite to win the Super Bowl. But if the offense of old can return in Kansas City, things will get just that harder for other teams trying to change that.

What Happens in Stacked AFC North?

The NFL could be in for a league-first this season.

Entering Week 10, all four teams in the AFC North are in the playoff picture. The Baltimore Ravens (7-2) lead the division, while the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cleveland Browns and Cincinnati Bengals all sit at 5-3 and in Wild Card spots. The NFL has never had every team in a division make the playoffs in the same year. Granted, it's only been possible since the league expanded the playoffs to 14 teams in 2020.

"This is a great division," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said last weekend. "There's no doubt it's the best division, it's proven.... We know the teams, these teams are real. Everybody knows what's going to happen when we all play each other."

But there's a long way to go to make this playoff situation a reality. There are plenty of divisional games still to be played. The Ravens and Browns still have three more games with opposing AFC North teams, while the Steelers and Bengals have four. It's very possible the division beats itself up to a point where several teams fall out of contention. The Bengals and Ravens in particular have the two most challenging schedules remaining this season, in terms of opponent in percentage. But a lot remains to be seen across the division.

Is Pittsburgh's style of winning sustainable? (The Steelers have five wins despite being outscored by 30 points this season.) What is going on with Deshaun Watson's health? Has Cincinnati finally found its groove after a 1-3 start? And can any of these three teams stop the Ravens from claiming the division title?

Four teams outside the AFC playoff picture entering Week 10 stand at or above .500, including the New York Jets, who are awaiting a potential Aaron Rodgers return (though that's a whole different story). The answers to the questions above could determine if the AFC North actually does send four teams to the playoffs, or if the Buffalo Bills, Houston Texans or any other teams have something to say about that.

Could a Wide Receiver Actually Win MVP?

The NFL's MVP has been a quarterback in 15 of the past 16 seasons, including each of the last 10. And a wide receiver has never earned the award dating back to the first time the Associated Press handed out the award in 1957.

This season could have the best chance of any of that changing.

Receivers A.J. Brown and Tyreek Hill are both having career-best seasons. Entering Week 10, they are the top two players in the league in receiving yards, while Hill is also No. 1 in touchdown catches. Brown has caught 67 passes for 1,005 yards and six touchdowns. And Hill has tallied 69 receptions for 1,076 yards and eight scores. The Eagles wide receiver became the first player in NFL history with 125 receiving yards in six straight games. Hill became the first player in the Super Bowl era to record 900 receiving yards in his team's first seven games.

The list of accomplishments goes on. But will they translate to MVP votes?

Oddsmakers don't think so. Mahomes and the QBs of the two receivers mentioned above—Hurts and Miami's Tua Tagovailoa—are among the MVP favorites, according to FanDuel. Eleven players (including 10 QBs and 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey) have better odds than Hill (+5000) as of Wednesday afternoon. And 14 players are ahead of Brown (+13000).

This isn't necessarily unexpected. And Hill joked on the subject when asked last week if he belongs in the MVP debate: "No."

Hill told reporters. "We have a player on this team that's better than me. And means more to this team than me. And his name...is [fullback] Alec Ingold."

But still, if neither Brown nor Hill is in the conversation for the league's prestigious award this year, then a receiver may never win it.

Who Wins the Caleb Williams Tankathon?

At this point in the season, teams usually have enough games behind them to realize if they're contenders or in need of a fresh start in 2024. And for the bottom-feeders in the NFL this season, there's a prize waiting in next year's NFL draft.

USC quarterback Caleb Williams is atop nearly every mock draft and is widely considered one of the best draft prospects of the past decade. And just behind him is North Carolina QB Drake Maye, another prospect experts believe struggling teams can build around. The question is: Which teams are going to win the race to the bottom of the standings to get to the top of the draft order?

The Chicago Bears have an advantage over the rest of the competition. Chicago has its first-rounder and also owns the Carolina Panthers' top pick via a trade involving this year's No. 1 pick. Then there's the Arizona Cardinals, the only team in the NFL already at eight losses entering Week 10.

New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones just tore his ACL, so could the 2-7 franchise look to start over? And how about the 2-7 New England Patriots now that Mac Jones no longer seems to be cutting it?

A number of teams would happily accept the opportunity to draft Williams (or Maye). The second half of the 2023 season will determine who actually gets that luxury.