The 2022 NFL Season

The 2022 NFL season was filled with its fair share of highs and lows. From the Minnesota Vikings' historic 33-point comeback to Tom Brady’s retirement, this season had no end of exciting moments.

Prior to the beginning of the season, the Washington Redskins were renamed the Washington Commanders, as the term “Redskins" was deemed offensive. The season began with the Buffalo Bills beating the reigning Super Bowl champions the Los Angeles Rams in the kickoff game. The regular season progressed with notable midseason trades, including the former Carolina Panthers’ running back Christian McCaffery being traded to the San Francisco 49ers in week seven, this making a huge positive impact on the Niners.

Since the trade, the Niners only lost two games with McCaffrey, the first game three days after the trade occurred, and the second being the NFC Championship. In the short time he’s been with the Niners, McCaffery has demonstrated his versatility by breaking and setting new records, including being one of the few players to get a passing, receiving, and rushing touchdown in one game — a touchdown triple crown -–- in week eight against the Rams. The Rams also made history this season by being the first team that failed to make the playoffs after winning the Super Bowl the previous year. 

As the Niners' season progressed flawlessly, in week 13, their second-string quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo broke his left foot, leaving the Niners with their third-string quarterback, the rookie, Brock Purdy. However, Purdy did not disappoint, as he led the Niners to victory seven games in a row until he too was injured in the NFC Championship.

In week 17, Buffalo Bills’ safety Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals. The scene was devastating to witness, as players and staff from both teams gathered around him, visibly shaken. An ambulance was brought out onto the field and Hamlin was given CPR in the stadium. Officials made the decision to cancel the game as Hamlin was taken to a hospital in Cincinnati, where he remained in a coma for two days. Nine days later, Hamlin was discharged and went back home to Buffalo. He is currently making a rapid recovery. 

Week 18 concluded the regular season, with 14 teams remaining, ready to compete in the playoffs. In the first round of the playoffs, the Wild Card Round, the San Francisco 49ers beat the Seattle Seahawks by a wide margin. After making a comeback, the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Los Angeles Chargers, while the Buffalo Bills beat the Miami Dolphins in a close game. The Minnesota Vikings were defeated by the New York Giants, the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Baltimore Ravens, and the Dallas Cowboys won against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Kansas City Chiefs and the Philadelphia Eagles, both the top-seeded teams in their respective divisions, got a bye week.

Once the Wild Card Round winners were determined, the Divisional Round was played. The Jaguars lost to the Chiefs 27-20, despite the ankle injury quarterback Patrick Mahomes sustained in the second quarter and the Eagles beat the Giants in a blowout game, the resulting score being 38-7. The Bengals beat the Bills 27-10 and the Cowboys lost to the Niners 19-12.

The Conference Championships were played between the Niners and the Eagles for the NFC, and the Bengals and the Chiefs for the AFC. The Niners were hit by a wave of bad luck in the game against the Eagles after Brock Purdy sustained an injury early on in the first quarter. The Niners were left with their fourth-string quarterback until he also got injured. This left the Niners with no option but to play Purdy, a quarterback who physically couldn’t throw. For a brief play, running back Christian McCaffery was forced to play the position of quarterback. Although the Niners were able to get points on the board after an amazing touchdown by McCaffery in the second quarter, they ultimately lost 31-7 to the Eagles.

The Bengals got off to a slow start in the AFC Championship game against the Chiefs. After trailing while heading into the second half of the game, the Bengals were able to tie the game in the fourth quarter. Although the Bengals ultimately lost 23-20 after a Chiefs field goal, the officiating of the game raised concerns and was the center of controversy, specifically, the last drive. During the last drive of the game, a personal foul penalty was called against the Bengals, which put the Chiefs in field goal range. However, while this penalty may have occurred, at the same time, there was not one, but two obvious holds by the Chiefs which went uncalled. The disregarded penalties against the Bengals allowed the Chiefs to win. This wasn’t the only penalty against the Chiefs that went uncalled. During one play in the fourth quarter, the Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was clearly tackled after he threw the football, this being an obvious roughing the passer penalty which should have been called against the Chiefs' defensive line but wasn’t. Another questionable call against the Bengals was an intentional grounding call against Burrow, despite the Chiefs' quarterback Patrick Mahomes doing the same thing, but receiving no call. However, the most controversial call throughout the entire game occurred in the fourth quarter, where there was a third and nine “do-over” for the Chiefs, which confused fans and both teams' players and coaches. There were many more holding and personal foul calls throughout the game against the Chiefs, the majority of which suspiciously seemed to be unnoticed by the officials. 

The 2022 Super Bowl was between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs. It was a close game, with the Chiefs ultimately taking home the Vince Lombardi Trophy. The Chiefs won despite the ankle injury quarterback Patrick Mahomes sustained in the first half of the game. They won after making a field goal with less than 10 seconds left remaining in the fourth quarter, the final score being 38-35. At halftime, Rihanna dazzled the crowd and viewers with her performance, and she revealed her pregnancy. But in the fourth quarter, one controversial flag flew onto the field, with less than two minutes remaining, as Eagles cornerback James Bradberry was called for a holding penalty against Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster after lightly placing a hand on his back. Both viewers and commentators were confused and upset by this, because of how weak of a call it was. With six seconds left, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts had no choice but to throw the football as far as possible in a failed Hail Mary attempt, thus crowning the Kansas City Chiefs the Superbowl Champions.