HOT TOPIC 
With the final regular season game of the 2022 NFL season now in the books, the playoff picture is clear. While we are all aware of the list of current Super Bowl favorites that includes teams that both pass the eye test and have terrific records like the Kansas City Chiefs, Buffalo Bills, and Philadelphia Eagles, it’s fun to wonder who are the teams that are a bit out of the picture at the moment but could potentially make a deep run come playoff time.
Although they are perhaps the most well-known and popular team in the NFL, I’m bestowing the Cowboys the top “dark horse” status for a couple of reasons. They closed the year with a strong 12-5 record but – despite their impressive championship history – they haven’t actually been to a Super Bowl since 1996.
Can we consider an 11-4 squad a "dark horse"? It seems fair when we consider that the San Francisco 49ers are on their third starting quarterback of the season.
After making a surprising Super Bowl run last year, the Cincinnati Bengals opened the 2022 season with a classic “Super Bowl hangover” by going 0-2 out of the gate. The Bengals have overcome injuries to stars such as Ja'Marr Chase and Joe Mixon to win eight games in a row and the young squad is primed for yet another postseason run.
Standing at just 5-5 at one point, the Chargers have consistently underperformed this season. We can attribute a large portion of the blame to just plain bad injury luck.
