A year in review: The NFL season

What a season it has been for the NFL. The two number one seeds didn’t make it past their first opponents in the playoffs for the first time since 2010, Big Ben retired, Tom Brady said goodbye after 22 seasons and the Rams beat the Bengals, 23-20, in the Super Bowl, winning their first championship in 22 years. 

While the Bengals and the Rams were not the favorites to play in this year's Super Bowl, they competed in a fantastic game that came down to the final minute. The Rams scored a late touchdown in the fourth quarter to take a 23-20 lead. Joe Burrow got the ball for one final chance to pull off a win with 1:25 to go in the game. However, the Rams defense shut down the Bengals, forcing a turnover on downs en route to Los Angeles’ first Super Bowl win since 2000. Matt Stafford earned his first Super Bowl win and Andrew Whitworth, the oldest active player in the NFL at 40 years old, claimed his first ring.

This season we also said goodbye to two future Hall of Famers, Ben Roethlisberger and Tom Brady. Big Ben retired after 18 seasons and two Super Bowl wins, while Brady called it quits after 22 seasons and seven Super Bowl wins. Brady’s passer rating ranks eighth in all of NFL history.

As the various NFL teams head into the offseason to prepare for the 2022 season, the Jaguars, Lions, Texans and Jets look to improve upon their seasons with early first-round picks. The NFL Draft is set to take place on April 28-30 in Las Vegas, where defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux of Oregon, defensive end Aidan Hutchinson of Michigan and offensive tackle Evan Neal from Alabama are projected to be the first three picks of the 2022 Draft. Bobcat seniors Troy Andersen, Daniel Hardy, Lewis Kidd, Lance McCutcheon and Amandre Williams are all possible draft picks or undrafted free agent signees.

After an epic run for the Rams, a comeback year for the Bengals and the final game for two fantastic quarterbacks, the NFL season has officially come to an end. Picking back up in August, teams will aim to take down the defending Super Bowl champions.