Who To Root For: NFL Playoffs 2023 Season

 

Our initial list had 117 Iowa Connections in the NFL with Miami and Tampa leading the way.  Both are playoff bound, so let's update the connections at the end of the season and see who we should be rooting for.

We added three new connections.  Perrion Winfrey joined the Jets, La'Michael Pettway to the Patriots, and Jake Gervase on Minnesota.  

First, some quick analysis.  Playoff teams averaged 4.85 Iowa Connections this year, while non-playoff teams averaged 3.38 Iowa Connections.  The highest non-playoff teams (Ind 6, Ten 5) were close the last week of the season, while the two lowest playoff teams (Dallas and Cleveland with 2 each) were immediately disposed of in the first round.  NFL teams, get your Iowa Connections higher next season!

There are 4 teams with 7 connections in the playoffs: Miami, Tampa Bay, Detroit and Green Bay.  So currently we are rooting for a Detroit / Miami Super Bowl, but we'll see how it plays out.  

Wild Card Weekend Picks:

Miami (7) over Kansas City (4)  

Buffalo (6) over Pittsburgh (2)

Houston (4) over Cleveland (2)

Detroit (7) over LA Rams (6)

Tampa (7) over Philly (4)

Green Bay (7) over Dallas (2)

7 - Miami: Darrell Bevell / Jamal Perry / Mike Rose (ISU), Elijah Campbell (UNI), Andrew Van Ginkel (Iowa Western), Eric Saubert / Wade Harman (Drake)

7 - Tampa Bay : Tristan Wirfs, /Anthony Nelson / Tom Moore / Dominique Dafney / David Raih / Kaevon Merriweather(Iowa), Ko Kieft (Sioux Center)

7 - Detroit : Matt Nelson / Sam LaPorta / Jack Campbell (Iowa), David Montgomery / John Fox (Iowa State), Ross Pierschbacher (Cedar Falls), Daurice Fountain (UNI)

7 - Green Bay : Jerry Montgomery / Tyler Goodson / Lucas Van Ness / Kristian Welch  (Iowa), Anthony Johnson Jr. (ISU), Ryan Mahaffey / Benny Sapp III (UNI)

6 - Baltimore : Mike Devlin / Tyler Linderbaum / Geno Stone / Kristian Welch (Iowa), Charlie Kolar (ISU), John Harbaugh (Iowa City)

6 - Indianapolis : Tom Manning / Michael Jacobson (ISU), Dallis Flowers (Grand View), Matthew Vanderslice (Northern Iowa), Tyler Goodson / Ike Boettger (Iowa)

6 - Buffalo : Ike Boettger / AJ Epenesa / Micah Hyde (Iowa),  AJ Klein (ISU), Spencer Brown (UNI), Marcus West (Wartburg)

6 - Los Angeles Rams :     Zach VanValkenburg / Alaric Jackson / Michael Ojemudia  (Iowa), Jake Hummel / Nick Caley (ISU), Christian Rozeboom (Sioux Center)

5 - Tennessee : Amani Hooker / Caleb Shudak / Ben Niemann / Jaleel Johnson (Iowa), Teair Tart (Ellsworth)

5 - Los Angeles Chargers :    Nick Niemann / Tom Donatell / Matt Hankins (Iowa), Jay Rodgers (ISU), Maxx Duggan (Council  Bluffs)

4 - San Francisco :   George Kittle (Iowa), Daniel Bullocks (UNI), Brock Purdy, Brian Schneider (ISU)

4 - Kansas City :  Brendan Daly (Drake), Jack Cochrane (Mount Vernon), Ihmir Smith-Marsette / Ryan Reynolds (Iowa)

4 - Jacksonville : Brandon Scherff / Coy Cronk / C.J. Beathard / Oliver Martin (Iowa)

4 - Philadelphia : Matt Leo / DK McDonald / Tyler Scudder / Julian Good-Jones (ISU)

4 - Denver :    Josey Jewell / Seth Benson / Riley Moss / Ben Niemann (Iowa)

4 - New England :  James Ferentz / Carl Davis / Riley Reiff (Iowa), La'Michael Pettway (ISU)

4 - Houston :    Christian Kirksey / Desmond King (Iowa), Xavier Hutchinson (Iowa State), Eric Saubert (Drake)

4 - Minnesota : Kene Nwangwu (ISU), Chris Reed (Cedar Rapids), T.J. Hockenson / Coy Cronk (Iowa)

4 - New York Jets :  Breece Hall / Allen Lazard / Will McDonald IV (ISU) , Perrion Winfrey (Iowa Western) 

4 - New Orleans : Trevor Penning (UNI), Marcus Robertson / Michael Jacobson (Iowa State), Jack Heflin (Iowa)

3 - New York Giants : Casey Kreiter, Dane Belton (Iowa), Elerson Smith (UNI)

3 - Seattle :    Pete Carroll (ISU) , Noah Fant / Grant Steen (Iowa)

3 - Cincinnati :    Joe Burrow (Ames), Reid Sinnett (Des Moines), Charlie Jones (Iowa)

3 - Carolina : Greg Mabin / Ihmir Smith-Marsette / Jim Caldwell (Iowa)

2 - Chicago : Michael Ojemudia (Iowa), Daurice Fountain (Northern Iowa)

2 - Arizona :    Matt Haack (W. Des Moines), Brandon Smith (Iowa)

2 - Atlanta : Parker Hesse (Iowa), Dave Huxtable (Iowa State)

2 - Cleveland : Brandon Lynch (Northern Iowa), Shaun Huls (LeMars)

2 - Dallas : Chauncey Golston (Iowa), Aden Durde (NIACC)

2 - Pittsburgh:     James Daniels (Iowa), Hakeem Butler (Iowa State)

2 - Las Vegas:    Chris Ash (Drake), Elerson Smith (UNI)

1 - NFL on Fox : Curt Menefee (Coe)

1 - Washington :     Julian Good-Jones (ISU)