NFL News: January 16th, 2023

Monday, January 16th, will be the final day of NFL Wild Card Playoff action, as five games have already been played. The first game of the Wild Card Round was a blowout win by the San Francisco 49ers, but things started to tighten up in the other games.

The Jacksonville Jaguars came all the way back from a 27-0 deficit to stun the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday night. That led to three NFL Wild Card Games on Sunday, all decided by seven points or less. 

The Buffalo Bills picked up a 34-31 win over the Miami Dolphins to kick things off on Sunday. That was followed by a 31-24 upset win by the New York Giants against the Minnesota Vikings. 

On Sunday night, the Cincinnati Bengals got past the Buffalo Bills by a score of 24-17 in a terrific battle. Those games were clearly the biggest news stories from around the weekend, but there were other pieces of news as well.

Big College Stars Declare For Draft

January 16th is the final day that college players can declare for the NFL Draft, and a couple of potential first-round draft picks made that announcement. Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud and USC wide receiver Jordan Addison both waited until the final day to make their announcements. 

Stroud could be the top overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, as he will compete with Bryce Young and Will Levis to be the first quarterback. Stroud led the Buckeyes back to the College Football Playoff this season and nearly upset the Georgia Bulldogs. 

Addison had a monster season at USC after being the best wide receiver in college football at Pitt. Addison is expected to be the first wide receiver taken in the NFL Draft. 

Teams, Execs Not Happy With Officiating

According to NFL insiders and league executives, both complete teams and team executives have filed complaints with the league in response to the officiating this season. Teams usually complain throughout the season, but there was significant backlash coming from the Week 18 game between the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams. 

Teams and executives believe that several bad calls in that game allowed the Seahawks to come away with the victory. The competition committee has also heard the complaints and is expected to work with the league to find a way to better prepare officials moving forward. 

Walker Fined By NFL

On Saturday, the NFL announced that it was suspending Green Bay Packers rookie Quay Walker $13,621 for his actions in the regular season finale. Walker was ejected from the game in a loss to the Detroit Lions after shoving a member of the Lions' training staff. 

This was the second time that Walked had been ejected from a game this season, with the first coming in October in a game against the Buffalo Bills. There were calls to the league to suspend Walker because he was a repeat offender, but the league decided that a fine was enough of a punishment. 

Since the 2000 NFL season, Walker is the only player to receive at least two ejections during one single season. 

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