The 2025 NFL season is around the corner. Preseason has begun, and that means it's time to predict the season. I will do my predictions for each division, and then my predictions for the postseason. Let's begin.
NFC East
1. Philadelphia Eagles (13-4) (1 seed)
2. Washington Commanders (11-6) (5 seed)
3. Dallas Cowboys (8-9)
4. New York Giants (5-12)
Starting off with the division my favorite team is in. The Eagles won the Super Bowl last year, but lost some key defensive players, including Milton Williams, CJ Gardner-Johnson and Brandon Graham, as well as their offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. However, they did add Jihaad Campbell and Azeez Ojulari. Their offense should still be dynamic with Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley and AJ Brown. The Commanders made an incredible run to the NFC Championship off the back of Rookie of the Year Jayden Daniels. They added Deebo Samuel in free agency, which could help out Daniels, giving him another receiver besides Terry McLaurin. The defense should be solid as well with Bobby Wagner. The Cowboys had a very disappointing season last year which ended in Mike McCarthy being fired and Brian Schottenheimer being promoted. They brought in George Pickins to help out Dak Prescott, but now star defensive end Micah Parsons wants out. They're in a rough spot, but if Parsons stays and Prescott has a good year, they could be a solid team. Right now, though, I just see them being average. The Giants went 3-14 last year, and they lost out on the number 1 pick. They cut Daniel Jones midseason, and started Tommy Devito and Drew Lock for the remainder of the year. They got 3 quarterbacks in the offseason, Russell Wilson, Jameis Winston and Jaxon Dart. They added Abdul Carter to pair him with Dexter Lawrence. Their defense should be good, but their offense is a little shaky. Brian Daboll is on the hot seat for sure.
NFC North
1. Detroit Lions (12-5) (2 seed)
2. Minnesota Vikings (10-7) (7 seed)
3. Green Bay Packers (9-8)
4. Chicago Bears (7-10)
This is an interesting division to predict. 3 teams made the playoffs from the NFC North last year, but none of them won a playoff game, and all 3 of them had an interesting off-season. The Lions had their best season in franchise history, winning 15 games and being the NFC's top seed before getting shocked by the Commanders at home in their first playoff game. Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn both left to become head coaches. Aiden Hutchinson was tearing it up with 7.5 sacks before fracturing his tibia in Dallas. He should be back this year, and hopefully picking up where he left off. The offense should be clicking with Jared Goff and Jahmyr Gibbs. The Vikings were written off by almost everyone after JJ McCarthy went down with an injury and missed the entire season. Sam Darnold proved them wrong. Through the first 17 games of the year, the Vikings were 14-2 and Darnold was having the best year of his career. Then in Week 18, Darnold looked like his old self, and the Vikings were smoked. The same thing happened in the Wild Card. Darnold left for Seattle following the season. Justin Jefferson is still there, and I can see McCarthy and Jefferson tearing it up. The Packers had a solid season, but ended up getting bounced in the Wild Card Round. Jordan Love had a decent year, with almost 3400 yards and 25 TDs. He's showing good signs for the future. Jayden Reed is a talented receiver, and Josh Jacobs is talented as a running back. Their issue lies in the secondary. Jaire Alexander is gone, and the rest of the secondary is people who I do not know. Maybe they'll surprise me, but for right now, I don't see them in the playoffs. The Bears had a horrific season full of painful losses, including a Hail Mary, a blocked field goal, and Matt Eberflus' horrible clock management. Eberflus was fired after that, and he was replaced by Thomas Brown, who wasn't much better, although he did lead the Bears to their first win against the Packers in six years. The Bears hired the aforementioned Ben Johnson from the Lions. I am curious to see what he can do with Caleb Williams. Williams was the number 1 pick in 2024 and had a ton of hype surrounding him, but was mediocre. Part of that might have had to do with Eberflus and Shane Waldron and Brown coaching him, but there might be something more. We'll see.
NFC West
1. Los Angeles Rams (11-6) (3 seed)
2. San Francisco 49ers (10-7) (6 seed)
3. Seattle Seahawks (9-8)
4. Arizona Cardinals (8-9)
The Rams won the West last year, with a perfectly balanced team. Jared Verse won Defensive Rookie of the Year, and the defense sacked Sam Darnold 9 times in the Wild Card and dropped Jalen Hurts 7 times in the Divisonal. However, they couldn't stop Saquon Barkley and that was what cost them in the long run. Matthew Stafford isn't getting younger (entering his 16th season), but he's still got it. Puka Nacua had a solid year, and now Davante Adams is mentoring him. Verse and Kobie Turner are going to be a problem for offensive lines. The 49ers fell victim to the injury bug, piling up many injuries and finishing 6-11. They are getting players back, like Christian McCaffrey, Brock Purdy and Brandon Aiyuk. Deebo Samuel is gone, but he wasn't good and was a clubhouse cancer. George Kittle is still as good as ever, too. The Seahawks narrowly missed out on the NFC West title last year due to a strength of victory tiebreaker loss to the Rams. They traded away Geno Smith to Vegas to reunite him with Pete Carroll, then replaced him with Sam Darnold. I'm curious to see what Sam Darnold we'll get this year. Will we get Jets Darnold or Vikings Darnold? Meanwhile, you have Kenneth Walker in the backfield and JSN as a solid receiver. The defense should be good as well. We'll see what happens. The Cardinals had a mediocre season last year, but Marvin Harrison Jr showed promise as well as Trey McBride. The defense should be better with Josh Sweat, Will Johnson and Walter Nolen, although Nolen missed training camp with a calf injury. I'm not a fan of Jonathan Gannon, but maybe he can be good this year. He's on thin ice.
NFC South
1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-7) (4 seed)
2. Atlanta Falcons (8-9)
3. Carolina Panthers (6-11)
4. New Orleans Saints (4-13)
This might be the worst division in football. The Buccaneers won it last year after starting off slow, but were bounced instantly against Jayden Daniels and the Commanders. They had a quiet off-season, signing Haason Reddick and losing Liam Coen to Jacksonville. They still have Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans and Bucky Irving, so their offense should still be good. Their defense should be solid with Lavonte David and Vita Vea. I'm not sold on their secondary though. The Falcons signed Kirk Cousins to a 4 year $180 million contract in the 2024 offseason. He didn't do much to earn it. He threw 16 interceptions and was benched in favor of Michael Penix in Week 16. Penix is expected to be the starter this year, and Cousins is expected to be traded. They drafted two edge rushers in the first round to bolster their defense. Kyle Pitts and Bijan Robinson should be solid. The problem is, even though they got two edge rushers, their defense still needs much more help. Also, I'm not sure if Penix is ready yet. We'll see. The Panthers finished 2-15 in 2023, and everyone expected them to be horrific. For the first half of the season, they were right. In the second half, they looked much better, even going toe-to-toe with some incredible teams, including the Chiefs and Eagles. They finished 5-12, but there is reason to believe in Charlotte. They paid Jaycee Horn $100 million, $72 million guaranteed. He's now the highest-paid defensive back in the league. The defense is looking better, but the offense still has questions. The running game is still not good. Xavier Leggete and Tet McMillan should be good, but what about the offensive line? There are still a lot of questions and not enough answers with this team. The Saints are even worse. They finished with a 5-12 record last year, and fired Dennis Allen after a loss in Charlotte. Quarterback Derek Carr retired in the offseason, and now they're stuck with Tyler Shough and Spencer Rattler under center. Alvin Kamara is good, yes, but I'm not sold on their receivers or offensive line. Their defensive coordinator is Brandon Staley, who was coach of the Chargers and had a tumultuous tenure in LA. Kellen Moore has his work cut out for him.
AFC East
1. Buffalo Bills (13-4) (1 seed)
2. New England Patriots (8-9)
3. Miami Dolphins (7-10)
4. New York Jets (6-11)
Now we move to the AFC. The Bills won this division for the 5th straight year last year, and they clinched on the first day of December. They lost to the Chiefs for the 4th time in the last 5 playoffs, though. They had a quiet offseason, but they're still a contender. Josh Allen is coming off an MVP season, and Khalil Shakir is a fantastic receiver. The defense should be solid, adding Joey Bosa and putting him alongside Ed Oliver. Sean McDermott is a hell of a coach, and I believe he can break through and lead the Bills to the promised land. The Patriots had the number 1 pick in their grasp last year, but Joe Milton went off and got them a win in week 18. Jerod Mayo was fired right after the game, and replaced by Mike Vrabel. The Pats went out and got Stefon Diggs from the Texans, and Will Campbell in the draft, doing what they can to help out Drake Maye. They added Milton Williams to a solid defense. But I still feel like they're too young to make a lot of noise. We'll see if I'm wrong. The Dolphins had a very disappointing year last year, finishing 8-9. Tua Tagovailoa missed a few games with a concussion, and the team looked like trash with Skylar Thompson under center. Then Tua came back and the Fins went on a winning streak, but lost to the Jets in week 18 to miss the playoffs. They got Zach Wilson to back up Tua, and Alexander Mattison at running back. I just don't have faith in the Dolphins right now. I don't think they're going to be good. Tua and Tyreek Hill don't have a great relationship right now, and althoigh they seem to be working on that relationship, the clubhouse likely won't be great. The Jets had a disastrous year under Aaron Rodgers, but owner Woody Johnson refused to blame Rodgers for the season. He fired both Robert Saleh and Joe Douglas in the middle of the year. It didn't work. The Jets finished 5-12. Rodgers was released in the off-season. Justin Fields took over for him. Aaron Glenn took over for Saleh and Darren Mougley took over for Douglas. The Jets took an offensive lineman, Armand Membou with their first pick. The offense should be a bit better, but I just don't believe in the defense outside of Sauce Gardner.
AFC North
1. Baltimore Ravens (12-5) (3 seed)
2. Cincinnati Bengals (10-7) (6 seed)
3. Pittsburgh Steelers (9-8) (7 seed)
4. Cleveland Browns (6-11)
The Ravens won the division last year thanks to Lamar Jackson and Derek Henry, but lost in the Divsional Round to the Bills. Lamar Jackson was runner-up for the MVP award, and Henry ran through defenses like butter. The defense was strong as well, with Roquan Smith and Kyle Hamilton. They signed DeAndre Hopkins and drafted Malaki Starks. I'd be surprised if the Ravens were not good this year. They have everything aligned. The Bengals barely missed the playoffs last year, mostly due to their horrible defense. Joe Burrow went off, with 4,918 yards and 43 touchdowns and winning Comeback Player of the Year. Ja'Marr Chase had himself a hell of a year as well with 1708 yards and 17 touchdowns. Trey Hendrickson led the league in sacks and now we're waiting to see if he'll stay with the team. If he leaves, the defense will be horrible, and maybe they'll miss the playoffs. But for now, I have them making the playoffs, because Burrow and Chase will be electric. The Steelers were 10-3 through the first 13 games, but lost their next 5 including the Wild Card game. They traded away Russell Wilson and George Pickens. They got Aaron Rodgers after months of waiting. TJ Watt is going to crush offensive lines across the AFC. Chris Boswell is now the best kicker in the AFC North, in my opinion. Mike Tomlin hasn't finished with a losing record yet, and I don't think that's changing any time soon. You know he's gonna pull something out of his ass to do it. The Browns had a horrible season last year, finishing with a 3-14 record. They now have 5 quarterbacks, technically 4 since Deshaun Watson is out with an injury for a while, maybe the whole year. They traded the number 2 pick to the Jaguars, and got Mason Graham at number 5 alongside Myles Garrett. The defense should be amazing, but the offense......I don't think so.
AFC West
1. Kansas City Chiefs (13-4) (2 seed)
2. Los Angeles Chargers (11-6) (5 seed)
3. Denver Broncos (9-8)
4. Las Vegas Raiders (7-10)
The Chiefs were doing incredible things to win last year, featuring a blocked field goal, a doinked field goal, a toe out of bounds, and a botched snap. They finished 15-2, best in the AFC, and looked like they were going to win their third straight Super Bowl, the first team to ever do that. Then they went down 34-0 in Super Bowl 59 en route to losing 40-22. They have been working on fixing the offensive line all off-season. They still have Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce and Andy Reid, so it's difficult to count them out, but it would make sense given how horrible they looked in the Super Bowl. The Chargers hired Jim Harbaugh in the 2024 off-season, and he led them to the playoffs in his first year. However, they were dominated in Houston in the Wild Card. Justin Herbert threw 4 picks in that Wild Card game and was sacked 4 times. They got Mekhi Becton to fix the O-line. They also paid Rashawn Slater the most money for an O-lineman in history, but he will be missing the whole season. Ladd McConkey had a fantastic rookie year, but can he keep it up next year? Maybe. The Broncos made it to the playoffs for the first time since they won Super Bowl 50 in Peyton Manning's final year. They got blown out in Buffalo, but they were just happy to be there. Bo Nix had a solid rookie year, and the pressure's on him to follow it up. The Broncos added JK Dobbins in free agency and drafted Jahdae Barron in round 1. My issue with them is their running game outside of Dobbins. If he goes down, they're screwed. The defense was great last year, and I expect it to be good again this year. Vance Joseph is a heck of a defensive coordinator, and I hope he keeps it up. The Raiders had an interesting year last year. They had the number 1 pick in week 16, but beat the Jaguars and fell all the way down to 6. They took Ashton Jeanty with that 6th pick, brought in Geno Smith and hired Pete Carroll. Problem is, Chip Kelly is their offensive coordinator. As an Eagles fan, I know how that goes.
AFC South
1. Houston Texans (10-7) (4 seed)
2. Jacksonville Jaguars (8-9)
3. Indianapolis Colts (7-10)
4. Tennessee Titans (5-12)
The Texans won the South last year, despite many red flags surrounding them. Their offensive line was terrible, their offensive coordinator was terrible, their receivers were injured, but somehow, they wrecked the Chargers in the Wild Card. Then they went to Kansas City and lost to the Chiefs, and CJ Stroud got sacked 8 times, and there was a controversial roughing the passer call on Patrick Mahomes. They traded for CJ Gardner-Johnson and Christian Kirk. They drafted two receivers, Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel. They fired their offensive coordinator. I feel like the Texans are not only the best team in the AFC South, but the only good team in the AFC South. The Jaguars were coming off a collapse in 2023, where they started 8-3, finished 9-8 and missed the playoffs. They didn't recover, finishing 4-13 and firing Doug Pederson and the much-maligned Trent Baalke. They got possibly the most hyped prospect in the draft class in Travis Hunter, who will be playing both sides of the ball this year. They got Liam Coen from the Bucs to be their head coach. Brian Thomas Jr and Hunter should be a fun duo to watch. Trevor Lawrence might be good this year. The Colts had a very average season. They were eliminated by Drew Lock and the Giants in week 17 and finished with an 8-9 record. Their QB room is Daniel Jones and Anthony Richardson. Their defense needs help. Lou Anarumo might fix that, but we'll see. The Titans got the number 1 pick in Cam Ward. They fired their GM Ran Carthon, and replaced him with Mike Borgonzi. They brought in Tyler Lockett to have a receiver for Ward. The problem is, they don't have any other ones. And their offensive line is garbage.
NFC Wild Card
(2) Lions over (7) Vikings
(3) Rams over (6) 49ers
(5) Commanders over (4) Buccaneers
NFC Divsional
(1) Eagles over Commanders
Lions over Rams
NFC Championship
Eagles over Lions
AFC Wild Card
(2) Chiefs over (7) Steelers
(3) Ravens over (6) Bengals
(4) Texans over (5) Chargers
AFC Divisional
(1) Bills over Texans
Chiefs over Ravens
AFC Championship
Bills over Chiefs
Super Bowl 60
(N1) Eagles over (A1) Bills
