2024-2025 NFL Playoffs –

At the very beginning of 2025 were the NFL’s playoffs. There are a total of 7 playoff teams in each conference, and only 1 team from each conference can make the Super Bowl. The 15-win Chiefs made it from the AFC, and the 14-win Eagles made it from the NFC. This game happened to be a rematch of Super Bowl LVII, where the Chiefs won by 3.

Kansas City was on the verge of the first-ever NFL 3-peat in the Super Bowl Era. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs went into this game as a massive favorite; many people expected them to continue their dynasty and 3 peat. But Jalen Hurts and the Eagles had other plans. In Super Bowl LIX, the Eagles get their revenge and stop the Chiefs from the first ever 3 peat. Philadelphia gets a dominating victory, with a final score of 40-22.

2025-2026 NFL Season

This season has been very odd. Teams that haven’t been good for a while started to shoot up the rankings, while teams that are usually very good have been slowing down. Before the season started, the rankings remained fairly similar to how they usually go, but they changed quickly.

Teams with a hot or slow start –

The Colts started off 7-1, then made a league-altering trade inquiring Sauce Gardner from the Jets. After that trade, they finished 8-9, dealing with many injuries. The Buccaneers also had a strong start, going 6-2, then ultimately finishing 8-9 and losing the division.

The Texans started the season 0-3 but then went on a long winning streak to finish the season 12-5. Unfortunately, they finished second in the division, just 1 game behind the Jaguars. The Seattle Seahawks started their season 3-2. This isn’t necessarily a “slow” start, but they ended the season 14-3 with the NFC’s #1 seed.

Surprising Teams –

Kansas City has a very weird year. They are usually in contention for the AFC’s one seed. They have made 3 straight Super Bowls and won 2 of them. But this season, they missed the playoffs for the first time since the 2014 season. Mahomes (QB for the Chiefs) has never missed the AFC Championship as a starter until now. They were 6-6 playing in an elimination game against the Chargers. Mahomes got a bad injury late in the 4th quarter, which then ended the Chiefs’ 2025 season.

Last year, the New England Patriots were led by their rookie quarterback, “Drake Maye” who went 4-13. But this season, they finished 14-3, stealing the division away from Josh Allen and the Bills. Mike Vrabel is a massive part of the Patriots’ success this season. After being fired from the Titans in 2023, he was hired as the Head Coach for the Patriots. Maye took a huge leap forward in year two; he is currently in a two-man race with Matthew Stafford. Many people have said, “their schedule is too easy” and “they don’t deserve the division”. I think you can only play those who are on your schedule. Upsets happen all the time in this league, and the fact that the Patriots dominated should be noticed, even if they have an “easy schedule”.

Very Similar to the Patriots were the Bears. Last year, the Chicago Bears were also led by a rookie quarterback (Caleb Williams) and finished 5-12. They took a massive leap this year after hiring the formers lions OC (Ben Johnson) to be their new head coach, winning the NFC North. Williams and the Bears ended with an 11-6 record, earning themselves the #2 seed in the playoffs becauseof the tiebreaker over the Eagles.

2025-2026 NFL Playoffs –

This year, representing the AFC were the Broncos, Patriots, Jaguars, Steelers, Texans, Chargers, and Bills. This year, representing the NFC were the Seahawks, Bears, Eagles, Panthers, Rams, Forty-niners, and Packers. As of right now, we have been through the wild-card round of the playoffs.

NFC Wild Card –

In the regular season, they split the series, so this game was a big toss-up. Lots of critics had the Packers on top just because of their playoff experience and efficient offense. In this wild-card round, the Bears overcame the Packers. Williams led a fourth-quarter comeback on defense, stepping up huge in the second half. The Packers’ defense was without Micah Parsons, who is objectively one of the best defensive players in the entire league. Injuries have been a big story for this team all season, so many fans were not too surprized on this loss.

The Rams were heavy favorites over the 8-9 Panthers.  In week 13 of the regular season, when they played each other, the Panthers edged out a huge upset with a final score of 31-28. Matt Stafford (Qb for the Rams) had two interceptions this game after playing nearly perfectly all season. One concern I had going into this game was if Stafford would perform like the MVP candidate he has been playing like or what we saw in the last match-up. The Rams were ten-point favorites in this game, but the final score ended 34-31, with a very clutch comeback from Matt Stafford.

The Eagles ended with the #3 seed to host the 49ers. Coming off their Super Bowl win in the prior season, and also having a defense that has played amazingly almost the entire season, the Eagles were the favorites in this game. However, the offense has been pretty much lackluster, with their first-time OC, who is likely to be fired. The 49ers have been injury-riddled all season. They lost their two best defensive players (Fred Warner & Nick Bosa) and played many games without key players on offense. Despite that fact, they managed to go 12-5 and win this playoff game on the road. The final score was 23-19 with the 49ers on top.

AFC Wild Card –

The Jaguars and the Bills was a big toss-up game. This is because the Jaguars were on a huge winning streak coming into this game and had home-field advantage, but the Bills were led by last year’s MVP (Josh Allen) and have many years of playoff experience. The Bills’ season was a bit disappointing from the fans’ perspective, losing the division and getting the #6 seed. Josh Allen and the Bills went on the road and won this game 27-24.

The Patriots and Chargers had a very boring game for lots of people. It was defensive-heavy, with many punts, and only really field goals were scored. The Patriots had a 4th quarter touchdown that basically sealed the game at that point. Justin Herbert (Chargers QB) has been known to fail in the playoffs, which is exactly what he did again. There offensense only scored 3 points and lost the game 16-3.

This Steelers bs Texans game started very similarly to the Patriots game. The game was a defensive battle with a lot of turnovers and punts. The score was 7-6 going into the fourth quarter. Then the Texans’ offense exploded, scoring 23 points in the final 13 minutes of the game. Aaron Rodgers (Steelers QB) and the Steelers had no answer. CJ Stroud (Texans QB) gets a huge win on the road with a final score of 30-6.

Divisional Round –

The Bills travel to Denver to take on the #1 seeded Broncos. The Texans travel to New England to take on the #2 seeded Patriots. The 49ers travel to Seattle to take on the #1 seeded Seahawks. The Rams travel to Chicago to take on the number #2 seeded Bears.