The 2025 NFL regular season is in the books and everything is wide open. Not only do we have a playoff field without the Chiefs looming over everything, but there isn’t a single team in either the AFC of NFC you can hang your hat on and say “they’re definitely the favorite.”
Even inside all this chaos there are so clear-cut Super Bowl matchups that would be absolutely brilliant, and others that would leave us reeling — recoiling in fear, postponing parties, and just waiting for it all to end. These are potentially the best and worst games that could come out of these NFL Playoffs.
Denver Broncos vs. Los Angeles Rams aka “The Walmart Bowl”
It’s the Walmart heirs vs. the man who married into the family as the Walton-owned Broncos face Stan Kroenke’s Rams. It would be an appropriately dumb ending to an extremely dumb year, but make no mistake: This would be a hell of a football game too.
Some of the best Super Bowls have been borne out of the dichotomy of a top offense facing a top defense, which is exactly what this would be. Patrick Surtain Jr. and Riley Moss are the only cornerback tandem in the NFL who could reasonably go toe-to-toe with Puka Nacua and Davante Adams. Conversely, the Rams passing offense might be the only unit this season that could really put pressure on the Broncos defense.
Sprinkle in the penchant for both Bo Nix and Matthew Stafford to love some fourth quarter heroics and we could have an instant classic on our hands.
Chicago Bears vs. New England Patriots aka “Battle of the 2024 Draft”
Another case where there’s a top-level storyline of Caleb Williams vs. Drake Maye, then an undercurrent where this would just be fun as hell. Maye is the best deep throwing QB in structure, while Williams has become one of its best out of structure. Throw in two coaches like Ben Johnson and Mike Vrabel and this game would be a barn burner.
In the case of both New England and Chicago you have teams that are probably too young to be in a position to make noise in the Super Bowl, but both represent the teams with the brightest futures in their respective conferences. Then you throw in the romance of the Bears finally trying to beak through and get a ring, while everyone outside of New England isn’t ready for the Patriots to return to dominance so soon.
There would be stakes for everyone watching, and that’s what the Super Bowl needs.
Buffalo Bills vs. Philadelphia Eagles aka “The Tush Push Chaos Bowl”
I don’t know if we need Bills fans and Eagles fans to all gather in one place with something on the line. It feels like there’s potential for a Woodstock ‘99 level disaster.
That said, there’s something to the idea of experience being a big factor in the playoffs. Only the Bills and Eagles are teams who have truly been here before — which means we shouldn’t get a total dud of a game where a team isn’t prepared. What we will get a lot of, however, is tush pushing. Both the Eagles and Bills love the play, and it would be a full example of what the NFL has become on offense, for better and worse.
Finally we round out with the emotion of seeing the Bills finally crack the AFC ceiling which has alluded them so many times before. Josh Allen battling Philly to win his first Lombardi would be must-watch TV for everyone involved.
Carolina Panthers vs. Jacksonville Jaguars aka “The Kitty Litter Bowl”
It would be neat to see one of these 1995 expansion teams win their first Super Bowl. The excitement ends there.
This would be one of the worst possible games we’d get, and easily one of the worst Super Bowl games in the modern era. Both Bryce Young and Trevor Lawrence are too inconsistent, so are each team’s running games, and their defenses to boot.
It would purely be a battle of who makes fewer mistakes, and we don’t need the season to end like that.
Green Bay Packers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers aka “The Aaron Rodgers Bowl”
Everyone is sick of hearing about Aaron Rodgers. The idea of a full build up hearing about how he used to play for the Packers, now he’s with the Steelers would just be nauseating. It would also be a garbage game of football where the winner would be defined by the trenches, which never really translates well to TV.
The less Aaron Rodgers the better. This would be maximal Aaron Rodgers.
Los Angeles Chargers vs. San Francisco 49ers aka “The Harbaugh Injury Bowl”
This would be such a great game … if both teams were fully healthy. There’s just something about having two California teams face off that would take a lot of the allure out of the Super Bowl, and ostensibly turn this game into endless platitudes about Jim Harbaugh.
Did you know Harbs used to coach the 49ers? Christian McCaffrey went to Stanford, where Harbs coached! The list goes on.
Don’t get me wrong, there are a lot worse combinations that could come out of the playoffs, but this would just be a massive letdown and a pretty ugly football game to boot with two teams who never got to be at their best this season.
