NFL (2025 Season)

[thspfc]

I will attempt my yearly preseason power rankings . . .

Tier 1: Super Bowl favorites
1. Chiefs
2. Eagles

Not to say I'm confident we're getting part III of this game, I'm just not confident in predicting who will stop it. For the last 3 years these teams have swallowed the league whole. KC is 49-12, Philly is 44-8 excluding the mind-blowing 2023 implosion. You could count on one hand the number of FBS college teams with winning percentages that good over their last 50-60 games.

Tier 2: Super Bowl contenders
3. Ravens
4. Bills
5. Rams - year 2 for Verse and Fiske, and maybe/hopefully a healthy offense.
6. Packers - love this offseason for the Packers. Looks like they realized the habits that got them 2 titles in 30 years with HOF QB's wasn't going to get them any without a HOF QB. It might seem simple, but that's an epiphany at least half of the old guys running NFL teams are far too stubborn and philosophical to come to.
7. Lions - Ben Johnson is a great offensive coordinator, not sold on him as a head coach. Aaron Glenn, on the other hand, is neither a good defensive coordinator nor a good head coach. I expect the defense to improve with more health and no more Glenn. Offense might start slow-ish but has too much talent to be bad.

Tier 3: playoff caliber
8. Buccaneers
9. Texans
10. Seahawks
11. Broncos
12. 49ers
13. Commanders
14. Steelers

You could tell me these teams will all have the exact same record and I wouldn't be surprised.

Tier 4: mid
15. Bengals - I'm actually a fan of how they handled the Hendrickson situation.
16. Vikings - being in Minnesota as a neutral observer of Vikings fans and the team itself . . . I'm scared for what happens if McCarthy isn't good.
17. Chargers - I'm very out on the Greg Roman/Justin Herbert partnership. It's not a good fit. Harbaugh is great but doesn't seem capable of pivoting away from his philosophy - it worked in SF and in college, where he had extremely talented teams. Not the case here. Don't like taking a running back where they did.

From week 2 last year I was saying the Chargers, with the offense they run, stood little chance against serious teams. Sure enough:
- vs teams with 5 or fewer wins: 7-0
- vs teams with between 6 and 10 wins: 4-4
- vs teams with 11 or more wins: 0-2

18. Colts - assuming Richardson doesn't take a snap, not a bad team.

Tier 5: bad
19. Falcons
20. Cowboys - even as a fan, all I really care about right now is my Dak + Lamb stack in fantasy.
21. Cardinals
22. Jaguars
23. Bears - not sold on Ben Johnson as a head coach
24. Dolphins
25. Patriots - still chasing Belichick's ghosts with this coaching staff? Past time to move on.
26. Browns
27. Raiders
28. Jets - not a Fields guy, not a Glenn guy.
29. Titans
30. Panthers - horrendous statistical profile last year. A few overtime wins and being one of like 10 teams to sorta kinda almost beat the Chiefs doesn't outweigh that unfortunately.
31. Giants - I moved the Giants out of last because I saw their players having fun in the preseason, and if nothing else good vibes is more good things than what they've had recently which is absolutely nothing.
32. Saints - Kellen Moore should not have taken this job. Good luck.

NFC playoffs
1. Eagles
2. Rams
3. Packers
4. Buccaneers
5. Lions
6. Seahawks
7. 49ers

AFC playoffs
1. Chiefs
2. Ravens
3. Bills
4. Texans
5. Broncos
6. Steelers
7. Bengals

Super Bowl: Rams vs. Chiefs; Stafford wins another and retires on top
MVP: take your pick between the top 4
Fired coaches: Daboll (NYG), Canales (CAR), McDaniel (MIA), Gannon (AZ), Morris (ATL), Steichen (IND), Taylor (CIN)

Predictions for each division's winner and wildcard spots (2025-26 season)

AFC East- Bills
AFC West- Broncos
AFC North- Ravens
AFC South- Texans

NFC East- Eagles
NFC West- Seahawks
NFC North- Packers
NFC South- Buccaneers

AFC Wildcards- Steelers, Chiefs, Chargers
NFC Wildcards- Lions, Commanders, Vikings

You picked 13 of the 14 teams who made the playoffs last year. How bold.

Well the non playoff teams from last year are still just meh to be honest.

I definitely agree that there's no sense in picking any of these incompetent franchises to do anything. 6/8 division winners and 10/14 playoff teams rolled over from 2023 to 24, I'm expecting similar this year. The only new playoff teams I have are the Seahawks who are competent, 49ers who are competent, and Bengals who have Burrow/Chase and are more competent than people give them credit for.

Same thing is happening in the NBA - 7 of 8 teams to reach the second round were the same in 2024 and 25. Any team owned by a guy whose ego is bigger than his checkbook is dead as a doornail in the current landscape of professional sports.

[JayhawkCO]

It appears I am more pessimistic on the Rams, Broncos, and Commies than anyone else.

[hotdogPi]

^^ NFC with 4 wildcards and the south with no playoff team?

Crazier things have happened. I wouldn't rule it out this early.

[thenetwork]

You could count on one hand the number of FBS college teams with winning percentages that good over their last 50-60 games.

Dont get me started on college football "dynastys".  The usual AP Top 20 teams are  the "usual colleges" because 3 or 4 games a year are usually against way-weaker non-league colleges that they will blow out by at least 40 points.

I would love to see the NCAA use the NFL scheduling formula:  The teams with the better records in their conference get the tougher schedules the following year. And with the growing number of teams in the major conferences, all games should be inter-conference only -- especially if they can't play them all in the same season. If long-time rival colleges are in separate conferences, then maybe the NCAA should allow one or two out-of-conferences against those colleges per season because those games shouldn't be cream puff blowout games.

Then we can see who the REAL dynasties are!

[hotdogPi]

I think I've mentioned it before: Swiss tournament. Each week, you're matched up against an opponent with the same record, or as close to it as possible, without ever playing the same opponent twice.

[CoreySamson]

I think I've mentioned it before: Swiss tournament. Each week, you're matched up against an opponent with the same record, or as close to it as possible, without ever playing the same opponent twice.

That would be extremely hard on student athletes with all the nationwide travel, especially if they don't know where they are going to play until that week. It would also cause more greenhouse emissions due to longer travel distances.