NEW YORK — The 2025 NFL regular season didn’t just shuffle the deck; it flipped the table. Five of the eight new division champions watched the playoffs from their couches last year. Only the Eagles managed to repeat as a top-four seed.
That chaos makes predicting the road to Super Bowl LX a nightmare for oddsmakers but a thrill for fans. While the Seattle Seahawks locked up the No. 1 seed behind a resurrected Sam Darnold, the smartest money isn’t looking at the top of the bracket. It’s looking at the No. 5 seed: the Los Angeles Rams.
Forget the seeding. The Rams entered Week 16 looking like the undisputed best team in football. Despite a late-season slip that cost them the NFC West title to Seattle, the underlying metrics scream “Champion.”
Sean McVay’s squad finished the season ranked 1st in EPA per play on offense and 10th on defense. That balance is rare. In fact, only the 2020 Buccaneers—who won the Super Bowl as a Wild Card team carried similar momentum and metrics into January. Like that Tampa Bay team, the Rams have a veteran quarterback in Matthew Stafford who has already proven he can win the big one.
The road won’t be easy. The projections set up a Divisional Round clash between the Rams and the Seahawks Part III of a brutal NFC West trilogy.
The X-factor? Davante Adams. The star receiver missed the Week 16 loss but is slated to return for Wild Card Weekend. His presence transforms the Rams from “dangerous” to “unstoppable.”
Sunday, Jan. 11 | 4:30 p.m. ET | FOX
This matchup features two heavyweights stumbling into the ring. The San Francisco 49ers just suffered a humiliating loss to Seattle, putting up a paltry 173 total yards—the lowest mark ever in a Kyle Shanahan-coached game. Brock Purdy and the offense hit a wall, scoring only three points.
On the other sideline, the Philadelphia Eagles are the NFC East champs, yet nobody seems to trust them. Head Coach Nick Sirianni’s decision to rest starters in Week 18 cost them the No. 2 seed, and the offense has looked disjointed under coordinator Kevin Patullo.
The Verdict: It’s a choice between the undermanned (49ers) and the underwhelming (Eagles). Expect a gritty, low-scoring affair where coaching pedigree advantage Shanahan makes the difference.
If anyone can wreck the NFC’s party, it’s Buffalo. Josh Allen transforms when the calendar hits January. Check the numbers:
“Allen boasts the best TD-INT ratio (25-4), the highest total yards per game average (311.0), and the most offensive scores per game (2.54) of any quarterback in this millennium (min. 10 postseason starts).”
The only hurdle for Buffalo is a defense that bleeds yards on the ground. But if they survive the Jaguars in the opening round, Allen is capable of carrying the team to New Orleans solely on his back.
“Sam Darnold has exorcised past demons to lift Seattle to the No. 1 seed… The raucous 12s make Seattle the toughest environment for opposing teams to play in.”
— Brooke Cersosimo, NFL.com
“In the end, we have more trust in Super Bowl champion Matthew Stafford to find a way than Sam Darnold, who fell on his face in his first career playoff start last season.”
— Dan Parr, NFL.com
The bracket is set, but the power dynamics are fluid. If the Rams survive the NFC gauntlet, they will likely face an AFC representative that has battered each other bruised. A Rams victory in Super Bowl LX would cement Matthew Stafford’s Hall of Fame resume and validate the aggressive “all-in” strategy Los Angeles has perfected.
Meanwhile, a quick exit for the Eagles or 49ers could trigger massive offseason changes for two franchises that expect nothing less than Championship Sunday appearances.
