The regular season has come to a close, and the Carolina Panthers are in the playoffs following a total collapse by the Buccaneers. The Eagles have secured the East, making it the first time since 2004 that a team has won that division in consecutive seasons. The NFC North has turned completely on its head as the Bears finish in first place. And Seattle managed to outlast the 49ers and Rams to secure both the NFC West and the #1 seed in the playoffs.
It’s hard to tell which conference has been more chaotic this season, but the NFC is making a solid case, with nearly every team having a solid shot at the Super Bowl.
Division Leaders: Seahawks, Bears, Eagles, Panthers
Seattle Seahawks: In my opinion, Seattle is a good quarterback away from being the scariest team in the NFL. Sam Darnold has completed his second-straight 14-win season after leaving Minnesota to become a Seahawk and secured the NFC’s #1 seed. Despite the team’s success, Darnold hasn’t been perfect, leading the league with 25 total turnovers. Still, the Seahawks are the second-highest scoring offense in the league (behind the Rams), and a major factor has been their ability to move the ball through the air. Darnold is one of just six quarterbacks to surpass 4,000 yards this year, and wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba is the favorite to be named Offensive Player of the Year. The third-year receiver destroyed Seattle’s previous receiving record (1,303 yards set by DK Metcalf in 2020) with a league-leading 1,793 yards. While their entire offense runs through one man, Seattle’s defense is a true unit. Four players have recorded at least six sacks, five have forced a fumble, and ten have intercepted a pass. They also held five of their last six opponents to 16 points or less, making it easy for the offense to find the wins needed to control the toughest division in 2025. Seattle ended the season on a seven-game win streak, earning a free pass to the divisional round, where they’ll face the lowest remaining seed after the Wild Card matchups.
Chicago Bears: Ben Johnson, in his first year as head coach, has completely turned Chicago around. With four players recording at least 650 receiving yards (Colston Loveland, D.J. Moore, Rome Odunze, and Luther Burden), a dominant running game, and a defense that averaged nearly two turnovers per game, the Bears have gone from the bottom of the NFC North in 2024 to clinching the division. D’Andre Swift and seventh-round pick Kyle Monangai combined for nearly 1,900 rushing yards, opening up offensive possibilities the Bears haven’t had in years. However, there are pieces of Chicago’s turnaround that should raise some eyebrows. Of their eleven wins, seven were decided by six points or less. Additionally, second-year quarterback Caleb Williams ended the year with a completion percentage of 58.1%, ranking 36th among 38 eligible quarterbacks (behind Dillon Gabriel, Cam Ward, and Michael Penix Jr.). He also threw for 3,942 yards, short of the 4,000-yard milestone that only the Bears have failed to reach in the history of the NFL. Chicago will face the Packers in the first round of the playoffs. It will be the third time since December 7th that these teams have played each other.
Philadelphia Eagles: For the fifth year in a row, the Eagles are in the playoffs. After losing three straight games, including a true collapse against the Chargers in Week 14, the Eagles responded with three wins to secure the NFC East. Despite having two receivers surpass 1,000 yards (A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith) and a tight end who tied for the second-most receiving touchdowns in the league (Dallas Goedert), Philadelphia ranks in the bottom half of the league in terms of offensive yardage and points per game. Jalen Hurts continues to fuel debates about his talent by failing to complete a pass after halftime in two different games while simultaneously recording more rushing touchdowns (8) than Bijan Robinson, Travis Etienne, and Philadelphia’s own running back, Saquon Barkley. The Eagles’ defense has helped keep their hopes of repeating as Super Bowl champions alive, allowing less than 190 passing yards per game and the fifth-fewest touchdowns to opposing offenses. The defending champs will play the 49ers in the Wild Card.
Carolina Panthers: I claimed that Carolina’s season was over after the first month of the season. Now, despite losing to Tampa Bay in Week 18, they’ve secured the NFC South and enter the playoffs as the #4 seed. The Panthers are an anomaly within a stacked playoff field, scoring the sixth-fewest points per game this season. With 8 wins and a playoff birth, QB Bryce Young has held onto the starting position this year despite throwing for more than 200 yards just four times. In my mind, his future as a starter is uncertain, even with the success the team has found this year. The real stars in Carolina have been runningback Rico Dowdle, who joined the team on a one-year contract and recorded nearly 1,400 total yards, and rookie receiver Tetairoa McMillan, who led the team in receiving yards with just over 1,000. No other Panther reached 400 yards through the air. Carolina faces the Rams in the first round, a rematch from Week 13 (a game that the Panthers won).
Wild Card: Rams, 49ers, Packers
Los Angeles Rams: Back-to-back losses to the Seahawks and Falcons kept the #1 seed out of reach, but the Rams still have 12 wins and enter the postseason with one of the most powerful offenses in the NFL, averaging a league-high 30.5 points per game. QB Matt Stafford, who leads the NFL with 4,707 yards and 46 TDs, could take home the MVP this year. His #1 receiver, Puka Nacua, was unbelievable in December, recording 573 yards in eleven days (Weeks 14-16) and totaling 1,715 yards despite missing a game and a half. Davante Adams, who hasn’t played since December 14th due to injury, was Stafford’s most reliable endzone target with the most receiving touchdowns in the league (14). He’s on track to take the field this Saturday against the Panthers. The Rams' defense has been dominant, ranking in the top ten for sacks, takeaways, and points allowed. One of the more surprising stories was that of Nathan Landman. Landman played three years in Atlanta before joining the Rams this season, and leads the team with 4 forced fumbles and 132 total tackles. Other notable defenders include Byron Young with 12 sacks and Emmanuel Forbes with 3 interceptions and 18 defended passes.
San Francisco 49ers: After winning only six games last season, the 49ers are back in the playoffs. The team had to adapt this season after losing several key playmakers for weeks at a time due to injury. TE George Kittle missed seven games, second-year WR Ricky Pearsall has missed eight, and even QB Brock Purdy was out for half the season. The defensehas also been decimated. DE Nick Bosa and first-round pick DL Mikel Williams tore their ACLs, while LB Fred Warner suffered an ankle injury that sidelined the four-time All-Pro after six weeks. These injuries have limited San Francisco’s aggressiveness toward opposing quarterbacks. The team has allowed nearly 235 passing yards per game while ranking last in sacks with 20 (the next lowest is the Jets with 26). However, thanks to a healthy season from RB Christian McCaffrey, the 49ers stayed competitive in the NFC and won 12 games, one short of the #1 seed. McCaffrey leads the team in both rushing and receiving yards, proving just how powerless this version of the 49ers would be without him. If the MVP wasn’t a quarterback award, there would be a good argument for CMC, who has the second-most TDs in the league (17) and sits behind only Bijan Robinson in total yards.
Green Bay Packers: The Packers lost their final four games of the season, securing the #7 seed for the third year in a row, thanks to the Lions losing three-straight to end the season. Green Bay has lost a couple of pivotal players this season, including Micah Parsons and Tucker Kraft, forcing them to involve rookies more heavily on defense and shift away from the player who led the team in receiving yards for the first half of the season. Parsons’s exit turned all eyes to Rashan Gary, Green Bay’s veteran pass rusher, who was named to the Pro Bowl last season. Unfortunately, Gary hasn’t recorded a sack since October, raising questions about the strength of the defense as the team takes on the Bears in the Wild Card. Offensively, the Packers are a mixed bag. Seven players ended the season with at least 250 receiving yards, including Christian Watson, who tore his ACL in Week 18 of last year, and first-round pick Matthew Golden. Golden, however, is yet to find the endzone in his rookie year, despite twelve other Packers doing so. If they manage to beat the Bears in Chicago, the team will head to Seattle for the divisional round.
The No-Shows: Buccaneers, Lions, Commanders
Three teams seemed positioned to make the playoffs. Until they weren’t.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Bucs won six of their first eight games, but finished with a record of 8-9, tying with the Panthers and Falcons in the NFC South. Baker Mayfield was in MVP debates until the team fell off a cliff, with their last two wins being decided by a total of 5 points. Even worse, Mike Evans ended his eleven-year streak of 1,000 receiving yards. It’s the first time since 2019 that Tampa has missed the playoffs.
Detroit Lions: The Lions won just one game in December, going from 7-5 to 8-8 and falling to last in the NFC North. Scoring a total of 58 points in losses to the Rams and Steelers, Detroit entered a must-win game against the Vikings in Week 17. Everything fell apart. Jared Goff committed 5 turnovers, Jamyr Gibbs rushed for just 41 yards, and the Lions lost to a team whose quarterback threw for 51 yards. With a Week 18 win over the Bears, Detroit ended the season at 9-8, missing the playoffs.
Washington Commanders: Falling to the Eagles in last year’s NFC Championship, the future was bright in D.C. Unfortunately, the oldest roster in the NFL fell to numerous injuries, the most notable being the loss of last year’s Rookie of the Year, Jayden Daniels. Daniels played just seven games this year, including a blowout loss in Week 14. In possession of the 7th overall pick in the 2026 draft, the Commanders will be aiming for a strong return next year after ending the 2025 season at 5-12.