The chase for the 2025 Super Bowl is officially on.
The NFL playoffs kick off with wild-card weekend beginning Jan. 11 with six games and some pretty compelling storylines.
The big question surrounding this year’s postseason is whether the Kansas City Chiefs can make history by winning an unprecedented third consecutive Super Bowl. No team in NFL history has ever done that — heck, no two-time defending Super Bowl champion has ever even made the big game, so history is against the Chiefs.
The Chiefs managed to win a lot of close games this year, but the knock on them is that they weren’t dominant while squeaking out a lot of those victories. The Chiefs still managed to go an NFL-best 15-2 this season (as did the Detroit Lions), though, and earn the AFC’s top seed, an improvement from last year, when they were the third seed in the playoffs and won the Super Bowl. Oh, and they also have Patrick Mahomes, who knows a thing or two about how to win in the clutch.
Here are some other stories to keep an eye on:
Will the Chiefs be dethroned?
The 2025 Super Bowl will be played Feb. 9 in New Orleans, and the Chiefs’ road there should be challenging because the AFC is loaded. The second-seeded Buffalo Bills, led by superstar quarterback Josh Allen, have been knocking on the door of a championship for years and beat the Chiefs this season.
The Baltimore Ravens are the third seed, and many feel quarterback Lamar Jackson is ripe to finally win a title. Their wild-card game against their AFC North rival Pittsburgh Steelers is a tough opening assignment — the teams know each other very well, Pittsburgh has already won one of their two meetings this year and the Steelers, whose offense has hit the skids in recent weeks, are one of the few teams that seem to know how to bottle up Jackson.
The Houston Texans and Los Angeles Chargers will also meet in the wild-card round and could be primed to play spoiler, as well.
Can the Lions roar all the way to the Super Bowl?
On the NFC side, the top-seeded Lions have managed to shake off a rash of injuries, while their prolific offense makes it hard for opponents to slow them down. The Lions made it all the way to the NFC championship game last season, where some fans think they got too aggressive before losing to the San Francisco 49ers.
Head coach Dan Campbell has not backed down from that style of play, though, so it’s hard to imagine he will now as the team guns for its first Super Bowl appearance.
Which teams can pose a problem for the Lions?
The Philadelphia Eagles, featuring all-everything running back Saquon Barkley, present a matchup nightmare for a lot of teams, but it remains to be seen if quarterback Jalen Hurts is fully recovered from a concussion.
The bottom seeds are also an intriguing group. The Minnesota Vikings were 14-3 in the regular season but slipped to the fifth seed because they finished behind the Lions in the NFC North. Quarterback Sam Darnold shut up the naysayers this year, but can he do it again in the playoffs, beginning with a road showdown in the wild card against Super Bowl champion Matthew Stafford and the Los Angeles Rams?
The Green Bay Packers are the seventh seed but are banged up. They should be feeling confident, though, especially since they enjoyed a nice postseason run last season as the same seed. And don’t sleep on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and wide receiver Mike Evans, fresh off a regular season in which he recorded at least 1,000 receiving yards for the 11th consecutive season, tying him with Hall of Famer Jerry Rice for the longest streak in NFL history.
Will youth be served?
This year’s playoffs feature something fans don’t usually witness at this point in the season: more than one rookie starting quarterback. The Washington Commanders were expected to be in rebuilding mode this season with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft, Jayden Daniels, learning the ropes at quarterback. Instead, he looked like a seasoned pro while leading the rejuvenated Commanders back to the playoffs for the first time in four years. Can he lead them to their first postseason win since 2006?
Fans of the Denver Broncos have reason to “Bo”-lieve, because their quarterback came in the “Nix” of time. Yes, Bo Nix is another rookie signal-caller who put up some pretty gaudy numbers while leading Denver back to the playoffs for the first time since the Broncos won Super Bowl 50 in 2016. The Broncos, like the Commanders, are ahead of schedule with their rebuild. Will they keep the momentum going in the playoffs?
Which teams are in the 2025 NFL playoffs?
Here’s a look at the teams in the playoffs and their respective seeds.
NFC playoff seeds
(1) Detroit Lions
(2) Philadelphia Eagles
(3) Tampa Bay Buccaneers
(4) Los Angeles Rams
(5) Minnesota Vikings
(6) Washington Commanders
(7) Green Bay Packers
AFC playoff seeds
(1) Kansas City Chiefs
(2) Buffalo Bills
(3) Baltimore Ravens
(4) Houston Texans
(5) Los Angeles Chargers
(6) Pittsburgh Steelers
(7) Denver Broncos
What is the 2025 NFL playoff schedule for wild-card weekend and how can I watch?
Saturday, Jan. 11
- No. 5 Los Angeles Chargers at No. 4 Houston Texans, 4:30 p.m. ET (CBS, Paramount+)
- No. 6 Pittsburgh Steelers at No. 3 Baltimore Ravens, 8 p.m. ET (Prime Video)
Sunday, Jan. 12
- No. 7 Denver Broncos at No. 2 Buffalo Bills, 1 p.m. ET (CBS, Paramount+)
- No. 7 Green Bay Packers at No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles, 4:30 p.m. ET (Fox, Fox Deportes)
- No. 6 Washington Commanders at No. 3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 8 p.m. ET (NBC, Peacock, Universo; Peacock is owned by TODAY.com’s parent company, NBCUniversal)
Monday, Jan. 13
- No. 5 Minnesota Vikings at No. 4 Los Angeles Rams, 8 p.m. ET. Game was moved to Arizona due to the California wildfires. (ESPN, ABC, ESPN+, ESPN Deportes; ManningCast: ESPN2, ESPN+)
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