What’s a celebration of a new NFL season without one last look inside the Crystal Ball before things get crazy? Before we start, just a note that injuries to notable players such as Jordan Love of the Green Bay Packers and Nick Chubb of the Cleveland Browns played factors in our final 14-team playoff field and projections. So with that, let’s dive into our 2024-25 NFL playoff predictions and Super Bowl 59 champion.
Which team is favored to come out on top and win Super Bowl 59?
AFC Wild Card Round – (2) Baltimore Ravens vs. (7) Miami Dolphins
A showdown of two of football’s fastest and most potent offenses — who have split their four meetings in the Lamar Jackson era.
But the difference here is that the Ravens’ star-studded secondary can at least keep Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle in check. The Dolphins’ suspect defense can’t stop Lamar, Derrick Henry, Mark Andrews, or Zay Flowers all at once.
Ravens win a heart-pounding thriller and return to the Divisional Round.
(3) Houston Texans vs. (6) Buffalo Bills
The Stefon Diggs Bowl? The rematch of Week 5? The rematch of their epic 2019 Wild Card Round Game? Either title floats our boat!
Josh Allen can win a game by himself on any given day. But the unproven Bills’ defense doesn’t have the personnel to stop Diggs, Nico Collins, Tank Dell, or Joe Mixon.
Furthermore, Houston’s elite pass-rushing duo of Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter is more than capable of preventing Allen from winning the game with his legs and keeping him in the pocket more often than usual.
(4) New York Jets vs. (5) Cincinnati Bengals
Aaron Rodgers’ return propels the Jets to a division crown and their first playoff berth since 2010. But can the four-time MVP hold off Joe Burrow and the resilient Cincinnati Bengals?
Why, of course! Sauce Gardner will shut down Ja’Marr Chase, and the Jets’ fierce front seven will have its way with Cincy’s suspect o-line. And who on Cincy is going to stop Rodgers’ wealth of weapons — especially Garrett Wilson?
Tee Higgins’ final game as a Bengal ends with a lopsided defeat, and the Bengals head into an offseason filled with questions.
NFC Wild Card Round – (2) Detroit Lions vs. (7) Los Angeles Rams
Is three times a charm for Matthew Stafford as a visitor at Ford Field?
The Lions beat the Rams in the 2023 wild-card round for their first playoff win since 1991. Eight months later, Jared Goff got the best of Stafford again in a Week 1 overtime thriller.
LA’s prolific offense will help them sneak in as the final seed, but they just don’t have the pieces to slow the Lions down. You saw Detroit’s powerful ground game manhandle the Aaron Donald-less Rams defense. It would just be more of the same in a playoff game.
Prediction: Lions 31, Rams 20
(3) Philadelphia Eagles vs. (6) New Orleans Saints
The Eagles restore order in the NFC East and reclaim the division crown after gift-wrapping it to the Dallas Cowboys a year ago.
The high-flying Jalen Hurts-Saquon Barkley-AJ Brown-DeVonta Smith offense will be tested against a stingy Saints secondary. But even Dennis Allen’s defense can’t contain this explosive unit, and the Eagles’ ferocious front seven should have its way with Derek Carr and a leaky offensive line.
(4) Atlanta Falcons vs. (5) Dallas Cowboys
The Falcons’ $180 million investment in Kirk Cousins pays big-time dividends…at least in year one. Atlanta finally has above-average quarterback play to lift its deep set of weapons, propelling the organization to its first playoff berth since 2017 and its first division crown since their Super Bowl 51 appearance in the 2016 season.
Meanwhile, the Cowboys turn in another superb regular season with double-digit victories after Dak Prescott a lucrative four-year extension worth $240 million.
This game has the potential to be a classic, given all the offensive firepower on both sides of the ball. But Dallas has the three best defensive players in this contest — Micah Parsons, Trevon Diggs, and DaRon Bland — to prevent Cousins’ group from lighting up the scoreboard.
Dallas’ elite o-line gives Dak the time he needs to stay in the pocket and pick apart the Falcons’ secondary. The Cowboys notch their third playoff win in the Prescott era — which is probably enough for Jerry to give Mike McCarthy a 10-year, $100 million extension.
Prediction: Cowboys 33, Falcons 21
AFC Divisional Round – (1) Kansas City Chiefs vs. (4) New York Jets
Finally, at long last — Patrick Mahomes vs. Aaron Rodgers.
Mahomes missed the first scheduled meeting in 2019 with a knee injury. Rodgers missed the 2021 showdown with COVID-19. Then, just when we thought they were set to finally meet in 2023? Rodgers suffered a torn Achilles minutes into his Jets debut.
But finally, it’s here. Mahomes vs. Rodgers — in the postseason, no less. We wouldn’t have it any other way.
Any team with Rodgers as its quarterback will have a chance. And yes, Sauce Gardner can take away one of Kansas City’s big pass-catchers.
But Patrick Mahomes will still have three of Travis Kelce, Marquise Brown, Xavier Worthy and Rashee Rice to throw, too. And the Chiefs, loaded with the best defense in football, will do enough to exploit the Jets’ suspect o-line and keep Rodgers off his game.
Mahomes vs. Rodgers Part I doesn’t disappoint but put down the Chiefs for a seventh straight AFC Championship Game appearance.
Prediction: Chiefs 27, Jets 21
(2) Baltimore Ravens vs. (3) Houston Texans
A rematch of last year’s Divisional Round game, where MVP Lamar Jackson led Baltimore to a 34-10 blowout win over Houston — putting an end to CJ Stroud’s historic rookie season.
Well, it was a humbling loss for the Texans, who wasted no time loading up on more star power to ensure that their next trip to the Divisional Round goes smoother. Namely, Stefon Diggs, Joe Mixon, Danielle Hunter, and Denico Autry.
Something tells us that it’ll be different this time around. No rookie quarterback has played in a Super Bowl before. Every Super Bowl-winning quarterback in history has had to suffer at least one painful lesson of a playoff loss before climbing the mountaintop.
Stroud is more locked-and-loaded with four superstar weapons this time around. And with Anderson Jr. and Hunter patrolling the defensive line, Houston has the pieces to keep Baltimore’s ground game at bay. And if Jackson has to throw? We like the Derek Stingley Jr.-led secondary to hold the fort against a “meh” set of Ravens pass-catchers.
For the first time in franchise history, the Texans are headed to the AFC Championship Game.
Prediction: Texans 26, Ravens 23
NFC Divisional Round – (1) San Francisco 49ers vs. (5) Dallas Cowboys
One can argue that the 2021 and 2022 Dallas Cowboys’ rosters were the best squads since Dak Prescott’s 2016 rookie year…and they all had the same conclusion: A sloppy one-score loss to the rival 49ers.
One year after escaping Big D with a victory in the Wild Card Round, the 49ers snuck past Dallas in a defensive slugfest in the Divisional Round at Levi’s Stadium.
The Cowboys certainly have the star power to keep it close. But they also lack the “it” factor that has evaded them since 1996…whereas Kyle Shanahan’s team has played in four NFC Championship Games and two Super Bowls over the last five years.
The 49ers have far more weaponry and defensive game-wreckers like Nick Bosa and Fred Warner to complete another lackluster showing from Dak Prescott in the postseason.
As we’ve seen in the last three Cowboys-49ers meetings, San Francisco has a significant mental edge and more five-star game-changers. See you boys back in the NFC Championship Game.
Prediction: 49ers 31, Cowboys 19
(2) Detroit Lions vs. Philadelphia Eagles (4)
Among our four projected divisional round showdowns, this one has the best chance to be a January classic.
The Lions and Eagles might not get as much media attention as the Chiefs, 49ers, or Cowboys, but this would be a battle of two prolific offensive units loaded across the board. Top-10 quarterback? Check. Two elite pass-catchers? Check. Top-tier running games? Check. A top-five offensive line? Check!
We could talk about the defensive playmakers on both sides of the ball. But just imagine a showdown of Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Sam LaPorta, Jameson Williams, David Montgomery, and Jahmyr Gibbs vs. Jalen Hurts, AJ Brown, DeVonta Smith, Dallas Goedert, and Saquon Barkley.
Such a showdown has the potential to be as entertaining as the epic Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen battles we’ve gotten used to.
We feel like if these two teams played 10 times, it would be a 5-5 split. But we have to go with one winner here, and it just feels like there’s unfinished business for Dan Campbell’s squad after last year’s NFC Championship Game collapse.
Jalen Hurts’ shaky play since the Super Bowl 57 loss to Kansas City is also a cause for concern. And it just feels like if it comes down to it, Detroit’s virtually unstoppable ground game would be the difference against Philadelphia’s vulnerable defense.
Something you didn’t think you’d hear three years ago: “The Lions are off to their second straight NFC Championship Game!”
Prediction: Lions 35, Eagles 31
AFC Championship Game – (1) Kansas City Chiefs vs. (3) Houston Texans
Remember when Tom Brady’s New England Patriots beat Patrick Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead in the 2018 AFC Championship Game?
Mahomes isn’t as old now as Brady was then….but a Chiefs-Texans AFC title game would carry a similar storyline. 2024 Patrick Mahomes is 2018 Tom Brady: The face of the league whose individual accomplishments and multiple championship rings have set him apart from everybody else.
CJ Stroud is now similar to 2018 Mahomes. A young stud QB who turned out to be ready for prime time sooner than expected. And like 2018 Mahomes, Stroud is one victory away from going to the Super Bowl in his sophomore season.
He just has to beat the league’s best player to do so.
If there’s one AFC team whose weapons can keep pace with the Chiefs, it’s the Texans. But can Anderson Jr., Hunter, and Stingley Jr. contain Mahomes, lock down his “big four” pass-catchers, and penetrate that loaded Chiefs offensive line?
We’re just ready to buy it.
Make no mistake, CJ Stroud’s time IS coming. The Texans are going to be a significant threat to Kansas City for years to come. But it just feels like they’re at least one year away from dethroning the team that’s in the midst of a dynastic run.
The Chiefs become the fourth team in NFL history to play in three straight Super Bowls. Now we see if they can complete the three-peat.
Prediction: Chiefs 37, Texans 27
NFC Championship Game – (1)San Francisco 49ers vs. (2) Detroit Lions
“So we meet again.”
-Kyle Shanahan and Dan Campbell to one another, probably.
Everyone knows what happened in January. The Lions held a 17-point lead and looked poised to reach their first-ever Super Bowl, only to commit blunder after blunder after blunder that allowed the 49ers to come back and steal the George Halas Trophy for themselves.
These two teams are evenly matched across the board with no significant weaknesses. The Lions shored up their cornerback woes last year by drafting Terrion Arnold and acquiring Carlton Davis from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
That could be the difference this time around, as Detroit couldn’t contain the 49ers’ top weapons a year ago. And we feel like Dan Campbell won’t be as overly and unnecessarily aggressive this time around.
We get an epic sequel of last year’s NFC title game. But the Lions avoid last year’s back-breaking mistakes, ride the ground game and put together a near-flawless performance on offense to upset the 49ers and reach their first-ever Super Bowl.
Prediction: Lions 34, 49ers 27
Super Bowl 59 – (1) Kansas City Chiefs vs. (2) Detroit Lions
Either the Chiefs complete the first-ever Super Bowl three-peat, or the Lions end nearly seven decades of misery and win their first Lombardi Trophy. Something would have to give.
The Lions upset Kansas City in the 2023 NFL Kickoff Game at Arrowhead. Of course, Travis Kelce and Chris Jones weren’t active that game — and Taylor Swift wasn’t their official good luck charm yet.
One thing that works in the Lions’ favor here: The Chiefs dont’ have their top shutdown corner from last year’s Super Bowl championship team in L’Jarius Sneed…and Jameson Williams looks like he’ll be a difference-maker this time around.
What’s the formula for beating a GOAT like Mahomes? Clock-melting drives that keep him on the sidelines. No team is better suited for that than the Lions. Kansas City can’t just focus on stopping Gibbs and Montgomery because then Goff will pick them apart with his pass-catchers.
There’s no clear-cut path to shutting down Mahomes entirely. However, the Aidan Hutchinson-led front seven and a secondary with Davis, Arnold, and Brian Branch are more than capable of minimizing the damage caused by KC’s aerial attack.
So, in what should be an all-time thriller, who comes out on top? We’re on Team “Bite Off The Kneecaps,” baby. The Lions rush for over 200 yards, and Jared Goff redeems himself from that ugly Super Bowl 53 performance as a Ram by leading Detroit to its first Super Bowl — with Gibbs taking home MVP honors.
Finally, the suffering is over for Lions fans.
Prediction: Lions 30, Chiefs 27
