Welcome to the 2025 NFL season.
For the second straight year, I’m moving from the more comprehensive division-by-division model for the preview of each conference with a tilt toward the NFC East (for Washington) and the AFC North (for Baltimore) to focus on the region in which I write.
But rest assured, I still underwent the painstaking efforts to study each team before doing my annual exercise of going game-by-game to predict the season results. Just remember — if you want to put me on blast for being wrong, keep that same energy when I’m right.
Before we delve into the predictions and previews, let’s look at three key questions impacting the 2025 NFL season:
Can anyone stop the Chiefs from returning to the Super Bowl?
ESPN rated Baltimore’s roster as the NFL’s best and the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers have made strides significant enough to be able to stop Kansas City’s nine-year streak of winning the AFC West.
But the Andy Reid-Patrick Mahomes pairing has proved to be largely unstoppable in recent years, and while nothing lasts forever, many have predicted the Chiefs’ demise early at their own peril.
What does Jayden Daniels have for an encore?
Just by virtue of starting in Week 1, Jayden Daniels has settled this long-tumultuous franchise at the most important position in sports.
This year is the first since 2017 in which the Commanders have the same starting QB as the year prior.
2015-17: Kirk Cousins
’18: Alex Smith
’19: Case Keenum
’20: Dwayne Haskins
’21: Ryan Fitzpatrick
’22: Carson Wentz
’23: Sam Howell
’24: Jayden Daniels
’25: Jayden Daniels
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) August 4, 2025
And boy, was his opening act a great one. JD5 helmed an offense that was historically great on fourth down, and led Washington to a banner year that included the most wins in a season since the 1991 Super Bowl champions. He was also the cinch Offensive Rookie of the Year for being the first first-year quarterback to actually lead his team to the conference championship game.
During Commanders training camp, Daniels said he notices a night-and-day difference between his historic debut season and his Year 2 iteration. Assuming the day is now, this could be an MVP-caliber season.
Is this the year an entire division make the NFL playoffs?
I’ve asked this question every year since the expanded playoff format was instituted in 2020, and every year, there’s at least one division that threatens to make this possibility a reality.
The entire AFC North finished .500 or better in 2023, a year after the NFC East did the same. There’s a case for the NFC North, the AFC West and AFC East to join them in 2025.
It’s only a matter of time before we get our first division in NFL history to have every team make the playoffs — or even win at least 10 games.
OK, enough talk. Let’s roll up our sleeves and preview this season.
AFC
NFC
Playoffs and Awards
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.