The NFL playoffs are here! Our guide to all 14 teams, from favorites to underdogs

The field for the 2025 NFL season’s playoffs is set after the Steelers beat the Ravens in a season-ending classic. The No. 1 seeds in each conference — the Broncos in the AFC and Seahawks in the NFC — will receive first-round byes. The remaining 12 teams will face each other during wild-card weekend, starting Saturday and running through Jan. 12. Two games will be played Saturday and three Sunday, with the wild-card slate concluding with a «Monday Night Football» game on ESPN and ABC.

Which teams seem to be peaking in time for a deep playoff run? Which teams are limping into the postseason with concerns about how long they could last? And which players might put their respective teams over the top on the march to Super Bowl LX?

Here’s what each of the 14 playoff teams needs to do to reach the Super Bowl, which will be played Feb. 8 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Our NFL Nation team reporters picked out strengths and weaknesses for each team, and analytics writer Seth Walder identified a key stat to know for each club. Then, Ben Solak gave his heat check rating (from 1 to 10) for each playoff squad. We will also size up teams’ updated chances to win it all with ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI) and DraftKings Sportsbook.

NFC:
1. Seahawks
2. Bears vs. 7. Packers
3. Eagles vs. 6. 49ers
4. Panthers vs. 5. Rams

AFC:
1. Broncos
2. Patriots vs. 7. Chargers
3. Jaguars vs. 6. Bills
4. Steelers vs. 5. Texans

NFC

Odds to win the Super Bowl: +350
FPI chance to make the Super Bowl: 33.9%

Reason for hope: The defense is championship caliber. Mike Macdonald’s unit is allowing the second-fewest points in the NFL this season and has held nine of its past 12 opponents to fewer than 20. The Seahawks are allowing a league-low 3.7 yards per carry and haven’t allowed a 100-yard rusher in 26 straight games despite facing a recent gauntlet of tailbacks that included Bijan Robinson, Jonathan Taylor, Kyren Williams (twice) and Christian McCaffrey (also twice).

Sam Darnold leads all players with 20 giveaways (14 interceptions, six fumbles lost). The Seahawks also tend to start slowly on offense. Though they’ve overcome those issues against lesser teams, it will be harder to do in the playoffs. — Brady Henderson

Stat to know: The Seahawks’ rushing defense allowed minus-30 first downs over expectation this season, per NFL Next Gen Stats. That’s based on the positioning and movement of all 22 players at the time of a handoff and describes the suffocating nature of Seattle’s run defense. To put that number in context: The next-best team in the category is Houston, at minus-15. — Walder

Heat check rating: 9. Beating a divisional rival on the road to secure the 1-seed is a tone-setting victory, especially considering the narratives around Darnold’s performances in clutch games. It’s a wide-open NFC playoff field, but it runs through Seattle. — Solak

First-game outlook: The Seahawks will host the lowest remaining seed in the divisional round on either Jan. 17 or Jan. 18. That would either be the No. 4-seeded Panthers, the No. 5 Rams, No. 6 49ers or No. 7 Packers. Seattle split its season series with the Rams and 49ers, defeated the Panthers 27-10 in Week 17 and did not play the Packers this season. — ESPN

Odds to win the Super Bowl: 22-1
FPI chance to make the Super Bowl: 7.7%

Wild-card round: The Bears will host the seventh-seeded Packers on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, Prime Video).

Reason for hope: Led by quarterback Caleb Williams, the Bears’ offense has proved it can go toe-to-toe with anybody. The shootout Chicago narrowly lost in Week 17 against San Francisco showed this high-powered offense can contend in January. Chicago’s six wins after trailing in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter are the most by any team in a season since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. The Bears are well-equipped to pull off comeback wins when the stakes are at their highest, and the offense is playing the best it has all season, heading into the playoffs.

Reason for concern: The opposite can be said of a Bears defense that has surrendered 1,313 yards since Week 16. Chicago ranked 31st in pass rush win rate entering Week 18, which led to only four sacks in its final three games. The Bears are built on takeaways, with a league-high 33 (led by an NFL-high 23 interceptions), but the defense is overmatched when it’s not forcing turnovers. Playing bend-don’t-break football in the postseason is a dangerous proposition. — Courtney Cronin

Stat to know: Entering Week 18, the Bears ranked first in pass block win rate (74.1%). That kind of pass protection has paid huge dividends for Williams and allowed the Bears to have the longest average time to throw (3.31 seconds) in the NFL. It’s also part of the reason Williams has had a massively improved sack rate (3.9% entering Week 18, fourth best) this season, though a large portion of the credit for that ought to also go to Williams, given how much quarterbacks control their sack rates. — Walder

Heat check rating: 7. Chicago is healthier on defense than it has been for much of the season, and though the Bears have lost a couple of games to NFC playoff teams, their spectacular late-game wins keep hope alive until the clock reaches triple zeros. — Solak

First-game outlook: Chicago and Green Bay split their two regular-season meetings, with the Bears’ 22-16 overtime victory in Week 16 giving them the necessary cushion for an NFC North title. — ESPN

Odds to win the Super Bowl: +950
FPI chance to make the Super Bowl: 14.2%

Wild-card round: The Eagles will host the sixth-seeded 49ers on Sunday (4:30 p.m. ET, Fox).

Reason for hope: A dominant defense. Vic Fangio’s group is emitting 2024 vibes, when the Eagles rode the NFL’s No. 1 defense to a Super Bowl title. They are sound at all three levels and orchestrated by Fangio, whose 40-plus years of experience have helped him become an exceptional in-game adjuster. The Eagles rank fifth in opponent scoring (19.1 PPG) and seventh in passing defense (189.8 YPG) despite facing several top quarterbacks, including Josh Allen, Matthew Stafford, Patrick Mahomes and Justin Herbert.

Reason for concern: An inconsistent offense. The offensive line has regressed, and the playcalling has been spotty — two contributing factors in the decline of a once-exceptional running game led by Saquon Barkley. The lack of success on the ground has created tougher sledding for quarterback Jalen Hurts, who has had standout moments but also stretches of unproductive play. The output has not matched the talent for much of the season. — Tim McManus

Stat to know: Entering Week 18, the Eagles ranked second in EPA allowed per dropback, despite ranking only 21st in pass rush win rate. It’s a testament to how good their secondary has been, with cornerbacks Quinyon Mitchell and Cooper DeJean leading the way. Mitchell allowed 0.7 yards per coverage snap entering Week 18, seventh best among outside corners with at least 300 coverage snaps, and minus-13 EPA allowed when targeted, per NFL Next Gen Stats. — Walder

Heat check rating: 4. The last time we saw Hurts and the starters, the offense couldn’t complete a second-half pass in a near-disastrous collapse against the Bills. The defense is good, but is it good enough to endure these offensive valleys through January? — Solak

First-game outlook: The Eagles and 49ers haven’t met since Week 13 of the 2023 season, a 42-19 San Francisco win in Philadelphia that helped send the teams in opposite directions that season. — ESPN