20 Bold Predictions For The 2025 NFL Season
CINCINNATI — With the NFL Season just over five weeks away from kicking off, this time of the year is for bold predictions to start entering the melting pot.
I love being bold. Being bold helps me stay original, engaged, and informative. When it comes to predictions, I’m not one to toe the party line or even the betting line. My gut and reactionary senses are what I use to make predictions.
With that, here are my 20 bold predictions for the 2025 NFL Season.
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20 Bold Predictions for the 2025 NFL Season
We’re starting off in Cincinnati, where one of the league’s top quarterbacks could be adding some hardware to his trophy cabinet.
1. Joe Burrow will win MVP.
Burrow is due, and he’s motivated. I think there’s a chip on his shoulder. Not just because the Bengals missed the playoffs last season, but also because Burrow said he was playing his best football last season. He wants his play to be recognized on a national level.
With Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase, and Tee Higgins all practicing this training camp, the Bengals’ big three will be ready to fire by the start of the regular season. That includes Burrow, who could have an even better season than he did in 2024.
In every season he has played all 17 regular-season games, Burrow has been in the MVP conversation or an MVP finalist. This season, he will finally win the first MVP of his career.
2. Michael Penix Jr. and J.J. McCarthy will BOTH lead their teams to the Playoffs.
I’m very bullish on both of these second-year quarterbacks. They may only have three combined starts, with McCarthy missing all of last season with a torn ACL, but they are both in favorable situations offensively with their respective teams.
Both Penix and McCarthy led their respective college teams, Washington and Michigan, to the College Football Playoff National Championship in January of 2024. That shows they both can play on the sport’s biggest stages.
We will see their two NFL teams, the Falcons and Vikings, meet in Week 2 on Sunday Night Football. Both the Falcons and Vikings have lots of talent on offense, and that’s why I believe both Penix and McCarthy will prosper this season and lead their teams to the playoffs.
3. The Detroit Lions will average MORE points and YARDS per game than they did in 2024.
Hear me out, but I actually think Ben Johnson leaving the Lions this past January will turn out to be a good thing. It’s better that the Lions had to replace him now than later. Had Johnson stayed even just one more season, his offensive scheme could have gone stale. Sometimes change is good, and for new offensive coordinator John Morton, the Lions still have one of the NFL’s most talented offensive personnel.
Having a fresh voice will benefit Jared Goff and his ultra-talented skill player group. The Lions led the NFL with 33.2 points per game in 2024, and they were also second in yards per game at 409.5.
Even without Johnson, I think the Lions are talented enough to be even better offensively in 2025. The players remain, including three-fifths of their offensive line from last season, and Morton has been handed the keys to the NFL’s most well-oiled offensive machine.
4. The Denver Broncos will win AT LEAST 12 games.
The Broncos are ready to win and ready to win now. They have the quarterback, the head coach, and the defense to be a really good team in 2025.
Denver has made a lot of really good moves this offseason on both sides of the ball. They are not afraid of the Chiefs, and they could have swept them last season.
Bo Nix is good enough to win the Broncos a playoff game, if not more, this season. The Broncos are good enough to win the AFC West, and the Chiefs are in for a battle this season.
5. The Jacksonville Jaguars will finish with a WINNING record.
Like Nix benefiting from Sean Payton, Lawrence will do the same with Liam Coen this season in Jacksonville.
We saw what Coen did with Baker Mayfield as the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator in 2024. In Jacksonville, Coen will be able to utilize wide receivers Brian Thomas Jr. and Travis Hunter to help Lawrence bring the Jaguars offense to the front of the pack in the NFL.
Combine the Jaguars’ talented one-two punch at wide receiver with a defense that has solid players, and the Jaguars can take advantage of playing in a favorable AFC South to finish with a winning record.
6. Week 18’s Washington Commanders @ Philadelphia Eagles matchup will be all-or-nothing for the NFC East title. Meanwhile, the loser doesn’t even make the playoffs.
The battle of I-95 in Week 18 could have huge stakes. Can you imagine if it were this scenario? I would love to see this in Game 272.
Washington and Philadelphia played three times last season, including the NFC Championship. With the Commanders back amongst the NFL’s elite teams, the rivalry between the Commanders and Eagles is going to be reignited.
7. The Cleveland Browns will go 0-17… and blow EVERYTHING up.
The Browns are a mess. Who is their quarterback going to be in Week 1? Will that quarterback be the starter the entire regular season? We hear more about what the Browns will do and could look like in 2026 than what they will do, or won’t do, and look like in 2025. That’s not a good sign.
8. Meanwhile, the San Francisco 49ers are about to bounce back in a BIG way.
The 49ers have the NFL’s easiest schedule in 10 years, and the only really good quarterbacks they will face are Matthew Stafford (twice) and C.J. Stroud.
With a roster that’s still loaded with superstar players, the 49ers should easily win more than the six games they won in 2024. Their easy schedule could lead to them winning the NFC West and, potentially, the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
9. Ja’Marr Chase will be the first 2,000-yard receiver in NFL history.
Here’s how great Ja’Marr Chase was in winning the receiving Triple Crown in 2024: In his last eight games, Chase had 72 receptions for 991 yards and 10 touchdowns. Over a 17-game regular season, those numbers are on pace for 153 receptions, 2,106 yards, and 21 touchdowns. Sheesh!
Also, keep in mind Chase wasn’t himself in the first regular-season games in 2024. Now with a contract extension, Chase will be ready to fire out of the gates when this regular season gets underway. With Joe Burrow throwing him the ball, Chase is poised for a gigantic season in 2025.
10. Aidan Hutchinson will set the single-season sack record.
When Hutchinson went down in Week 6 of 2024, he had 7.5 sacks. Over 17 games, he was on pace for 25.5 sacks. That would have shattered the current single-season record held by Michael Strahan.
Hutchinson is fully cleared and is playing for a massive contract extension this season, unless he gets one before the regular season. He has an extremely high motor and plays with his heart on his sleeve. It’s not inconceivable that he could set the single-season sack record in 2025.
11. Every team that makes the playoffs will have AT LEAST 11 wins.
The top of the NFL is filled with elite teams. Thirteen of the 14 teams that made the Playoffs in 2024 had 11+ wins.
The rich are getting richer in the NFL, even though there is still a lot of parity within the league. All 14 playoff teams in 2025 will have at least 11 wins, and there may be multiple teams that win 10 or 11 games but miss the Playoffs.
There are a lot of really good teams in the NFL. Both conferences will have insane playoff races.
12. At least SEVEN running backs will rush for 1,500+ yards.
The renaissance of NFL running backs is upon us. There are a lot of dynamic running backs in the league, and they are all in for huge seasons.
Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry get most of the attention coming off of their prolific 2024 seasons, but several other running backs had great 2024 seasons and could be even better in 2025: Jahmyr Gibbs, Bijan Robinson, Jonathan Taylor, Josh Jacobs, Kyren Williams, etc.
This is a bold prediction, alright, but one that I think can happen.
13. Every team in the NFC North will finish with a WINNING record.
This division is the best in the NFL, and I don’t think it’s disputable. Through Week 7 last season, each of the four teams had at least four wins. If the Bears hadn’t given up the Hail Mary to Jayden Daniels and the Commanders in Week 8, it’s not inconceivable to think all four NFC North teams could have made the Playoffs.
Even though I think the Bears will have growing pains on offense this season, I still think they could finish 9-8. The Lions, Vikings, and Packers are all really good, great, and elite teams.
The NFC North will be a battle this season.
14. Only ONE team that played on Conference Championship Sunday last season will do so this season.
I don’t think Washington or Philadelphia will be going back to the NFC Championship this season. Philadelphia is going to be beat up by the time the Playoffs roll around, and I think the Commanders may miss the Playoffs entirely.
In the AFC, I just don’t know if the Chiefs have another deep playoff run in them. Going to three straight Super Bowls can take a toll on a team physically, especially for a team whose stars are getting older.
The only team I think will play on Conference Championship Sunday, that did last season, is Buffalo. Their roster is the most balanced in the NFL, and Josh Allen is the MVP for a reason.
15. The Houston Texans will win the AFC South and will NOT play on Saturday at 4:30 on Wild Card Weekend.
The Texans have made the Playoffs eight times, winning the AFC South in all eight of those seasons. All eight times, they have played at 4:30 on Saturday afternoon of Wild Card Weekend. That has to change eventually, right?
16. The Baltimore Ravens will go one-and-done in the playoffs… then move on from John Harbaugh.
Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry are generationally great. The Ravens have, arguably, the NFL’s most talented roster.
That said, this team has come up short so many times in the Playoffs since winning Super Bowl XLVII in February of 2013. In a ridiculously good AFC, I think the Ravens underachieve this season and decide to make a massive change at head coach.
17. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will have three 1,000-yard receivers this season.
Emeka Egbuka was a steal for the Buccaneers in the NFL Draft. He now gives the Buccaneers a deep receiving corps.
Mike Evans has 11 straight seasons of 1,000+ receiving yards, tied with Jerry Rice for the most all-time. Chris Godwin was on pace for 1,399 receiving yards when he got hurt in Week 7 last season. Egbuka could walk on the field and have 1,000 yards as a rookie.
Tampa Bay has the NFL’s deepest receiving corps, and they will become the first team since the 2008 Arizona Cardinals to have three receivers with 1,000 yards this season.
18. Of all the games currently scheduled with a date and time, NONE will be flexed.
Again, there’s so much parity and so many good teams in the NFL that I think every game will be played in the time slot and network they all currently occupy.
Personally, I’m against flex scheduling. The NFL is just fine without it, considering the average NFL game had nearly 20 million viewers in 2024.
19. None of the eight divisions will be won until AFTER Christmas.
All eight NFL divisions, I believe, will be hyper-competitive this season. That means that I don’t think any division will be won within the first 16 weeks of the regular season. Christmas and New Year’s will be fun for all of the teams celebrating hard-earned division titles this season.
Even for teams that have become seemingly locks to win their respective divisions, I think they’ll be in for battles this season. Kansas City in the AFC West, Buffalo in the AFC East, and Houston in the AFC South; I think all three of those teams are going to have to push hard to win their respective divisions again this season.
Not to mention other teams like Tampa Bay and Los Angeles in the NFC. Both of those teams will also face stiff competition in their respective divisions.
20. Michael Mayer will get traded to the Denver Broncos in a deadline deal.
Denver is building its roster to win now. They already signed Evan Engram in the offseason, but depth is always a good thing in the NFL.
In a move that will send waves throughout the NFL, the Broncos will trade for a tight end in their division and send a message to Kansas City that they are coming for the AFC West throne.
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