The regular season of the 2025 NFL has officially ended, and the NFL playoffs have started. 14 teams are still dreaming of winning the elusive Lombardi Trophy. By Tuesday night, only 8 will be standing.

Wild Card weekend kicks off on Sunday with the Los Angeles Rams going up against the Carolina Panthers. Then, the divisional rivals Green Bay and Chicago go head-to-head, and lastly, Josh Allen’s Bills will take on Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars. 

The next day, fans will be entertained by the doubleheader. The Eagles start their title defence against the 49ers. After that, the Los Angeles Chargers battle the AFC No.2 seed New England Patriots. Finally, Tuesday’s finale puts Houston against Pittsburgh. 

We have ranked all six games from worst to best below: 

6. Los Angeles Rams vs. Carolina Panthers 

Matthew Stafford and the Rams have dominated the NFC with a 12-5 record. One of those five losses came against the Carolina Panthers. They defeated Los Angeles by 31-28 in Week 13, and since then, there has been a drop in their performance. The Rams even lost against the Seahawks and the Falcons in Weeks 16 and 17, respectively. 

On the other side, Carolina is the worst team to qualify for the playoffs with an 8-9 record. They barely qualified thanks to the Falcons’ win over the Saints last week. Sadly, this might be the end of their journey, as the Rams have a better squad, both offensively and defensively, and more playoff experience. 

5. Houston Texans vs. Pittsburgh Steelers 

This matchup promises to be one of the most defensive battles. Houston boasts the best defense in the league, allowing opponents just 17.1 points per game. On the other side, the Steelers’ defence is not that bad either. 

Their defensive trio of T.J.Watt, Alex Highsmith, and Nick Herbig has recorded a combined 23 sacks and 135 tackles. Conversely, Houston’s duo of Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter has totalled 27 sacks and 108 tackles. The battle will come down to veteran Aaron Rodgers and how fast he can throw the ball. 

4. Green Bay Packers vs. Chicago Bears 

This will be their third meeting this season. In the first meeting, the Packers won 28-21 over the Bears in Week 14. While in their second encounter, the Bears got the better of their rivals, beating them 22-16 in overtime. 

Expect a lot of touchdowns in this game, as both teams have the lowest interception giveaways, with only 7. Bears’ QB Caleb Williams has been one of the best this season, scoring 27 touchdowns for 3942 passing yards. Against the Packers, he has scored 4 TDs for a combined 436 yards.

Chicago will have a tough time winning this match if Williams doesn’t replicate his heroics against Green Bay. 

3. Los Angeles Chargers vs. New England Patriots 

Although they hold the same record as the No. 1-seeded Denver Broncos, the Patriots are the best team in the AFC. QB Drake Maye is having an MVP-level season, throwing for 4394 passing yards and scoring 31 touchdowns. New England ranks top 10 both offensively (379.4 YPG) and defensively (295.2 YPG).

There’s only one way the Chargers can pull off an upset: by attacking the Patriots’ offensive line. This season, Maye has been sacked a total of 47 times, which is the fourth-highest in the league. The onus will be on Tuli Tuipulotu and Odafe Oweh, who have recorded a combined 77 tackles and 20.5 sacks this season. 

2. Buffalo Bills vs. Jacksonville Jaguars 

It’s a classic clash of ball-rush against ball-disruption. While the Bills are the best rushing team in the league with 159.6 yards per game, the Jaguars rank 3rd in turnovers with 13. For Josh Allen, this could be the most important game of his career.

With Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, and Joe Burrow all failing to qualify, anything less than a Super Bowl win would be a failure for Allen. However, if Buffalo wants to progress, they have to stop Trevor Lawrence, who has been in the best form of his career. In the last six-games, he has scored 6 touchdowns for just one interception. 

1. San Francisco 49ers vs. Philadelphia Eagles 

There’s so much to look forward to in this game, as it will be their first meeting this season. The Eagles must stop the 49ers’ Christian McCaffrey, who has been one of the best all-around players in the league. In 17 games, the 29-year-old running back has scored ‌17 touchdowns for 2126 scrimmage yards. 

However, just stopping McCaffrey won’t make the job done for the Eagles. Despite having three players over 1000-yards in Saquon Barkley, A.J.Brown, and DeVonta Smith, the Eagles' offense ranks 23rd in yards per game with 194.3, and 12th with 26 touchdowns. If the Eagles’ offense doesn’t fire, they can forget about retaining the Super Bowl.

Written by

Kalp Thaker

Edited by

Sagnik Bagchi