I have to recalibrate my 2025-26 NFL rooting interests. Last season, the final game was between the Detroit Lions and the Minnesota Vikings, both with 14 wins. The Lions, whom I was rooting for, won. This season, neither team made the playoffs. Neither did the Kansas City Chiefs, who lost the last Super Bowl, the Steelers/Ravens; nor the Washington Commanders
Historically, I’d have rooted for the New York Giants, but they were among the first teams eliminated from the postseason. Here are the teams in the playoffs, plus the #1 seeds, the Denver Broncos (AFC West champs, 14-3) and the Seattle Seahawks (NFC West champs, 14-3), who have the weekend off and host a game NEXT weekend.
So, I’m backing, in this order:
Buffalo Bills (AFC 6th seed, 12-5), the only team that plays its home games in New York State
Pittsburgh Steelers (AFC North champs, 4th seed, 9-7), based at least in part on the fact that both Steelers greats Lynn Swann and Franco Harris have the same birthday as I do. Check Chuck’s pulse.
Carolina Panthers (NFC South champs, 4th seed, 8-9) because my parents and baby sister moved to the Queen City in 1974. I even own a sweatshirt from when the Panthers were the 1995 Western Division champions
Chicago Bears (NFC North champs, 2nd seed, 11-6). Last season, the Lions, Vikes, and Green Bay Packers all got into the playoffs from the NFC North, with only the Bears staying home. This season, the Bears won their division.
Mile High
Denver Broncos (AFC West, #1 seed, 14-3). They made the playoffs as a wild card last year, but this year they were one of the best teams in the league.
Green Bay Packers (NFC 7th seed, 9-7-1): A community-owned team with Green in its name gets points
San Francisco 49ers (NFC 6th seed, 12-5) were not in the playoffs last year, but are this year, despite their starting QB being injured for several games. I did love the Joe Montana and Steve Young 49ers
Seattle Seahawks (NFC West champs, 1st seed, 14-3) were likewise out of the playoffs last year, but not this time.
Jacksonville Jaguars (AFC South champs, 3rd seed, 13-4) ditto; they were 4-13 last season
Houston Texans (AFC, 5th seed, 12-5) – I tend not to root for Texas teams, but their turnaround after a slow start is impressive.
Los Angeles Rams (NFC 5th seed, 12-5)
Los Angeles Chargers (AFC 7th seed, 11-6)
Philadelphia Eagles (NFC East champs, 3rd seed, 11-6) – they won the Super Bowl last year, reason to root against them.
New England Patriots (AFC East champs, 2nd seed, 14-3) – I don’t hate them the way I did in the coach Bill Bellicheck/QB Tom Brady era. Still, habits die hard. Potential cases of domestic violence against two players are disturbing.
Controversy
There have been a lot of complaints about officiating this season. Just Google NFL controversial officiating 2025 – it isn’t a single event but a series of events that even the NFL Network, which carries some of the games, was critical of. See Broncos-Chiefs on Dec 25 and Texans-Chargers on Dec 27, to name two.
My concern is that the sloppy refereeing leaves room in some people’s minds for the belief that the games are being rigged. With the proliferation of not just bets on the game but prop bets, this becomes an issue of integrity in the game. BTW, A prop bets (short for proposition bet) is “a wager on whether or not a particular occurrence will happen in a game aside from the main outcome. While the standard three markets in NFL betting (spread, money line, total) are all based around the final result of the game, prop bets isolate certain players, teams, or events that could happen during the game.”
There were two really wacky plays during Week 16. One involved the Lions and the Steelers, which Chuck Miller wrote about here. The other was a two-point attempt after a Seahawks touchdown vs. the Rams; the lateral pass bounces off a Rams player, a Seahawks player casually picks up the ball in the end zone, and the conversation was good! It was the weirdest play I have ever seen.