Martinez Tribune The website of the Martinez Tribune.
BY J.A. SCHWARTZ
The Philadelphia Eagles are the defending Super Bowl champions, and will have a chance to defend their title following the 2025 season, winning the NFC East and finishing with a 11-6 record. The Eagles are one of three repeat qualifiers for the playoffs this year in the NFC, joining the Rams and Packers in the postseason tournament. The 49ers, Seahawks and Bears are the new entrants this year, while the Lions, Vikings and Commanders failed to build upon their 2024 successes and will be watching their conference rivals battle for a berth in Super Bowl LX (60).
Seattle Seahawks
NFC West Champions
#1 seed
Second year Head Coach Mike MacDonald arrived in Seattle in 2024 after being the defensive coordinator in Baltimore. In his two years in that role, the Ravens featured a top three defense, and MacDonald has achieved similar success in Seattle. The Seahawks allowed the fewest points in the league (292) in 2025, and have been equally effective in squelching opposing rushing and passing efforts, ranking second in net yards allowed per pass attempt, and leading the NFL against the run, yielding a puny 3.7 yards per carry. Their swarming defense has forced 25 turnovers and pressures the quarterback at the highest rate of any NFC playoff team, led by tackles Byron Murphy and Leonard Williams, who have combined for 14 sacks and 35 quarterback hits through 16 games.
The Seahawks made a switch at quarterback entering the 2025 season, trading three-year starter Geno Smith to Las Vegas for a third round pick, and signing free-agent Sam Darnold to a three-year, $100 million deal. Darnold, 28, had struggled to establish himself after being the third overall selection in the 2018 draft until playing in Minnesota in 2024 under Head Coach Kevin O’Connell. With the Vikings, Darnold achieved career best passing metrics, convincing the Seahawks that he was a better fit for their offense than Smith, who helped put up 375 points (18th best in the league) in 2024. They were right. Darnold generated 483 points, second only to the Rams, and has arguably been better this year than in his breakout 2024 season. His on target rate, completion percentage and adjusted net yards per attempt are all at career high levels in 2025, and he’s helped Jaxson Smith-Njigba become one of the most feared receivers in the game. In just his third year in the league, Smith-Njigba led the NFL in receiving yards (1793), and has the fourth most catches at 119. Darnold has also helped Smith-Njigba achieve a huge leap forward in yards/catch, improving from 11.3 to 15.1 by that measure. If there is an Achilles heel for Seattle, it is their turnovers, where they rank next to last in the league with 28, 20 of which have come from Darnold (14 interceptions and six fumbles). If Darnold takes care of the ball, Seattle is a legitimate threat to win the title. They have the best point differential in the league, having scored 191 more points than their opponents, and are skilled and dangerous on both sides of the ball.
This is the best team the franchise has fielded since their Super Bowl winning 2013 squad. The past three times the Seahawks were the top seed in the NFC, they advanced to the Super Bowl, and nobody would be surprised if this version of the team followed that same pathway to the title game.
Chicago Bears
NFC North Champions
#2 seed
First year Head Coach Ben Johnson has captured the hearts of Bears fans in a way not seen in the Windy City since the heyday of Hall of Famer Mike Ditka. After masterminding the Detroit Lions offense over the past three seasons (finishing in the top five in points each year), Johnson was tasked with optimizing the talents of #1 overall pick Caleb Williams and getting the franchise back to the playoffs for the first time since 2020. After winning a total of 15 games in the past three seasons, finishing dead last in the rugged NFC North, the Bears won the division in 2025, going 11-6 on the strength of Johnson’s play-calling and Williams brilliance, fueled by a seemingly endless string of improbable comeback victories. Chicago won six different games this season despite having trailed in each of those games with two minutes or less remaining, an NFL record. Williams was largely responsible for the enervating late game magic, refusing to be sacked (23 in 2025 compared to the 68 he suffered in 2024), extending plays just long enough to deliver the required completion, or to scramble just beyond the first down marker. Williams has actually been less accurate in 2025 than in his rookie year, (completing 57.9% of his throws, the worst in football), but he leads the NFL in lowest interception percentage (1.1% of his throws).
Avoiding costly mistakes may well be the superpower of this Chicago team, as they have turned the ball over a league low 10 times in 2025. Couple that metric with the league leading 33 takeaways the Bears defense has earned and perhaps the single most important statistic explaining their success in 2025 emerges: a +22 turnover differential, the best in the NFL by a mile (Houston is next, at +17). Their running game is keyed by D’Andre Swift and Kyle Monangai, who have 14 TDs and more than 1800 yards between them. An evenly distributed passing game (no receiver had more than 50 catches through 16 games) has been energized by rookie Colston Loveland, contributing 58 catches and 6 TDs after being the 10th overall pick in the 2025 draft. Their opportunistic defense is keyed by Kevin Byard, who has seven picks to lead the NFL, and is second on the team in tackles with 93. Johnson famously took his shirt off after a key November victory over the Eagles, fulfilling a promise to a local hot dog stand, which then gave away free glizzies to a ravenous fan base. The love affair between city and coach will only intensify if Williams brings his late game wizardry into the playoffs, and Johnson finds a way to guide Chicago back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2007.
Philadelphia Eagles
NFC East Champions
#3 seed
Philadelphia fans are notoriously difficult to please. In a season where the hometown football team has won 11 games, clinched the NFC East and has stayed largely healthy as they defend their second Super Bowl title in the past eight years, the angst among the faithful has been palpable. Their myriad worries are at least partially based in reality. A.J Brown was vocal (again) this season about his lack of touches, a sentiment echoed by their partisans. Fact or fiction? Brown leads the Eagles with 78 catches (on a team leading 121 targets) and 1003 yards, and has snared seven TD passes from Jalen Hurts, second on the team. The locals feel that Hurts isn’t trying to push the ball downfield often enough. Is that accurate? Hurts’ intended depth of target this season is 9.0 yards per attempt, his highest level since the 2021 season, and well above his career average. Hurts had a career high 25 TDs in 2025, and a passer rating of 98.5, better than his career figures and 11th in the league. The chat board and fan site denizens are sure Saquon Barkley has lost a step. He had 1140 yards in 2025 in 16 games, well off the 2005 he had in his MVP campaign of 2024. His 1413 combined rushing and receiving yards are also down precipitously from the heights he achieved last year. They might be onto something there.
Head coach Nick Sirianni, whose job was rumored to be in jeopardy in each season since 2023, has led his Eagles to a 59-25 record in his five years at the helm, making the playoffs in each of those seasons, and going 6-3 in the playoffs overall, winning a Lombardi trophy after the 2024 season. His .702 winning percentage in his first five seasons ranks among the best in the history of the NFL. Philly fans could do a lot worse in a head coach, but this is the same city that ran Andy Reid out of town so he could become a legend with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. The Eagles strength is their defense, which has allowed the fifth fewest points in the league and stymied opposing passing attacks, yielding only 5.5 yards per attempt, tops in the NFC. They also don’t beat themselves, coughing up only 15 turnovers (fifth in the league). It may take a repeat Super Bowl to quell the anxieties of the Philadelphia fan base, and Hurts, Barkley, Brown and their stellar defense would like nothing better than to reward their unflagging loyalties.
Carolina Panthers
NFC South Champions
#4 seed
By overall record, the Panthers are the worst of the 14 teams who earned playoff berths after the 2025 season, going 8-9, and losing three of their last four games. They’ve been outscored by nearly 70 points this year, the only playoff team to have a negative rating by that metric. Nonetheless, second year Head Coach Dave Canales has an opportunity that 18 other teams in the league do not, and he makes no apologies for how his franchise qualified for the postseason. Canales 13-21 overall record as Carolina’s leader does not accurately reflect how far his team has come since he took over a 2-15 team after the 2023 season. He’s been able to coax the best performance from the right arm of his talented quarterback Bryce Young, the #1 overall pick of the franchise in the 2023 draft. In 2025, Young set career highs in completion percentage, touchdowns, passer rating and adjusted net yards per attempt under Canales guidance and play-calling. Despite those improvements, Young still ranks in the bottom quarter of the league in those passing metrics, and the Panthers offense scored only 311 points in 2025, 27th in football. 2025 first round selection Tetairoa McMillan (8th overall out of Arizona) has been their most dangerous weapon, leading the club in receptions (70) and yards per catch (14.5) as a rookie, giving Young a downfield threat. Rico Dowdle paced the club in total yards from scrimmage with 1373, chipping in seven total scores, tied with McMillan for the team lead.
The Carolina defense ranks in the bottom third of the league in both passing and rushing defensive metrics, and their 30 sacks are 30th in football, leading to a pressure rate of 15.4%, worse than every other team aside from the hapless Jets. No Panther defensive player had more than five sacks on the year, though Jaycee Horn did manage five interceptions, tied for second in the league. The betting sites have established Carolina as the longest shot in the field, giving them 200-1 odds to win the Super Bowl. It would truly take a stunning sequence of career-best levels of performance from multiple Panthers for them to win the championship, but Canales and his upstart team will take their best shot to do just that.
Los Angeles Rams
Wild Card
#5 seed
At 37, Matthew Stafford is having arguably the best season of his 17-year career. He’s the front-runner for MVP, having thrown for a career-best and league high 46 TDs (against only eight interceptions), and is second only to Drake Maye among all quarterbacks in adjusted net yards per passing attempt at 8.25, a personal best for Stafford. He is piloting the top offense in the NFL, scoring 518 points and generating 6709 yards, both of which pace the league. Head Coach Sean McVay has helped optimize Stafford’s arm talent, leading to a 46-28 record and a Super Bowl title after the 2021 season since Stafford was acquired via trade from Detroit prior to the 2021 season. McVay is 92-57 in his nine years helming the Rams, and has brought them to the playoffs in seven of those nine seasons. Leaning heavily on a play-action pass scheme (Stafford has thrown a league high 189 passes for 1657 yards out of the play-action set), the Rams attack is multi-faceted. Puka Nacua led the NFL in receptions with 129, and Davante Adams led in receiving TDs with 14 in 2025. Kyren Williams and Blake Corum have 16 rushing touchdowns between them, racking up 1998 yards on the ground and forcing defenses to respect the play fakes, giving Stafford clearer passing lanes to utilize.
The Rams avoid mistakes, having been called for the fewest penalties in the league (75) and suffering only 15 turnovers, fourth best in football in 2025. Those traits have helped them to a +172 point differential, second only to Seattle and stamping them as arguably the most dangerous Wild Card team in the league. Los Angeles pressures opposing QBs 25% of the time, led by the pass rushing trio of Jared Verse, Kobie Turner and Byron Young, who have 26.5 sacks between them. Stafford, who turns 38 the day before Super Bowl LX, would like nothing better than to celebrate his birthday with 68,000 football fans, a Lombardi Trophy in hand.
San Francisco 49ers
Wild Card
#6 seed
Kyle Shanahan has had success as the Head Coach of the 49ers, making the playoffs in five of his nine seasons, and going to two Super Bowls (both losses to the Chiefs). His efforts this season may qualify as the best of his tenure in San Francisco. His team has been hammered by injuries all season, having lost 132 games by players on injured reserve, third most in the league. Those injuries include star defensive stalwarts Fred Warner and Nick Bosa, both out for the year, and 2025 first round selection Mykel Williams, their starting defensive end opposite Bosa, who tore his ACL in Week 9. Those injuries have certainly hampered the San Francisco defense and pass rush, leading to an NFL worst 20 sacks, and a 16.2% pressure rate, 30th in the league. The 49er defense has allowed 7.1 adjusted net yards per pass attempt, the worst of any playoff team this season.
The offense has not been immune to the injury vortex swirling around the team, as Brock Purdy (8 games), Brandon Aiyuk (entire season), George Kittle (6 games) and Ricky Pearsall (8 games) have all missed significant portions of the year. With all those injuries, how has Shanahan managed to navigate, and ultimately win 12 games in the best division in football? Simple. He gives the ball to Christian McCaffrey. McCaffrey hasn’t missed a game this season, and his 413 total touches leads the NFL, while his 2126 yards from scrimmage is second only to Bijan Robinson. His 17 combined rushing and receiving touchdowns are third in the league. His 102 receptions are almost double the next best 49er in that category (Kittle at 57), and are the most he’s snared since catching 116 in 2019 as a Panther. Shanahan has always been able to design an offense that moves the ball, and his primary playmakers (McCaffrey, Purdy, Pearsall, Kittle) all figure to be available in the playoffs. Super Bowl LX is in Levi’s Stadium, meaning that while San Francisco will play its remaining playoff games on the road, they could end up playing at home in the Super Bowl-If they can make it that far. That sounds like a dream scenario in a season filled with some nightmarish challenges for Shanahan and his club.
Green Bay Packers
Wild Card
#7 seed
Head Coach Matt LeFleur is 76-40-1 in his seven seasons in Green Bay, and he’s brought the Packers to the playoffs in six of those campaigns after earning a spot in the playoffs as a Wild Card in 2025. General Manager Brian Gutekunst took a big swing a week before the season, sending two first round picks and Kenny Clark to Dallas to import disgruntled edge rusher Micah Parsons. Parsons immediately signed a four-year, $188 million extension to stay in Green Bay, the largest contract given to a non-quarterback in league history. Parsons was a wrecking ball on the field, amassing 12.5 sacks in just 14 games and giving the defense the kind pocket-collapsing weapon they’ve lacked since Za’Darius Smith left after the 2021 season. Unfortunately, Parsons tore his left ACL in mid-December, and will be lost to the club for the postseason.
Jordan Love, their franchise quarterback, has posted career best full-season marks for completion percentage, interception rate and passer rating this year. Love is the key to the Green Bay attack, tossing 23 TDs against only 6 interceptions in his 15 starts. He lost a key weapon when Tucker Kraft (6 TDs) suffered a knee injury midseason, but he’s utilized Romeo Doubs, Christian Walker and Dontayvion Wicks as downfield threats. That trio combined for 120 catches, nearly 1700 yards and 14 TDs. Bowling ball Josh Jacobs anchors the running game, chewing up 929 yards on the ground and crossing the goal line 13 times. The Packers also learned they will be without two defensive backs (Nate Hobbs and Zayne Anderson) as well as defensive tackle Jordon Riley for the rest of the season, each of whom were knocked out of their Week 17 game against Baltimore. Love’s status is also uncertain for the playoffs, as he has been in the league’s concussion protocol after sustaining a head injury against the Bears on December 20th. Given the general attrition suffered by key components of the roster, LaFleur and his charges will face a daunting task to make a deep playoff run in the loaded NFC.
Fearless Predictions (almost certainly erroneous):
Wild Card Round:
Rams over Panthers
Packers over Bears
49ers over Eagles
Divisional Round:
Seahawks over Packers
Rams over 49ers
Conference Championship:
Seahawks over Rams
