It’s hard to believe and maybe harder to accept that we’re nearing the end of the NFL season. In fact, there are only three games remaining on the schedule: This Sunday’s Conference Championship Game and the Super Bowl. It’s certainly a quality over quantity situation at this point.
The same can be said of the teams that will be leaving it all out on the field for a trip to New Orleans. The Eagles will host the surprising Commanders in Philadelphia, while the Chiefs and Bills will meet-up yet again in the AFC.
Want to know who’s going to win? Let’s see what the crew at DraftKings Network thinks.
2025 NFL Playoff Predictions: Conference Championship Round
Garion Thorne, Senior Content Associate
AFC
No. 2 Buffalo Bills over No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs
The Bills have never dropped four-straight meaningful playoff games before, right? Right?! Buffalo has fallen at the hands of Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City all three times the two teams have met in the playoffs, including in 2020 and 2021 at Arrowhead Stadium. It ends on Sunday. Say what you will about the Chiefs lallygagging through the regular season, but the Bills were the better team by almost every conceivable metric. That incudes DVOA, where the Buffalo ranked fourth and Kansas City sat eighth. These two squads also squared-off with Week 11, with the Bills emerging as a 30-21 victor. The Chiefs were held to just 259 yards of total offense in that loss. Yes, Kansas City has gotten healthier and added weapons since early November, but this has been Josh Allen’s season. I expect that to continue on Sunday.
NFC
No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles over No. 6 Washington Commanders
I’m certainly not trying to take anything away from the Commanders, but I’m not sure how much you can read into last Saturday’s massive win over the one-seeded Lions — or at least how much you can project it forward. Not only was Detroit’s defense unrecognizable due to injury, but it’s impossible to expect Washington to replicate a 5-0 turnover differential. Now the Commanders have to go up against the buzzsaw that is the Eagles’ defensive line without star guard Samuel Cosmi. It’s definitely not an ideal situation. At the end of the day, Washington needed an insane, last-second comeback to beat a Philadelphia team led by Kenny Pickett in Week 16. I have my doubts that they can get past the Eagles once again.
Hunter Skoczylas, Senior Content Associate
AFC
No. 2 Buffalo Bills over No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs
Time to be a homer. The Bills were the only team to beat Patrick Mahomes this season and the Chiefs have had some absurd luck to secure a few wins. Buffalo is much better offensively and still holds a slight edge in defensive DVOA. It’s likely going to come down to turnovers––a rare occurrence for both of these teams––and Josh Allen has been historic in limiting negative plays this season. Give me the Bills and all of the Super Bowl jokes that come from it.
NFC
No. 6 Washington Commanders over No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles
Hopefully there’s room, because I’m boarding the Jayden Daniels hype train all the way to the Super Bowl. Saquon Barkley torched the Commanders in both regular-season matchups and will almost certainly do so again, but Daniels has shown he can keep up in high-scoring games. The 24-year-old rookie is making history each week and I simply do not trust Jalen Hurts to be a real quarterback if the Eagles are forced to throw the ball to keep up.
Blake Krass, Staff Writer
AFC
No. 2 Buffalo Bills over No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs
Josh Allen is 0-3 against the Chiefs in the playoffs. However, in some ways he got the monkey off of his back by beating the Chiefs in the regular season. A postseason trip to Arrowhead is a much different story than the regular season home win but the Bills have the better team top-to-bottom. They should be able to run the ball and control the time of possession with Josh Allen making the one or two key plays needed to win the game.
NFC
No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles over No. 6 Washington Commanders
The Washington Commanders have been an amazing story in this postseason and it should be a great game between these two NFC East rivals. They split the regular season series with the Commanders winning in a thriller in the second matchup. However, that game was played by the Eagles with Kenny Pickett at quarterback for a majority of the snaps. The Commanders’ defense has a lot of issues and they were able to survive against the Lions by creating a lot of turnovers. The Eagles will likely not make the same mistakes and should be able to run the ball efficiently to control this game and head to the Super Bowl.
Dan Johnson, Staff Writer/Editor
AFC
No. 2 Buffalo Bills over No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs
Circumstantially, I see no better opportunity for Josh Allen and this era of the Bills to win an AFC Championship game at Arrowhead Stadium than against these 2024-25 Chiefs. Something might not be altogether rotten there, but it’s not all status quo in Kansas City. Patrick Mahomes is making more magic with his legs this year than his arm. The power run game is inconsistent. The defense is too much the story. And, on the other hand, Josh Allen can do anything he wants in this Buffalo offense. The Bills defense is stout, too, and there are more lanes to points on offense for the Bills than the Chiefs. The Bills will bottleneck this game until Kansas City can barely breathe on offense. And then the pass rush will tee off.
NFC
No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles over No. 6 Washington Commanders
Saquon Barkley and that Philly offensive line might win the Super Bowl on their own. Jayden Daniels is potentially the best story in football, but the Eagles are so boring that they’re inevitable. One turnover and long possessions is all it’ll take for this Eagles team to impose their will on a team whose offensive success is based on the counterpunch. I doubt the Eagles, with a banged-up Jalen Hurts, are going to be looking to score fast, and score a lot; that just plays into the Commanders’ style. Expect a more-than-decent bit of Kenny Gainwell in this game, too, all you prop hunters.
Griffin Wong, Staff Writer
AFC
No. 2 Buffalo Bills over No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs have either been unbelievably good or unbelievably lucky, posting a whopping 11-0 record in one-score games. Yes, Patrick Mahomes is undeniably clutch, and he, Andy Reid and Travis Kelce will never shy away from the big moment. However, there is some luck involved in tight contests, and time and time again, luck has swung Kansas City’s way.
The Chiefs will need a lot more than luck to beat a Bills team that has looked virtually unbeatable since October — excepting a shootout loss in L.A. in early December — and just knocked off the Ravens despite the best game of Lamar Jackson’s playoff career. Josh Allen has been better than Mahomes all season, and his supporting cast is fully healthy at the right time. It won’t be easy, but I think Allen does just enough to get it done on Sunday.
NFC
No. 6 Washington Commanders over No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles
On paper, the Eagles should win this game easily. Saquon Barkley is the best running back in football, Jalen Hurts quietly had the most efficient season of his career, and A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith form one of the most potent wide receiver duos in the league. Jalen Carter effectively ended the Rams’ season with a fourth-quarter forced fumble that led to a field goal and a huge third-and-two sack with Los Angeles driving down six points.
But football isn’t played on paper, and Washington just has that it-factor. His name is Jayden Daniels. So much for rookie playoff woes; Daniels has completed nearly 70% of his passes for 567 yards, four touchdowns, no picks and a 116.2 passer rating, the second-best playoff efficiency for a rookie quarterback in NFL history. Philadelphia has a more talented roster, but the Commanders have the better quarterback. He’ll have another historic performance on Sunday and become the first rookie signal-caller to play for the Lombardi Trophy.
Alex Hunter, Staff Writer
AFC
No. 1 Kansas Chiefs over No. 2 Buffalo Bills
While everyone wants to harp on the Chiefs getting lucky this season, the Bills are extremely lucky to be in this AFC Championship. In last Sunday’s win over the Ravens, Baltimore produced 143 more scrimmage yards than Buffalo, but the Ravens gave the game away with three surprising turnovers and Mark Andrews dropping an easy two-point conversion that would have sent the game to overtime. The Bills now head on the road to Arrowhead, where the Chiefs are a perfect 9-0 this season. Conversely, Buffalo has been mediocre on the road with a 5-4 record. The Bills defense has been a shell of itself on the road this season, allowing 25.2 PPG, compared to 17.3 at home, and this fully-healthy Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes led Chiefs team should clinch their fifth Super Bowl berth in the last six years.
NFC
No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles over No. 6 Washington Commanders
The Commanders exciting run will end against the division rival Eagles this Sunday. After facing two easy matchups in a zone heavy Buccaneers defense and an extremely depleted Lions defense, Washington now meets a Philadelphia defense that is easily the best unit in the league. Since their bye in Week 5, the Eagles have only allowed 15.3 PPG in their nine home games. The Commanders have been shredded on the ground all season, giving up the second-most yards per rush in the league (4.9), and they will have zero answers for Saquon Barkley and the Eagles’ elite offensive line. While Jalen Hurts’ recent play as a passer has been concerning, the Eagles aren’t going to need much from him in that department and their league-best defense and run game will carry them to another victory.
Zach Thompson, Staff Writer
AFC
No. 2 Buffalo Bills over No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs
The Bills have completed an impressive journey from “Do we have to watch them in the Super Bowl again?” to “It’s been so long” all during my lifetime. The Chiefs have gone on the exact opposite trajectory and even my 11-year-old said he’s tired of seeing them in the Super Bowl. The most notable thing about this year’s Chiefs compared to other recent Super Bowl champions is that they look so beatable despite somehow never actually losing. I think this week is finally the week it catches up with them and the Bills break through. Buffalo will need to play a clean game to win, but Josh Allen, a much-improved Sean McDermott game plan and a scrappy defense should be enough to secure the Bills the AFC Championship. Buffalo quite literally built to beat Kansas City, and I think it gets enough breaks and makes enough plays to get the job done.
NFC
No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles over No. 6 Washington Commanders
The two teams split their regular season games, but everything had to go just right for the Commanders to pull out their Week 16 upset at home. Going on the road to face Philly will be a huge task for Jayden Daniels even after he led his team to the biggest upset of the playoffs so far. His run has been legendary and the Commanders will be a force to be reckoned with for years going forward, but the Eagles are a more well-balanced team and their defense has looked lights out aside from the end of the game against the Rams. Even without any snow to boost their chances this week, I’ll take the Eagles to fly to the Super Bowl from the NFC.
Ryan Wohl, Staff Writer
AFC
No. 1 Kansas City Chiefs over No. 2 Buffalo Bills
The Chiefs are hosting the Bills in Patrick Mahomes’ seventh straight AFC Championship. If he wants to continue his quest for a three-peat, Mahomes must get past a familiar opponent in Josh Allen. Mahomes is 3-0 against Allen in the postseason.
The Bills are looking to go to their first Super Bowl since 1993. Kansas City has won the last two Super Bowls and has been to four of the previous five. An essential part of this Chiefs team this season has been their defense. They haven’t allowed 20 points to an opponent in their last seven games while playing their starters.
Allen and the Bills have been excellent all season long, but until someone beats the Chiefs at Arrowhead, it will be hard to pick against them. This will be an instant classic like the last playoff matchup a season ago.
NFC
No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles over No. 6 Washington Commanders
The Eagles will face the Commanders for the third time this season. Philadelphia beat Washington by eight points in the first matchup at home, and I don’t expect this one to play out much differently.
Although the Commanders beat the Eagles 36-33 in Week 16, it wasn’t at full strength. Jalen Hurts suffered a concussion in the first quarter, and the Eagles still put up a valiant effort with Kenny Pickett under center.
Saquon Barkey is the difference maker for the Eagles and has had plenty of success against the Commanders this season. He has totaled 296 yards and four touchdowns in the two prior meetings. With him and a dominant defense, the Eagles have the perfect recipe to slow down and stop the red-hot Jayden Daniels.
It is the Eagles year, and at Lincoln Financial Field, they are very tough to beat.