After 49 preseason games, 272 regular season games and 12 playoff games, the 2025 NFL season will conclude on Feb. 8 in Santa Clara, California.
The New England Patriots will represent the AFC as the conferences’ No. 2 seed. They defeated No. 7 Chargers in the Wild Card round, No. 5 Texans in the Divisional round, and No. 1 Broncos in the Conference Championship.
It was all about defense for New England, as the unit held the Chargers to three points, the Texans to 16 points and the Broncos to seven points. During the regular season, New England posted the 11th-lowest EPA per carry on defense and the 10th-lowest EPA per dropback. The unit didn’t rack up a ton of sacks, pressure the quarterback at a high rate or force a ton of turnovers. The Patriots just played good solid defense and allowed more than 20 points only five times, including in the playoffs.
The Seattle Seahawks conquered the NFC, defeating No. 6 49ers in the Divisional round then the No. 5 Rams in the Conference Championship.
Offense. Defense. Special teams. Seattle was one of the best teams all season, but the defense was truly special. The run defense was tops in the league, allowing the lowest EPA per carry with only 3.7 yards per carry and nine touchdowns. The pass defense posted the seventh-lowest EPA per dropback. The 25 takeaways were the sixth-most, the pressure rate was sixth-highest and the 47 sacks during the regular season were tied for the sixth-most.
The rushing attack on offense wasn’t great during the regular season, as the EPA per carry was eighth-lowest, with 4.1 yards per carry, but they scored 19 rushing touchdowns. Zach Charbonnet was lost for the season, but Kenneth Walker III showed in the playoffs what he can do with a bellcow role. Sam Darnold continued his renaissance, guiding the Seahawks to the ninth-highest EPA per dropback.
Here are the opening odds for Super Bowl 60:
