Windy City Gridiron
Football fans, we’ve made it! The start of the 2025 NFL regular season is here, and with a new season comes renewed optimism for the majority of fan bases around the league. Although one person can’t script the entire season before it happens, many of us try our best to forecast what we believe will happen. I am not different.
The best thing about the NFL is that even when your favorite team is struggling, there are always plenty of storylines around the league that make each week worth watching. With an 18-week regular season ready to kick off this week, let’s dive into 25 bold predictions for the 2025 season.
1. The Buffalo Bills will win the AFC… And the Super Bowl.
I’m starting this thing off with a bang… Or maybe I just refused to bury the lede? I’m not sure which one it is, but either way, yes, you read that right: The Bills will finally overcome their post-season woes against the Kansas City Chiefs and deliver a Super Bowl to Buffalo.
2. If Matthew Stafford’s back can hold up, the Los Angeles Rams will win the NFC.
Before the start of training camp, I felt much more confident about projecting the Rams as the NFC winners. Stafford will be good to go for Week 1, but relying on a 37-year-old quarterback with back issues can be a difficult task. Either way, I’m going to stick to my guns here and say that the Rams will be back in the Super Bowl this season.
3. The race for the No. 1 pick will be between three teams… And no, it will not be for Arch Manning.
Surveying the field, there are multiple contenders for the worst team in football (aka the No. 1 overall pick). Of those teams, I’ve got the New Orleans Saints, Cleveland Browns, and New York Giants as the three teams who will fight it out for the rights to make the first selection of the 2026 NFL Draft. Oh, and it won’t be Manning walking on stage to hug Roger Goodell. He’ll be back in Texas for his second full season of starting for the Longhorns.
4. Mike McDaniel will be the first head coach to be fired in-season this year.
Call me a skeptic, but I don’t see how things don’t fully implode in Miami this year. General manager Chris Grier has made some questionable decisions over the last few years, including choosing to pay aging veterans over retaining his own talent. Tyreek Hill still isn’t happy, and Tua is another concussion away from Zach Wilson playing the rest of the season. Plus, that secondary is a mess. As someone who has seen multiple locker rooms in Chicago implode, this has the makings of an early disaster in Miami.
5. Anthony Richardson will regain the starting quarterback role in Indianapolis by mid-October.
There’s no denying that Richardson has been one of the worst quarterbacks in the league since being drafted No. 4...
