Now that the thrilling 2025 NFL regular season has come to an end, we know who is who in the greatest league on earth. The playoff scenarios are decided, and the teams that didn’t make it are headed to Cancun for a nice offseason. Now is when the fun truly begins in the NFL, but it would be a shame not look back on how great a season it was.
The New Orleans Saints have been in a weird purgatory since Drew Brees retired, but they might have found something real with Tyler Shough. Once he took over for Spencer Rattler, the Saints looked good. Shough looked calm, cool, and collected out there for a rookie. He completed 67.6% of his passes for 2.384 yards, 10 touchdowns, and six interceptions in nine starts. Paired with the offensive expertise of Kellen Moore, they might be on to something down there in the Bayou.
The NFC West takes the crown as football’s best division this season. They are sending three teams to the NFL playoffs, and all of them are Super Bowl contenders. The Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams, and San Francisco 49ers combined for an astounding 38 wins this season. Everyone thought that the NFC North would be the best division in football this year, and they were good, but they weren’t the monster that the NFC West was.
It was apparent on draft night that the 2024 NFL quarterback class was special, but they took it to another level this season. Drake Maye has a serious case to be the NFL MVP. Caleb Williams took a gigantic step under Ben Johnson. Bo Nix led the Broncos to the number one seed in the AFC. Jayden Daniels spent most of the year injured, but his greatness was on display last season. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for J.J. McCarthy and Michael Penix.
It has only been one season, but it is very apparent that Aaron Glenn isn’t the guy for the New York Jets. Not only were they awful, but the team didn’t have consistent quarterback play all season. Glenn pushed the quarterback they had last season, Aaron Rodgers, out of town. Now, he is taking the Pittsburgh Steelers to the playoffs while Glenn will be sitting at home watching. It appears that they are giving him another season to prove himself, but he’s not the guy.
Some of the newer head coaches in the NFL left their mark on the league this year. Liam Coen turned the Jacksonville Jaguars into a weapon in the AFC while Tampa Bay misses him dearly. Ben Johnson has turned Caleb Williams into a beast and turned things around in Chicago. Mike Vrabel brought the New England Patriots back to relevance. Mike Macdonald is in year two with the Seattle Seahawks, but he turned them into the first seed in the NFC. The moral of the story is that if there is a genius in your building, don’t let them leave.
It is one thing to be great annually in the NFL regular season, but the playoffs are where legacies are defined in this league. Ask Mike Tomlin. He’s a legendary regular-season coach who hasn’t been able to get it done in the playoffs, and he gets killed for it. Some teams might get exposed in the 2025 NFL playoffs, but time will tell. It’s about to be a great tournament to cap off a stellar season.
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