Wild Card Predictions for the 2025-2026 NFL Playoffs: Get Ready for a Wild Ride

Here we have a very unusual game. The Carolina Panthers are winners of the NFC South but finished the season with a losing record at 8-9. The Rams come in with a record of 12-5. It would be embarrassing for Los Angeles to lose to a team that failed to finish above .500. No worries, they won’t. Carolina is simply not ready for this.

What a classic matchup with two of the oldest teams in the league. These two teams have been beating each other up for many years. This should be yet another bruising game. It’s been a while since Chicago has had a playoff game but here they are with a home game against a bitter rival. The Bears are favored by 1 ½ points and the over/under is 45.5. I don’t think that many points are going on the board, and I think Caleb Williams is going to rise to the occasion and outplay Jordan Love.

The word is that this is Josh Allen’s best chance to get to the Super Bowl with no Patrick Mahomes or Lamar Jackson in the way. Could he and the Bills be looking past the Jacksonville Jaguars? He and his team better not. These Jags are for real. So, for real I like them to win.

The defending Super Bowl champions were not as dominant this season and were under scrutiny in what seems the entire season. The 49ers were one game better and the more consistent team. The way the Eagles have been playing and winning just doesn’t seem to be what will work to defeat San Francisco.

There are many fans like me who just can’t wrap their heads around the fact that the Patriots lost only three games this season. The Chargers ignored many injuries they suffered this season, yet they forged ahead and are now a wild card. Yet despite the record and the M.V.P. Caliber play from Drake Maye, there is still some doubt to how good the Patriots really are. Without playoff experience I think Maye will lose the quarterback battle to Justin Herbert as well as the game.

The wild card round finishes on Monday Night Football with a game in my home city. I feel like the odds are stacked against Houston and too much hype is being placed on the Texans. Sure, their defense might be elite, but they are beatable. Given Mike Tomlin has never lost a Monday night game played in Pittsburgh and the Steelers have not lost in their own stadium since 1991 when Chuck Noll was the head coach. The Texans are also on nine game winning streak, and it is difficult in the NFL to keep streaks going especially six in a row so I believe Aaron Rodgers and Arthur Smith will have this mighty defense of Houston figured out by the first quarter. I also predict the Steelers’ defense will force the Texans into at least two turnovers.