NFL Playoff Bracket 2025: AFC, NFC Picture and Super Bowl Predictions

The 14 teams who will vie for the Lombardi Trophy on Super Bowl Sunday on February 9 have been determined after Sunday's Week 18 slate.

The defending Super Bowl champs, two rookie-led squads, returning teams, and MVP candidates headline the lineup,

Who is seeded where and which two teams may ultimately clash in New Orleans?

Find out with this look at the playoff brackets and predictions for the big game.

NFC Playoff Picture

Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - JANUARY 05: Saquon Barkley #26 of the Philadelphia Eagles looks on during warms up prior to the game against the New York Giants at Lincoln Financial Field on January 05, 2025 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)

The NFC playoff picture is as follows entering Sunday's slate of Week 18 games:

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Division Leaders

1. xz-Detroit Lions (15-2)

2. xz-Philadelphia Eagles (14-3, NFC East)

3. xz-Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-7)

4. xz-Los Angeles Rams (10-7, NFC West)

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Wild Card

5. x-Minnesota Vikings (14-3)

6. x-Washington Commanders (12-5)

7. x-Green Bay Packers (10-7)

(x)-clinched playoffs, (z)-clinched division

AFC Playoff Picture

Joe Sargent/Getty Images

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - DECEMBER 25: Russell Wilson #3 of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Patrick Mahomes #15 of the Kansas City Chiefs embrace after the game at Acrisure Stadium on December 25, 2024 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)

The AFC playoff picture is as follows:

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Division Leaders

1. xz-Kansas City Chiefs (15-2, AFC West)

2. xz-Buffalo Bills (13-4, AFC East)

3. xz-Baltimore Ravens (12-5, AFC North)

4. xz-Houston Texans (10-7, AFC South)

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Wild Card

5. x-Los Angeles Chargers (11-6)

6. x-Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7)

7. x-Denver Broncos (10-7)

(x)-clinched playoffs, (z)-clinched division

Super Bowl Predictions

Michael Owens/Getty Images

SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA - DECEMBER 30: Jared Goff #16 of the Detroit Lions looks to pass during an NFL Football game against the San Francisco 49ers at Levi's Stadium on December 30, 2024 in Santa Clara, California. (Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)

The Kansas City Chiefs have won the last two Super Bowls and will enter this year's playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the AFC. While the team has not looked as dominant or as consistent offensively as in years past, Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Co. did everything they had to do to secure home-field advantage and will take to the field in the divisional round well-rested and ready to defend their crown.

The Detroit Lions entered the season with a chip on their shoulder, the clear best team in the NFC coming off a devastating loss in the NFC Championship Game that saw them blow a big lead and spend the offseason wondering what may have been.

Since then, they dominated the league and would have been a clear No. 1 seed in the conference had it not been for an unexpectedly great Minnesota Vikings campaign. Jared Goff is an MVP contender, Jahmyr Gibbs established himself as a credible RB1 and the aggressive defense continued to bend but not break in key situations.

A Lions vs. Chiefs Super Bowl match-up felt like a realistic possibility at the start of the season.

While the Eagles, Vikings, and Rams all feel like realistic representatives in the NFC, and the Ravens and Bills are primary opponents on the Chiefs' road back to the big game, nothing either team has done this season has given fans any reason to believe that cannot be the match-up that takes the field in New Orleans, with the Lombardi Trophy on the line.

And, for the third time in his career, Goff will outduel Mahomes, this time taking home the trophy that eluded him in his first trip to the grand stage back in 2018.

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Prediction: Lions def. Chiefs, 35-27