1 Reason Each Remaining NFL Team Will and Won't Win Super Bowl 60

We're down to the final four, as a wild NFL season concludes with a quartet of teams that few expected to be top-end Super Bowl contenders prior to the campaign. 

In fact, none had Super Bowl odds better than +2000 entering Week 1.

That has, of course, changed dramatically. Now, all four have realistic shots, but it's easy to see why they all could fall short. 

Let's look at the bright side and the down side in terms of Super Bowl prospects for each of the teams that will play in the AFC and NFC title games on Sunday.

New England Patriots

AP Photo/Greg M. Cooper

Drake Maye

Why They Will: The Shutdown Defense

While MVP candidate Drake Maye has received the lion's share of national attention during a fantastic sophomore season under center, the fact is the Patriots wouldn't be here if not for a defense that ranked fourth in points allowed and surrendered a league-low four 40-yard gains all season. 

They get a lot of pressure and are extremely strong in coverage. They also recorded five takeaways in a dominant performance against Houston in the divisional playoffs, and they've now surrendered just 9.8 points per game in the last four weeks. 

Mike Vrabel has that unit rolling. And as we're about to see, there will be offensive vulnerabilities to take advantage of regardless of who they play the rest of the way. 

Why They Won't: Not Battle-Tested

It's well-known that the Patriots had the easiest schedule in the league this season. They followed that up with matchups against the defeated Chargers and the overmatched Texans, and now they face a Broncos team that just lost its star quarterback to a season-ending ankle injury.

You can't fault the Pats for their path, but it's fair to wonder if such a young and inexperienced team will be ready to be a Super Bowl underdog against a Rams team that is a lot more accomplished or a Seahawks squad that looks close to unstoppable at the moment. 

This New England group has been better than most expected, indicating that the rebuild is in hyperdrive. But it's possible it's not truly ready to become a Super Bowl winner just yet. 

Denver Broncos

AP Photo/Jack Dempsey

Sean Payton

Why They Will: The Pass Rush

You almost always need a star quarterback to win a Super Bowl these days. In exceptional cases when the QB and the offense don't carry a champion, it's almost always because a dominant pass rush was able to take over. 

In fact, that was the case when the Broncos won the Super Bowl 10 years ago behind a lights-out pass rush that compensated for the fact that Peyton Manning was on his last legs. 

Could history repeat itself for the Broncos in 2025? This time, a D that led the league by a huge margin with 68 sacks in the regular season could be hot enough to help the Broncos overcome the loss of Bo Nix. 

That unit has 12 sacks in its last three home games. And if the Broncos are to finish off this magical season with a Lombardi Trophy, it'll likely be because Nik Bonitto, Zach Allen, John Franklin-Myers and Jonathan Cooper dominate up front. 

Why They Won't: The Quarterback Situation

The shocking news that Nix is out for the rest of the playoffs following a late-game ankle injury Saturday against the Bills has shifted the entire playoff landscape. 

Nix might not be a megastar just yet, but the sophomore No. 12 overall pick took 100 percent of the team's offensive snaps this season and threw three touchdown passes in the victory over Buffalo. 

His replacement, 2019 fourth-round pick Jarrett Stidham, has four career starts on his resume and hasn't thrown a pass since 2023. 

Safe to say it's an uphill battle. 

Los Angeles Rams

AP Photo/Kamil Krzaczynski

Matthew Stafford

Why They Will: Regular-Season Matthew Stafford and His Core

Already named the AP's first-team All-Pro quarterback, Stafford is likely to be this year's MVP. With 46 touchdowns to just eight interceptions during the regular season, he was often unstoppable with Sean McVay's vision and the hands of Puka Nacua and Davante Adams. 

No wonder the Rams had the league's highest-scoring offense. They averaged a ridiculous 36.8 points per game in the final five weeks of the regular season.

If they can get back into that groove a couple more times in the coming weeks, they may win their second Lombardi in the last five years. 

Why They Won't: Playoff Matthew Stafford and His Core

What has happened to that group? 

Stafford has completed just 52.4 percent of his passes this postseason. He's been sacked five times and has a passer rating of just 80.6, while Adams has caught just seven of the 19 passes thrown his way and even the unflappable Nacua was pretty quiet in the divisional-round overtime win over the Bears. 

Granted, that was a tough, cold environment. The Rams had better hope that's the reason for it and they were just a bit "off" while still managing to score 34 points in Carolina the previous weekend. 

If not, it's possible a somewhat grizzled offense—behind a 37-year-old quarterback nursing an injured finger—is running out of gas at the worst possible time. 

Seattle Seahawks

AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson

Mike Macdonald

Why They Will: An Unreal Defense

It says a lot about the Super Bowl favorite Seahawks that we're not discussing an offense that featured the league's most productive receiver and combined with the return unit to put up 41 points on the 49ers in the divisional round. 

But that's just how off-the-charts the D has been. 

After allowing a league-low 17.2 points per game during the regular season, a Seattle defensive group that is greater than the sum of its parts forced three turnovers while holding San Francisco to just six points on Saturday night. It has surrendered 10 or fewer points in five of their last seven games and have given up just 11.6 points per game during that stretch, generating 15 takeaways in the process. 

This is a dynamic, deep and balanced unit, run by one of the best defensive minds in the sport. That's what Super Bowls are often made of. 

Why They Won't: Bad Turnover Habits 

Did you know Sam Darnold committed more turnovers than any player in football this season? He coughed it up 20 times in total (14 interceptions, six lost fumbles). In fact, only the Vikings (30) turned the ball over more than the Seahawks (28) during the regular season. 

The good news is Seattle has now put together consecutive turnover-free games. And 10 quarterbacks—including Stafford and Maye—still recorded more turnover-worthy plays than Darnold this year, per Pro Football Focus. 

However, Seattle hasn't gone three consecutive games without a turnover since early in the 2021 season, so it's fair to wonder if the other shoe will drop in an untimely fashion and we'll see bad Darnold the way the Vikings did when it was all on the line last January.