With Week 10 here, we have reached the halfway point of the 2025 NFL regular season.
Who will win Super Bowl 60? Our experts make their picks.
The three-time defending AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs are the favored team among our group.
The NFL playoff bracket is still nine weeks away from being solidified. That will set the stage for Super Bowl 60 in Santa Clara, California.
But it’s never too early to think about the Big Game.
With Week 10 here, we have reached the halfway point of the 2025 NFL regular season. There are nine weeks left for the league’s playoff picture to round into shape, but the USA TODAY Sports staff sits at the table and provides predictions and picks for which team will win the Super Bowl this season.
Will the Kansas City Chiefs meet the Philadelphia Eagles in the Super Bowl for the third time in four years? Will the Buffalo Bills or Detroit Lions finally break through? Or maybe there’s a sleeper team our experts believe will hoist the Lombardi Trophy in February?
As the world begins gearing up for the second half of the regular season, our staff provides predictions and picks for which team will win and cement its legacy in NFL lore.
Super Bowl predictions
Buffalo Bills 27, Los Angeles Rams 24
Jacob Camenker, NFL writer: Perhaps I’m riding a bit too high off the Bills’ most recent regular-season win over the Chiefs, but Buffalo’s balanced offense and top-six pressure defense make it a threat to knock off anyone in the AFC. Even if the Bills can’t chase down the Patriots atop the AFC East, Buffalo has the playoff experience needed to win on the road and navigate its way through a wide-open AFC.
Meanwhile, the Rams have gotten an MVP-type performance from Matthew Stafford in 2025 and, like the Bills, have generated the pressure needed to rattle opposing quarterbacks in the playoffs. Add in a top-tier receiver duo in Puka Nacua and Davante Adams, and Los Angeles could end up being the NFC’s most explosive offense come January.
A Bills vs. Rams Super Bowl would be a fun matchup between similarly-built teams, but Josh Allen’s dual-threat ability would likely be the difference maker between the two squads.
Kansas City Chiefs 21, Seattle Seahawks 16
Ayrton Ostly, NFL writer: Yes, I know that the Chiefs just lost to the Bills in Week 9. Yes, I know they got shellacked in their last trip to the Super Bowl. No, I don’t care.
This Chiefs team is much, much better than the squad that won the AFC title last season. The offense is more dynamic now that Rashee Rice is back in the lineup. The defense is playing well enough, especially against the pass, to provide the advantage the offense needs to win games.
Now, to the surprising side of my prediction. The Seattle Seahawks’ defense is terrifying because they have so many answers for anything you throw at them. They’re also remarkably good on the road under second-year coach Mike Macdonald at 11-1 through Week 9. Going on the road to face the likes of Detroit, Philadelphia or Green Bay likely wouldn’t faze them. On offense, Jaxon Smith-Njigba is a superstar, and coordinator Klint Kubiak has built one of the best offenses in the league around him.
Ultimately, the Seahawks fall short as quarterback Sam Darnold makes a couple of costly errors and Patrick Mahomes earns Super Bowl ring No. 4.
Kansas City Chiefs 24, Philadelphia Eagles 17
Jack McKessy, NFL writer: Chiefs vs. Eagles III ends with a return to form for the reigning AFC champs. It’s easy to bet against the Chiefs making it back to the Big Game at this point in the season. They just lost to the Bills! They’re 5-4! They’re not even in a playoff spot if the season ended today!
Yeah, but at the end of the day, Patrick Mahomes is Patrick Mahomes. The Chiefs are the Chiefs. Kansas City’s defense has allowed the fourth-fewest points of any team – and the fewest of any that has played nine games. The Chiefs’ +76 points differential is fourth-best in the league and second-best in the AFC. Their offense is so one-dimensional that Mahomes was leading Kansas City in rushing yards through the first four weeks of the season, but the Chiefs still rank fourth in EPA/play and success rate through nine weeks.
Meanwhile, the Eagles are a juggernaut that’s only getting better. Philadelphia’s offense struggled through the first six weeks of the season, unable to find a way to get the ball into the hands of all its supremely-talented playmakers. The Eagles ranked 21st in the league in EPA/play (0.015) and success rate (44%) in that span.
In the last three weeks, they’ve won both of their games (they had a Week 9 bye). In Week 7, quarterback Jalen Hurts had a perfect passer rating with over 300 yards and three touchdown passes. In Week 8, running back Saquon Barkley had his first game with over 100 rushing yards (he had 150). Philadelphia ranks first in the league in EPA/play (0.370) and sixth in success rate (49.5%) in the last three weeks.
When the two teams meet again on the NFL’s biggest stage, the difference is the Chiefs’ outstanding defense. And with wide receiver Rashee Rice healthy for this matchup, Kansas City takes full advantage of the Eagles’ Achilles’ heel: their defensive secondary.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers 31, Baltimore Ravens 27
Nick Brinkerhoff, NFL writer: While my colleagues take turns alternating between the Chiefs and Bills, it’s up to me to go off the board. Crazy? Perhaps. Genius? Time will tell. The Buccaneers and Ravens are two undervalued squads as we enter the second half of the season and it’s time we start acting like it.
We all know what the Ravens have been through this season, but it’s not about the past. Lamar Jackson is back, Baltimore plays in a wide-open AFC, and there is an AFC North title there for the taking. From 1-5 to the 415, Baltimore has as good a chance as any team to make the trek to San Francisco in February. The defense has picked it up, some trade deadline reinforcements are on the way and Jackson is healthy – which is the most important thing.
With plenty of winnable games down the stretch, the Ravens are poised to enter the postseason firing on all cylinders with their two-time MVP quarterback – what’s not to like about that?
The storybook ending would be for the Ravens to defy the odds and capture the Lombardi, but that’s not how things work. Another undervalued team is being slept on in the far better NFC. Does anyone know that the Bucs are 6-2? Anyone? Baker Mayfield is firmly in the MVP discussion and is doing this without Mike Evans, Chris Godwin and Bucky Irving. There is no real threat in the NFC South, meaning Tampa can waltz to another division crown.
Evans could return for the playoffs, Godwin could return in December and Irving’s return should be coming sooner than later. They have been one of the league’s best teams without those stars, all while Emeka Egbuka emerges as a star of his own. Mayfield finally has his championship moment as the gritty underdog is no more. Better start fitting Captain Fear for his crown now.
Kansas City Chiefs 27, Detroit Lions 25
Tom Viera, NFL writer/editor: The “Super Bowl runner-up” theory is important to point out. In Super Bowl history, 51 of the 58 losers (87.9%) failed to return the following season, and just one of the most recent 30 runner-ups returned to the Big Game. In other words, history suggests the AFC will have a new team representing it this season.
However, the Patrick Mahomes-led Chiefs are built to defy the odds, and quietly, their defense has allowed the fourth-fewest points per game. Kansas City will continue its historic run and win a 10th consecutive AFC West crown. The Chargers’ offensive line is decimated, and Bo Nix has been inconsistent. Kansas City has to get ahead of both, but will face Denver twice and L.A. at home. Arguably, the Chiefs’ toughest matchup in the second half comes in Week 11 after their bye against the Broncos. Andy Reid is 22-4 all-time off a bye.
Teams want to be playing their best football in December/January and the Chiefs have a great schedule down the stretch.
Fans hoping for fresh blood deep in the playoffs may have to wait at least one more season because Mahomes isn’t ready to relinquish the crown. The Chiefs reach the Super Bowl for the sixth time in seven seasons.
The Lions have the best roster top to bottom. Some forget Detroit clinched its first NFC North title since 1993 and hosted its first playoff game at Ford Field just two years ago. That quest was cut short in the NFC Championship after fumbling away a 17-point halftime lead against the 49ers. Battered by injuries in 2024, the Lions are out for redemption in 2025, and Dan Campbell guides Detroit to its first Super Bowl appearance.
Detroit’s explosive, balanced offense is averaging 28.8 points per game (third-most in the league). The defense features impact players. The departures of defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn and offensive coordinator Ben Johnson are challenging, but it has galvanized the franchise. Detroit’s window remains wide open.
Mahomes put the Chiefs on his back to start the season with Rashee Rice suspended for the first six weeks and Xavier Worthy knocked out with an injury for three. He’ll do the same in the playoffs, leading another Super Bowl comeback to earn his fourth Super Bowl MVP, and the GOAT conversation dominates Summer 2026.
When is Super Bowl 60?
Date: Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026
Time: 6:30 p.m. ET
The Super Bowl will be held on the second Sunday in February, as it has been since the league shifted to a 17-game schedule for the 2021 NFL season.
