Dec. 14, 2025 – In the final minutes of a divisional matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers, following an injury to Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and a last-play interception by backup Gardner Minshew, the news was official: For the first time since 2015, the Chiefs were eliminated from the playoffs.
The Chiefs’ exit was just one of many unexpected twists that defined the 2025 NFL season, ultimately resulting in an infamous Super Bowl rematch between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots.
Dark Horse: Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Daniel Jones, and the Indianapolis Colts
On May 21, 2025, it was announced that Indianapolis Colts owner Jim Irsay had passed away, leaving ownership of the team to his three daughters: Carlie Irsay-Gordon, Casey Foyt, and Kalen Jackson.
Despite early doubts surrounding Irsay-Gordon’s leadership — often photographed on the sideline wearing a headset and holding a notebook, an uncommon sight among NFL owners — the Colts burst onto the scene. They defeated playoff teams such as the Broncos and Chargers, emerging as unlikely contenders in the playoff conversation.
Veteran quarterback Daniel Jones, who had previously been benched for Tommy DeVito during his final season with the New York Giants (they proceeded to go 4-11), led the team to an 8-2 record before tearing his Achilles tendon, ending their playoff chances.
Whether Jones and the Colts can live up to the expectations of their early-season performance remains to be seen. However, with big names like Jonathan Taylor and Sauce Gardner on the roster, there is a chance for a repeat dominant season, albeit not as shocking.
The Pope’s Team: Is Chicago Suddenly Blessed?
Was the Pope the reason the Chicago Bears suddenly played well? Last summer, Pope Leo XIV, a Chicagoan native, moved into the Vatican.
Since then?
The Bears went 11-6, secured the No. 2 seed in the National Football Conference (NFC), and lost in overtime to the Los Angeles Rams in the divisional round after a valiant effort by quarterback Caleb Williams to send them into extra time.
Is it too far-fetched to think that a Chicagoan Pope is the reason behind the sudden surge in success? Even the Chicago Blackhawks (NHL) are off to their best start in a while — though how the White Sox perform remains another story.
Despite the loss to LA, the 2025 Bears, under the guidance of first-year head coach Ben Johnson, have found themselves loved by career Bears fans and others who found themselves cheering for the underdogs. It’s not a question that they’ll be back next season.
What’s Going on in Philadelphia?
Super Bowl 59 champs, back-to-back division champs — the first to do it in 21 years — No. 3 seed in the playoffs. Without looking at the numbers, one would suppose the Philadelphia Eagles were once again playoff juggernauts.
If that was you, you’d be wrong.
Beating Kansas City, Buffalo [Bills], Tampa Bay [Bucs], the LA Rams, and the [Detroit] Lions, would make any team’s fans proud; two of the five were playoff bound teams, while the other three fell short of their predictions.
Philadelphia fans aren’t normal though.
After their landslide victory over the Chiefs in February, Offensive Coordinator (OC) Kellen Moore was hired as the head coach of the New Orleans Saints — the Saints went six and eleven in the season — and Kevin Patullo, the passing game coordinator, was promoted to the OC role.
Under Patullo, the Eagles lost games they should have won against the New York Giants — their Oct. 9 blowout to the New York Giants coincided with the Philadelphia Phillies’ elimination from the MLB playoffs — the Dallas Cowboys in Kelly green, and an overtime interception loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, to name a few. After a loss on Black Friday against Chicago, Eagles fans egged Patullo’s New Jersey home, citing their displeasure with the leadership direction of the team.
After a late loss in the Wild Card round to the San Francisco 49ers, Patullo was demoted from OC, with head coach Nick Sirianni highlighting the team’s inability of reaching their season goals. With several top coordinators off the market, the success of the 2026 Eagles will depend on the success of sixth-year quarterback Jalen Hurts and running back Saquon Barkley, with a lack of points scored by the offense compared to their Super Bowl winning success.
There’s hope though for the most recent Super Bowl winners. The finale of this season of Hard Knocks ended with Sirianni and Hurts meeting following their playoff loss and Hurts telling Sirianni, “We’ll be back.”
The End of a Dynasty?
The Philadelphia Eagles weren’t the only Super Bowl champions to struggle in the 2025 season, though it could be argued that they were the ones to bring down the ‘dynasty.’
The dynasty in question?
The Kansas City Chiefs.
Once predicted to win three Super Bowls in a row, the Chiefs opened the 2025 season losing to the LA Chargers and once again to the Eagles, an unfamiliar start for the Andy Reid-led team.
After winning 10 straight American Football Conference (AFC) West titles, Kansas City found themselves in an unfamiliar place with LA and the Denver Broncos challenging them for the top spot. With injuries to Mahomes and star tight end Travis Kelce looking less like one of the best players in the league, is this the end of Kansas City’s reign of power?
Ultimately, it was Denver who reigned supreme in the West, winning both the division and the top record in the league, losing only to the previous dynasty: the New England Patriots.
Return of the Old Days: The Battle of the Mikes
All football fans remember the 2015 Super Bowl.
Tom Brady and Russell Wilson, New England versus Seattle.
Coming off a landslide victory against Denver a year before, Seattle and New England were the teams in the NFL.
After a game that saw Patriots’ defensive back Malcolm Butler secure a last play interception to claim the game for New England (28-24), only New England returned to the NFL’s highest stage.
Seattle made the playoffs a year later, losing in the divisional round and repeating the effort the following year. Missing out on the 2018 playoffs, they capitulated that performance with returns in 2019, 2020, and 2021, though none panned out to the success of the early 2010s.
New England lost out to Denver, then followed that up with an iconic comeback overtime win against the Atlanta Falcons. That was followed by a loss in Minneapolis to first-time champion Philadelphia and backup quarterback Nick Foles. 2019 saw a lackluster win against the LA Rams and an embarrassing Wild Card playoff loss a year later. Following that season, Brady left the Patriots, heading to Tampa Bay, where he won a Super Bowl before officially retiring.
Without Brady, the Patriots suddenly found themselves going from first to worst, missing out on the playoffs in all the subsequent seasons.
At least until this year.
Under the guidance of sophomore quarterback Drake Maye and first-year head coach Mike Vrabel, the Patriots secured the No. 2 seed in the AFC and won easy matchups against their playoff opponents on the way to the Super Bowl.
Seattle comparatively found themselves under the helm of journeyman quarterback Sam Darnold and second-year head coach Mike McDonald. Competing in the ever-tough NFC West in which three of the four teams made the playoffs, it ultimately came down to the Rams and Seattle being the last two NFC playoff teams standing — the Seahawks weren’t guaranteed the playoff run they had. Dominant wins against their two divisional rivals (playing San Francisco before LA) secured their Super Bowl berth, setting up a matchup not seen since 2015.
Apparently 2016 is back in fashion, as the social media trends have shown, so it makes sense that the NFL makes a return to the 2010s as well. In what other world would the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots face off in the Super Bowl?
The opinions on this page do not necessarily reflect those of The Sandspur or Rollins College. Have any additional tips or opinions? Send us your response. We want to hear your voice.
Comments are closed.