This is the first story of a two-part series covering the 2025 NFL Wild Card weekend. Read AFC predictions here.
NFL Wild Card weekend only comes once a year, so before the semester starts, let’s bask in all its glory, and preview each of this weekend’s matchups.
Let’s get started with the NFC’s side of the bracket.
No. 2 Philadelphia Eagles (14-3) vs. No. 7 Green Bay Packers (11-6)
Green Bay claimed their postseason ticket after marching on the New Orleans Saints the Monday before Christmas, setting the path for the Packers to clinch the NFC’s sixth seed by winning out.
However, Green Bay dropped the season’s last two games to divisional opponents–the ladder of which came to the Chicago Bears, possibly the NFL’s unluckiest team–and now must go on the road to face the menacing Philadelphia Eagles.
The Eagles tout the league’s number one defense and are the only team to average less than 300 yards given up per game. When a team’s lucky enough to survive Philly’s defense, waiting on the other side of the ball is a running back mistakenly written off by the New York Giants, Saquon Barkley. Barkley gained 2,005 yards on the ground; 100 yards shy of breaking the all-time season record held by Eric Dickerson.
Green Bay’s defense is nothing to scoff at, ranking sixth in the league, but has given up an average of 114 rushing yards per game. On the offensive side, Jordan Love, has been able to find a groove after suffering an MCL sprain in week one versus the Eagles in Brazil, but he’ll be without receiver Christian Watson, who tore his ACL against Chicago.
The loss of Watson means Philly can put more pressure on Jayden Reed, Green Bay’s leading receiver, but it’s not the end of the world. Receiver Romeo Dobbs racked up 151 yards in last year’s wild card matchup vs the Dallas Cowboys, and tight end Tucker Craft leads the Packers in receiving touchdowns with seven.
One advantage that may be in play for the Packers is facing the Eagles without starting quarterback Jalen Hurts. Hurts exited Philadelphia’s Week 16 game vs the Washington Commanders with a concussion in the first quarter, he still hasn’t cleared protocol, meaning that the Eagles have the choice between Kenny Pickett, who was acquired from the Pittsburgh Steelers prior to the start of the season, or second year quarterback Tanner McKee, who threw for two touchdowns against Dallas after replacing Pickett. McKee repeated the stat line in his start against the Giants in Week 18.
Prediction: The Philadelphia Eagles
I’d love to see the opposite, but I find it hard to forecast a repeat of Green Bay’s upset last year in Dallas. Barkley will come out blazing, and Philadelphia’s defense will prove too much for Love dealing with an elbow injury on his throwing arm.
No. 3 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-7) vs. No. 6 Washington Commanders (12-5)
Upon getting swept by division rival the Atlanta Falcons–those two games started by the now benched $180 million-dollar-contract player, Kirk “swag surf” Cousins, the Buccaneers were on the verge of walking the plank, diving into elimination.
But unlike their rivals, Tampa Bay took advantage of their subpar opponents. Dominant wins against the Giants, Las Vegas Raiders, Carolina Panthers and playoff team Los Angeles Chargers, led to Tampa Bay clinching the NFC South over the Falcons because of their overall record, Atlanta was 8-9 this season.
Bringing up the Bucs schedule isn’t a dig to Tampa’s “dangerous” and recently paid, quarterback Baker Mayfield. After receiving a three-year, $100 million dollar contract, Mayfield has proven he’s worth every penny, throwing for 4,500 yards and 41 touchdowns.
While Tampa’s offense may be stellar, being third in the league, their defense ought to have an eye patch, ranking 18th in the league, the third lowest among playoff teams.
Best believe fan favorite for Offensive Rookie of the Year (OROY) Jayden Daniels, will be ready for his second chance to best the Bucs’ defense. After Washington’s week 1 loss in Tampa, Daniel’s metamorphosis has produced a polished quarterback who makes good decisions with the ball, is patient in the pocket, and reads defenses as fast as his VR headset can load Washington’s gameplan.
Daniels threw no touchdowns in his debut against the Bucs, since he’s racked up 25 touchdowns passing, and nearly 3,600 yards through the air. The rookie has kept turnovers to a minimum with only nine picks, and leads Washington in rushing at almost 900 yards, which has helped Daniels overcome the Commanders weak offensive line.
When Tampa’s not worrying about Daniel’s dual threat ability, they’ll have to keep Washington’s number one receiver Terry McLaurin on lockdown, which is easier than it sounds considering how scattered McLaurin’s production has been this season.
Even if he’s shut down, Washington still has a strong run game led by Brian Robinson, and the returning Austin Ekeler, who’s been good at multitasking between rushing and receiving. In the case that McLaurin lacks production on Sunday night, Daniels will more than likely connect with veteran tight end Zach Ertz, who has the second most targets on the team.
Prediction: Washington Commanders
My take is a mix of analytics and heart. On paper, Tampa Bay is the close favorite. They have home field advantage, playoff experience, this is Tampa’s fifth straight year making the postseason, and have wins against the NFC’s one and two seeds, yet they’ve been pretty volatile this season.
To be fair, so has Washington. The Commanders beat the now emotionally scarred Bears with a miracle, have fallen short against .500 teams on multiple occasions, and are asleep in either the first or second half of games. But as a fan, this year’s Commanders have something I’ve never seen, a clutch gene. They finish off games in ways I could have only dreamt of, and on a good day Washington’s offense looks straight out of a Madden franchise.
After all, Washington’s last ever playoff win just so happened to be in Tampa Bay.
No. 4 Los Angeles Rams (10-7) vs. No. 5 Minnesota Vikings (14-3)
After 18 weeks of barbarous carnage, the NFL’s best division the NFC North crowned a champion, and its name is the Detroit Lions. Turns out a 14-win record wasn’t enough for the Vikings to avoid a road playoff game.
Since the Vikings were swept by the Lions in the final matchup of the regular season, they are now the first 14-win wild card team in league history. Now, the Vikings also must deal with the entire NFC bracket going through Detroit, as if things couldn’t be any worse.
It’s easy to be pessimistic, but let’s not forget that Minnesota was far away from being seen as a contender this time last year. The Vikings missed out on the playoffs, and then starting quarterback Cousins was coming off a season ending Achilles injury with one foot out the door, creating uncertainty around Minnesota’s quarterback position.
Their answer was the quarterback from Michigan’s 2024 national championship squad, J.J. McCarthy. Unfortunately for the Vikings, the rookie tore his meniscus in the pre-season, meaning that Minnesota would have to roll with backup Sam Darnold.
Darnold took the starting job and never made head coach Kevin O’ Connel turn back the ship. He ranks fifth in passing yards with over 4,300 and has thrown for 35 touchdowns and only twelve interceptions. His connection with wide receiver Justin Jefferson has been clicking on all cylinders, as Jefferson surpassed 1,500 receiving yards this season in which he barely cracked 1,000 last year with Cousins.
The Rams are also a team of unusualness, clinching the NFC West despite a 1-4 start to the season that included losses to the eliminated Bears and Arizona Cardinals, but Los Angeles was able to turn their season around mainly after beating the Vikings at home. That game was pivotal, as a loss more than likely would’ve resulted in the Rams trading away Super Bowl 56 MVP Cooper Kupp.
Earlier this season Los Angeles suffered from the injury bug, but the recovery of receiver–and Stafford’s number one target–Puka Nacua helped bring some order onto the team. Since beating Minnesota, the Rams are 7-3, beating playoff contenders such as the AFC’s Buffalo Bills.
Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford has a tough task facing the Viking’s defense who ranks fourth in the league in points given up per game. Yet Stafford already figured out a way to beat them once, and after watching what Detroit did on Sunday night, he may do it again. Or possibly, Minnesota flips the script.
Prediction: Minnesota Vikings
The stark difference between these teams now compared to their Week 8 matchup is their end of season stretch. Minnesota eked out wins against the 10-7 Seattle Seahawks, and rival Green Bay. Meanwhile the Rams were in barnburners against the Cardinals and the New York Jets. Despite being at home, I believe Minnesota will come out stronger, especially after the primetime loss they received at the hands of Detroit.
Without a doubt, this year’s race to the playoffs for the NFC has been one of the most competitive in recent history. While there are still underdogs and heavy weight contenders, the NFL’s wild card round has the chance to prove that the talent gap that divides these squads isn’t so wide.
Sebastian Perez-Navarro is the multimedia editor for The Prospector and can be reached at [email protected].
