2025 NFL Season Predictions: Who Got It Right?

Nothing overly complicated was chosen to analyze these predictions. Home versus away was not taken into account, nor were bonus points awarded for accurately predicting division winners or the division order. Math is hard, so the scoring system needed to be so simple that even the simplest-minded expert could understand it. It was a point-for-win-accuracy system. In other words, the closer a contestant was to the actual win total, the more points they received.

For correctly guessing what a team’s record would be, contestants received three points. If they were off by one win in either direction (predicted 10-7 and the team went 11-6 or 9-8) they were awarded one point. If they were off by two wins, they lost a point. Off by three wins, and they lose three points. Finally, if someone was off by four or more wins in either direction, they would lose five points. It may be a harsh scoring system, but don’t swim with sharks if you don’t want to get bit.

The Contestants

These media members were selected at random, and without their knowledge, but all of them are well respected and intelligent in all things NFL. Click on any of their names, and you can be taken to their Twitter (X) page to give them a follow, and click on any of their red businesses, and you’ll be taken to their 2025 predictions.

Howe Fresh is representing Stadium Rant, followed by John Breech from CBS Sports, Moe Moton from Bleacher Report, Adam Rank from NFL.com, Seth Walder from ESPN, Matt Johnson from Sportsnaut.com, Ali Bhanpuri from NFL.com, Nate Davis from USA Today, Sayre Bedinger from NFL Spinzone, Conor Orr from Sports Illustrated, and the Fox Sports collective.

The Results

We won’t ignore the elephant in the room for this contest. We’ll say it once, get it out of the way, and won’t beat a dead horse. Stadium Rant finished dead last in its season predictions and by a wide margin as well. Fresh’s score of -98 was 30 points worse than the 10th-place finisher, and he had the worst score for the AFC (-50) and the NFC (-48). Normally, Stadium Rant and its staff are ahead of the curve in predictions and analysis, but we dropped the ball on this one. Now, for how everyone else did.

It’s important to note that predictions are nothing more than guesses. They may be educated cases, rooted in piles of data, but it’s still a guess. Nobody has a crystal ball, or as the results will show, not one that works anyway. There were teams that everyone had trouble with. For example, every single person lost five points on the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks. Not one of the experts predicted these teams would be atop their respective conferences.

Likewise, 10 out of 11 writers lost five points on the Chiefs. Nobody could have predicted them to win only six games on the year. Seth Walder from ESPN predicted they would win nine games, so he only lost three points. The Cardinals were a popular pick to do well by everyone. They cost 10 of 11 writers five points, with only Sports Illustrated’s Connor Orrlosing three points (picking them to go 6-11). Finally, the Jaguars got no love from anyone. 10 of 11 contestants lost five points on them, picking them to finish well below the 13 wins they had this season. Moe Moton from Bleacher Report had them finishing 10-7, losing just three points on his prediction.

The Hardest And Easiest NFL Divisions To Predict

The division that cost writers the most points was the AFC West, in large part because of the aforementioned Chiefs. Nobody expected the Broncos to win 14 games, and quite a few of the contestants predicted the Raiders would be way better than they actually were. Some folks really overestimated the impact Ashton Jeanty was going to have. The average score for that division was -12.55.

In contrast, the NFC South gave the writers the least amount of trouble, averaging -3.09 per contestant. It makes sense. The entire division is a dumpster fire, so just pick everyone to be bad, and you’d get a pretty good score. Nobody predicted the division winner would have a losing record, but Nate Davis from USA Today came the closest, predicting the Bucs at 9-8. The NFC North played pretty easily as well, with an average score of -3.45. A few writers slept on the Bears, but most didn’t, and it was the Lions who screwed everyone in the end.

And The Winner Is…

Adam Rank from NFL.com had the best score, with -46, slightly edging out John Breech from CBS (-48). Rank had a -2 for the NFC, scoring positive numbers in every division except the NFC West, where he posted a -12, thanks to poor predictions for the Cardinals and Seahawks. He correctly predicted the Bills, Bears, and Giants records, and missed the Cowboys, Eagles, Lions, Packers, Panthers, Saints, Bucs, Chargers, and Dolphins by one win.

John Breech finished second with a score of -48. If Rank was king of the NFC, then Breech was Lord of the AFC, with the highest score in three out of four divisions. He was consistent across both conferences (-26 for the AFC and -22 for the NFC). He accurately predicted the Dolphins, Browns, Colts, Lions, and Falcons’ records. He missed the Bills, Steelers, 49ers, Vikings, Cowboys, Giants, and Eagles by one win.

End Of My 2025 NFL Season Predictions Rant

Congratulations to the winner, Adam Rank. You did a great job in your predictions, and if not for the Seahawks and Cardinals tripping you up, you may have had a positive score for the NFC. As for Stadium Rant, we are going to lick our wounds and go back to the drawing board. We’ll see the rest of this crew next year at high noon, or whenever they release the 2026 schedule.