By this time of the year, we usually have a pretty good idea of which teams will be battling against each other in the Super Bowl. There are always surprises in the playoffs, of course, but the cream has usually risen to the top by now. In the last few years, we have already begun to expect a Chiefs or Eagles win.
Not this year though. The entire NFL regular season has been a rollercoaster of emotions, with teams seemingly actively avoiding becoming an out-and-out-leader. Before the season began, most of the best sports betting sites had the Eagles, Bills, and Chiefs as the most likely Super Bowl LX winner. That is not the case anymore.
In fact, the playoff and Super Bowl picture is as unclear as ever. With no one team looking unbeatable – and a number of others still in the running for the postseason – the NFL is still very difficult to call. Here are some of the surprise Super Bowl contenders going into the final weeks of the regular season.
Denver Broncos
Going into this season, the Broncos had played just one postseason game in nine years – a blowout loss to the Bills in the Wild Card playoffs last year. Going into week 16 of the 2025 NFL season, Denver was the number one team in the AFC and top of many power rankings. No one really saw this coming.
Bo Nix has been on fire all season and is proving why the Broncos kept faith with him after a middling rookie year. He has also upped his game in the latter part of this season, with his performance against the Packers in week 15 a particular standout. Calling the Broncos a contender at the beginning of the season would have sounded strange – but not anymore.
New England Patriots
The problem with being a New England Patriot is that you will always be compared to the Super Bowl-winning days of Tom Brady, Gronk, and Bill Belichick. After winning just eight games in the last two seasons combined, very few people thought that the current roster could do anything to change the perception of the modern-day team.
But, with some very winnable regular season games still to be played, the Pats could snatch that AFC number one berth away from the Broncos, as well as evoke a familiar sinking feeling for any Bills fan. Buffalo was supposed to take over once the Chiefs fell away, but the Patriots had other ideas and are now one of the best teams in the AFC.
San Francisco 49ers
The prospect of playing a Super Bowl on your own turf has to be a huge incentive for any football player – just ask the Rams from a few years ago. It is not as though the 49ers are a bad team either. But after coming up just short in 2023, last year’s 6-11 record was a major blow, and Kyle Shanahan’s team was considered longshots at best this year.
To be brutally honest, the record this year is not incredible, and it feels like it will be a Wild Card spot at best, but the 49ers are still in with a chance. With all the injuries suffered to key players, it is remarkable that they are still in the running at all. So, don’t count this team out – especially with a potential championship game at home to look forward to.
Chicago Bears
There is always a lot of pressure on a number one draft pick QB to prove that he is ready to go in the NFL. Caleb Williams had the extra problem of showing he had what it takes while leading a Bears team that had only played two postseason games since 2010. A 5-12 record in his rookie year was possibly to be expected.
Good things were written about Williams going into this season, but however much the Bears had improved, they were still in one of the toughest divisions in the league. Going into the last few weeks of the regular season, they can now win the NFC North and claim the number two seed for the playoffs. That’s not a bad place to be.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Aaron Rodgers experiment at the New York Jets was an unparalleled failure. Sustaining a season-ending injury in the opening minutes of his first game was unfortunate. But the legendary QB did little the season after to instill confidence in him successfully signing off his career. The move to the Steelers has largely worked, however, and now another divisional title might be coming his way.
The Steelers are a little like the Bears in that there are two other teams in their division that most people thought would do better this year. But the Bengals have collapsed, while the Ravens have done well to get back from a 1-5 start. A Super Bowl triumph for the Steelers still seems very unlikely, but they do have the experience of Rodgers to fall back on.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Bucs have won the NFC South for the last four years, while still losing at least seven games during the regular season. In 2022, they went into the postseason with a losing record. So, making the playoffs from this division is not a huge ask. But when the Bucs went into their week nine bye with a 6-2 record and Baker Mayfield being touted as NFL MVP, it looked like this year could be different.
Unfortunately, things have gone downhill very quickly since then. The Bucs lost five of their next six games and should not still be in contention. Positive results from two games against the Panthers in the weeks ahead would book a postseason berth, however. And from there, anything can happen.