January 05, 2026
Sergio Estrada/Imagn Images
The Seahawks physically beat up the 49ers on Saturday, earning the 1 seed in the NFC.
The 2025 NFL regular season is in the books, and playoff seeding is set. We have one new obituary, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
There was a time this season when Baker Mayfield was getting some MVP buzz, and rightfully so, as he was playing at a high level despite the Bucs suffering a long list of injuries on offense. After the Bucs' first nine games, Mayfield was 200 of 312 for 2192 yards, 16 TDs, and 2 INTs.
The second half of the season? Not so much.
| Baker Mayfield | Comp-Att (Comp %) | Yards (YPA) | TD-INT | Rating |
| First 9 games | 200-312 (64.1%) | 2192 (7.0) | 16-2 | 99.2 |
| Last 8 games | 143-231 (61.9%) | 1501 (6.5) | 10-9 | 78.9 |
The Bucs have dominated the NFC South recently, having won it four straight years from 2021 to 2024. Of course, I use the word "dominated" loosely, as they were able to win the division with an 8-9 record in 2022, a 9-8 record in 2023, and a 10-7 record in 2024.
All they needed to do was win more games this season than they lost and they would've won their fifth straight NFC South title, but after getting out to a 6-2 start, they lost seven of eight games (including a four-game losing streak) heading into a Week 18 matchup with the Panthers.
As most of you are aware, there were oddball division clinching circumstances in the NFC South this season. If the Panthers had beaten the Bucs on Saturday, they were in. But if the Bucs won, the NFC South would be decided by the winner of the Saints-Falcons game on Sunday. If the Saints won, the Bucs would get in. If the Falcons won, the Panthers would get in.
That was pretty much a perfect way to decide this trash division this season, and as it turned out the Bucs finally won a game, only to watch as the Saints lost to the Falcons the following day. I wonder how many Bucs players were rooting for the Falcons, lol. It definitely wasn't zero.
It'll be an interesting offseason for the Bucs, as franchise icons Mike Evans and Lavonte David are both free agents and HC Todd Bowles is on the hot seat. This is a team that could probably use a reset if they have big picture Super Bowl aspirations in mind. They could also go a similar "tunnel vision" route as New Orleans did years ago, when the Saints kept trying to run it back with aging, declining players, mainly because they didn't see much in the way of good competition in their own division.
My guess? It'll be the latter.
7) Panthers (8-9): A quick history of teams that won their division with a losing record, and what they did in the playoffs:
• 2010 Seahawks (7-9): The Saints had to go to Seattle to face the Seahawks in the Wild Card Round, where Marshawn Lynch had this famous run:
The Seahawks won that game, but got bounced in the Divisional Round by the Bears.
• 2014 Panthers (7-8-1): This Panthers team actually won a playoff game, too, beating the 11-5 Cardinals while holding Arizona to 78 yards. They then got bounced in the Divisional Round by the Seahawks.
• 2020 Commanders, then the Washington Football Team (7-9): The Commanders entered Week 18 needing a win over the Eagles, and the Eagles were happy to oblige, as they held out a bunch of starters, clearly trying to tank for better draft positioning. When Washington was keeping the Eagles in the game, the Eagles decided that Jalen Hurts was giving them too good a chance to win, so they benched him in favor of QB3 Nate Sudfeld.
Washington would eventually win, and the Giants — who did not win the division with a 6-10 record as a result — would cry about it for a while.
Washington actually gave the eventual Super Bowl champion Buccaneers a competitive game in the Wild Card Round, but they were one-and-done.
• 2022 Buccaneers (8-9): The Bucs were actually locked into the 4 seed prior to Week 18 with an 8-8 record (lol), and they rested starters. They got blown out in the Wild Card Round by the Cowboys.
In summary, teams that won divisions with losing records have never made any real noise in the playoffs, but they can be frisky in the Wild Card Round.
Last week: 8
6) Packers (9-7-1): At the start of the season, after they had traded for Micah Parsons, the Packers were the favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. I was curious what the Super Bowl odds look like now, and I'm surprised they're not sixth in the NFC. Via FanDuel:
The Packers rested starters on Sunday since they were locked into the 7 seed, so we can forgive that loss, but they still closed the season on a four-game losing streak. Teams can forget how to win after a while.
Last week: 6
5) 49ers (12-5): Kyle Shanahan complained about having to play on Saturday in the week leading up to their matchup against the Seahawks, despite being the home team, and having the added advantage of an extra day of rest before their first playoff game.
After losing to the Seahawks, Shanahan commented that Trent Williams and Ricky Pearsall — who both missed the game with injuries — might have played if they had one more day to get ready.
You know who didn't complain? The Seahawks, who simply showed up on Saturday and beat the Niners' asses. And they would have done the same on Sunday.
Of course, Shanahan and 49ers players infamously bitched all offseason about not having a third quarterback available after the Eagles knocked Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson out of the NFC Championship Game following the 2022 season, prompting the NFL to pass the "emergency quarterback" rule.
And you know what? After all their bitching, the Niners don't even carry a third quarterback on their roster, lol.
Anyway, my big takeaway here is that Shanahan is a crybaby who just looks for reasons to blame other things whenever he loses.
Last week: 2
4) Eagles (11-6): 2024 and 2025 division winners:
| Division | 2024 | 2025 |
| AFC East | Bills | Patriots |
| AFC North | Ravens | Steelers |
| AFC South | Texans | Jaguars |
| AFC West | Chiefs | Broncos |
| NFC East | Eagles | Eagles |
| NFC North | Lions | Bears |
| NFC South | Buccaneers | Panthers |
| NFC West | Rams | Seahawks |
As you can see, the only repeat champs were the Eagles, who most locals would agree had a disappointing season. Parity!
It's also kind of funny that the Eagles are the only repeat champion, when there hadn't previously been a repeat champion in the NFC East in over 20 years.
Last week: 5
3) Bears (11-6): No matter how the playoffs shake out for the Bears, the 2025 season is a major success, as Chicago has a legitimate head coach and quarterback, after decades of instability at those spots.
Last week: 3
2) Rams (12-5): The Rams played their starters and handled their business against the Cardinals, ensuring that they get to play in Carolina in the Wild Card Round instead of in Philly. (Yes, I do realize that they lost in Carolina a few weeks ago, but, I mean, come on.)
They also got their act together a bit after losing two straight to the Seahawks and Falcons.
They're going to have a tough road to the Super Bowl, though. It could look something like this:
• Wild Card Round: At Panthers
• Divisional Round: At Seahawks?
• NFC Championship Game: At Bears? Eagles?
Winning three straight road games against playoff teams isn't easy. #Analysis.
Last week: 4
1) Seahawks (14-3): It's pretty simple what happened on Saturday night in the Seahawks' and 49ers' battle for the 1 seed. On both sides of the ball the Seahawks physically beat the s*** out of the 49ers for four quarters in a game that wasn't remotely as close as the 13-3 final score would indicate.
Last week: 1
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