While we still have the Super Bowl ahead of us before we can really consign the 2025 NFL season to the history books, it’s understandable that many teams are already running assessments to see what went wrong and what went right. A good chunk of them are also looking to recalibrate with new head coaches.
The season has been an interesting one, highly memorable for the handful of teams that emerged as top playoff contenders, seemingly out of nowhere. But for some, it was rather forgettable. There are a lot of NFL fanbases that ended up disappointed in 2025, but we picked out five below who regressed the most from the previous season:
Kansas City Chiefs
2024 Record 15-2
2025 Record 6-11
Predicted Win Total 11.5
The Chiefs’ 2024 season should be studied for years to come as it featured a miraculous number of grinding wins by small margins – almost unheard of for a team with 15 wins. Nonetheless, a perfect storm occurred in 2025 for a team that was once considered a lock in the NFL betting odds for the Playoffs this and every season for the last decade. They were mediocre before Mahomes blew his knee, and they got bad after.
Washington Commanders
2024 Record 12-5
2025 Record 5-12
Predicted Win Total 9.5
The magic of 2024 was always going to be difficult to recapture, and the lack of protection for Jayden Daniels didn’t help matters. He played in half of the Commanders’ games and could only show some of the sparks that made him the most exciting rookie in a generation the previous season. The key now is to look forward to how they can make the most of him; he deserves more.
Detroit Lions
2024 Record 15-2
2025 Record 9-8
Predicted Win Total 10.5
Like the Vikings (below), the Lions didn’t have a terrible season, and in another year could have sneaked into the Playoffs. It was just a question of dropping off in key areas at key times. The offense was not as explosive, and it may be the case that we look back at the departure of OC Ben Johnson as a key moment in the Lions’ modern history. Detroit’s loss was Chicago’s gain.
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Minnesota Vikings
2024 Record 14-3
2025 Record 9-8
Predicted Win Total 9.5
Let’s be honest, most non-Vikings fans thought that the 2024 record was a little bit of a fluke, and they were probably the team most widely cited for a major decline. The irony is that they weren’t that bad at all, just somewhat inconsistent and, dare we say it, a bit unlucky. Some baffling coaching decisions did not help.
Arizona Cardinals
2024 Record 8-9
2025 Record 3-14
Predicted Win Total 8.5
Hmmm. We could have put the Ravens on this list, given they were one of the worst performing of the main contenders (down four wins from 2024), but we have gone by the stats and put in the Cardinals. Starting the season with two wins suggested things would be okay. You could even say that things could turn after five consecutive losses brought them to 2-5, as each of those losses was by fewer than 5 points. But after a solitary win in Dallas, the wheels came off altogether.
