Nine weeks into the NFL season and nobody seems to know which teams are true contenders. It’s a rare occurrence in the NFL. While ‘Any Given Sunday’ is a term that has become familiar with all fans, the 2025 season has taken that phrase to the extreme. For the first time since 2010, every team in the league has at least two losses before week 10. So, as the second half of the season gets underway, who are the best teams in the NFL, which teams have surprised us, and who, really, has a chance at lifting the Lombardi Trophy in Santa Clara in February?
Number One – Philadelphia Eagles (6-2, 1st in NFC East)
It’s incredibly hard to judge the Philadelphia Eagles. They are by no means the buzzsaw that ended last season on a 16 game win streak in games Jalen Hurts started and finished, which of course ended in a blowout of the three-peat chasing Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. However, while they may not be as dominant in 2025, it is hard to argue with their resume this season. They have beaten the Chiefs, Rams and Buccaneers, three teams no one would be surprised to see on championship weekend (providing Philadelphia doesn’t make it of course). They did have a rough two-game losing streak to the Giants and Broncos, but what team hasn’t had a rough patch this season?
Being completely honest, it is hard to make the argument this team is the outright best in the NFL and, to be frank, most other seasons they certainly wouldn’t be. But 2025 is a season filled with flawed teams and the Eagles have the strongest wins on their schedule. They may not be clicking at the moment and there are two ways to look at that. One, they are an inherently flawed team this year despite their success last season and that will catch up with them eventually or, two, they are winning games despite playing badly and once they click like last year, they will be incredibly hard to stop. Given last season’s dominance, I am inclined to go with the latter. I don’t think Saquon Barkley will magically start producing like he did in 2024, but he and his offensive line are too talented to have such little output. On the flip side, Jalen Hurts has been underrated in his performances this season. He hasn’t been perfect but his second half comeback against the Rams proved a lot of people wrong and is anyone really willing to bet against a man who has been sensational in two Super Bowls and is the reigning Super Bowl MVP? I’m not. In a league with lots of good teams and no great ones, as of yet, it’s hard not to put the Super Bowl champions at the top of the pile, especially given the opposition they’ve defeated.
Number Two – Los Angeles Rams (6-2, 2nd in NFC West)
The fact is, in a league full of flawed teams in one way or another, this team looks like one of the most well-rounded. We will get to Matthew Stafford in a second but the Rams’ defense has been sensational. They are second in points per game allowed, tied for third in sacks, tied for seventh in takeaways, and top ten in total defense. Third year outside linebacker Byron Young is quickly establishing himself as one of the best in the league with nine sacks on the year already. With his second-year teammate, Jared Verse, on the opposite end of the defensive line, L.A. has arguably the best edge rusher duo in the league, as well as Braden Fiske and Kobie Turner to complete an elite defensive line, one of the best in the whole NFL. That comes as no surprise to anyone that watched this defensive group in the backend of the 2024 season.
Matthew Stafford is putting up MVP numbers right now. With a 113.2 passer rating, he ranks sixth in the NFL, and he has 21 touchdowns to just two interceptions. While some may point out a lot of his touchdowns have come from inside the 10-yard line, Stafford is first in intended air yards per attempt, and third in air yards as a whole. With Puka Nacua setting a historic pace before his injury, which was thankfully minor, and the veteran Davante Adams showing he still has the talent to help his team win a championship, this team is reminiscent of the 2021 Stafford and McVay team that won the Super Bowl with Cooper Kupp and Odell Beckham Jr., except Stafford is perhaps even better in this offense.
Number Three – Buffalo Bills (6-2, 2nd in the AFC East)
Similar to the Eagles, the Buffalo Bills had a rough stretch after starting 4-0 as their unbeaten start was followed by two defeats in a row. However, a 28-21 win against the Kansas City Chiefs in a game that shouldn’t have been as close as it was, has shown that the Bills are still sure-fire Super Bowl contenders and one of the best teams in the league. The Chiefs’ offense was looking like the 2018-2022 version in terms of scoring in the lead up to the 2024 AFC Championship rematch last Sunday, but the Bills limited them massively, causing Mahomes to have a career low in completion percentage, with the three-time Super Bowl MVP going 15 for 34 on pass attempts with no touchdowns and one interception. Rookie cornerback Maxwell Hairston was the player with that interception, in only his second career game. He and his second-year teammate, safety Cole Bishop, were tremendous in the secondary. If those two can build on their performances, the Bills will make a lot of teams struggle. The run defense is a concern for the Bills as they rank 28th in the league against the ground game. Buffalo fans will be frustrated that they didn’t get any help at the trade deadline for stopping the rushing attack, but the defense was tremendous at limiting Mahomes’ scrambling in their win, something the Chiefs quarterback has been doing a lot more in the regular season this year.
Buffalo’s rushing attack is nothing to worry about, though. Of course, Josh Allen provides a huge threat with his legs but James Cook has now established himself as one of the top running backs in the league. Cook is second in the league in rushing yards with 867 at an average of 5.7 yards per attempt, and the rest of the top five have all played one more game than him. Cook’s 114-yard performance against Kansas City made him the first player to get over 100 yards against the Chiefs since Lamar Jackson did it in week one of 2024. As a team, the Bills are second in the league only to the Colts in terms of Expected Points Added (EPA) per rush. The passing game might worry some Bills fans, not because of their MVP quarterback, but because of their weapons. While it would be nice if this team had a clear number one receiver, tight end Dalton Kincaid has shown how much of an impact he can make. He had a 23-yard touchdown on Buffalo’s opening drive against the Chiefs as he racked up his second 100-yard game of the season. With an elite offensive line, an elite quarterback, a strong run game, and a great tight end, the Bills offense is still one of the best in the NFL and will be just fine.
Number Four – Seattle Seahawks (6-2, 1st in NFC West)
The Seattle Seahawks seem to be going under the radar. Perhaps it’s because fans don’t believe they’ve had an elite win yet but this team is clearly amongst the best in the league. First of all, on the defensive side of the ball, they are top five in points against per game and rank second against the run. While they rank in the bottom half of the league in passing yards against them, they are top five in passer rating against them, and also tied for third in sacks. Seattle’s secondary has suffered with injuries this season but with a healthy Riq Woolen, Devon Witherspoon and Coby Bryant, this group will be tough to have success against through the air. Head coach Mike Macdonald is now in his second year with the team and is starting to establish his coaching properly on the defense. He got the head coaching job after leading the best defense in the NFL in 2023 in the form of the Baltimore Ravens, and, after a solid first season, he is continuing to prove how good of a decision it was from Seattle’s front office to bring him in. This defensive group has played well so far and will only get better as Macdonald establishes his philosophy.
On offense, this team might be even scarier than they are on defense. Sam Darnold has proven to everyone that he is a good quarterback after there were some doubts over whether his 2024 season in Minnesota was somewhat fluky. It certainly helps that he has Jaxon Smith-Njigba as his number one receiver. JSN has established himself as a superstar this season with 948 yards in eight games. If he were to keep up that pace over 17 games, he would become the first receiver ever to have over 2,000 yards in a season. Darnold also has former Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp in his arsenal as well, but can torch teams without the former Rams receiver as Seattle’s quarterback went 21 for 24 for 330 yards and four touchdowns on Sunday Night Football against the Commanders. But Seattle clearly wasn’t satisfied with Kupp as Darnold’s next best option. At the trade deadline they picked up one of the fastest players in the NFL, Rashid Shaheed, from the Saints, a move that signifies this team is all in on Darnold’s rocket arm. Combine the former first-round pick’s arm strength with Shaheed’s speed and this offense looks even more terrifying. That’s all without mentioning Kenneth Walker III, one of the better running backs in the league. The reason Seattle isn’t ranked higher on this list is that they need to beat a legitimate contender. Darnold had a great year last season but played poorly with the number one seed on the line in week 18, as well as in the wildcard round. He needs to prove himself in the big games and will have that chance soon. If the Seahakws and Rams both win in week 10, they will both be 7-2 before facing each other in week 11. A win against the Cardinals this week followed by another victory in that monstrous clash for Darnold and his team, then the Seahawks will shoot up everyone’s power rankings.
Number Five – New England Patriots (7-2, 1st in AFC East)
Mike Vrabel has turned this team into one of the best in the NFL. Drake Maye is playing at an MVP level, leading the seventh best scoring offense in the league. Maye showed promise in his 2024 rookie season but has taken a giant leap this season to become one of the top quarterbacks in the league. The second-year signal caller has 17 passing touchdowns to just four interceptions, and a 74.1% completion rate through week nine. He’s not short of weapons either, with Stefon Diggs showing he still has the talent to play at a high level, and Kayshon Boutte having a breakout third season with five touchdowns already. It may be the case where neither is a true number one at this point in their careers but both are more than solid options for New England’s star quarterback.
Defensively, the Patriots have been so hard to break through on the ground. They are giving up just 75.1 yards per game against the run, first in the league with the Seahawks in second giving up over 10 yards more per game. If the Seahawks gave up 10 more rushing yards per game, their rushing defense would drop out of the top 10, showing how good New England has been against the run compared to every other team. Their signature win was on the road to Buffalo, where they held James Cook to his worst game this season at just over three yards on each rush. There is certainly talent on the defensive side of the ball with the likes of Harold Landry III on the edge and Christian Gonzalez at cornerback. However, there are concerns with their pass defense given that, despite Landry’s strong season, this team struggles to get to the quarterback, and Gonzalez can’t cover everyone of course. With a trip to Tampa Bay coming up to face the 6-2 Buccaneers, the secondary will certainly be tested against Baker Mayfield and rookie sensation Emeka Egbuka. A win in that game to move to 8-2, and the Patriots will put the league on notice, if they haven’t already.