NFL 2025 season takeaways

The 2025-2026 NFL season is officially over, as the Seattle Seahawks have won the 60th Super Bowl and are finally champs for the first time in over a decade. Now with the NFL’s offseason upon us, let’s go over some of the big takeaways looking ahead to the 2026 NFL draft and season, as well as looking back on 2025.

Defense Still Wins Championships in the NFL

It may not have seemed like defenses would be able to be the championship engine in an NFL world that has increasingly rewarded offenses having higher outputs and penalizing defenses for hitting too hard. The hip-drop tackle bans seemed like just another step towards a less defensive NFL. Yet, the best teams in the league maintained elite defenses.

Houston won 12 games and a playoff game featuring a stout defensive unit. Denver made the AFC championship and nearly bested New England mostly off their defensive effort. The Seattle Seahawks rode a powerful defense into a Super Bowl championship. Sure, offense is absolutely key. Seattle’s offense was far from being bad, yet it was an impressive defensive showing that got them all the way to the victory, holding New England to just 13 points.

The AFC is Wide Open

The AFC has been the Chiefs’ conference the past few seasons. It took this year’s unforeseen collapse to get a new AFC champion for the first time since 2021, which had already come off the heels of back to back Super Bowl appearances for Kansas City. However, Patrick Mahomes will miss a lot of the 2026 season with a torn ACL, and it’s not like his team was doing so hot with him on the field before his injury in 2025.

Nobody really claimed the throne as a dominating force in the AFC. While New England won the conference, they did so off a weak schedule and a bit of luck going their way. Rightfully, they got exposed in the Super Bowl. Now, this conference is seemingly anyone’s game. A few good draft choices, trades, and free agent signings and things could change for the better over the course of 1 year for any team in the AFC.

Will 2026 be the year the Buffalo Bills finally get over their championship hunt? Will the Bengals and Ravens find their way back to the top? Can the Chargers take advantage of the seemingly open conference? Could Denver stay healthy? Will New England run it back? All these questions will have their answer this upcoming season, but this offseason will be crucial with no true top dog in the conference.

The Bears are a Problem

Chicago didn’t look like a super threatening team in 2024, but with Ben Johnson taking the helm, things completely flipped. The offensive minded head coach instantly turned things around with young project QB Caleb Williams who tossed for 3942 yards and 27 touchdowns with receiving threats DJ Moore, Colston Loveland and Rome Odunze each getting over 600 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns each. Tack on a 1,000 yard rushing season from D’Andre Swift with 9 scores and a surge from rookie Kyle Monongai boosting the rushing attack and you have a scary offense.

Yet, the Bears defense was also legit. They forced a total of 33 turnovers, up from 23 the year before. 33 takeaways also led the entire NFL, complimenting a scary offense with an equally scary and productive defense. Despite a playoff flameout, Chicago has much to be excited about in the Ben Johnson era, hoping to turn into a more dominant team in the NFL.

The Buffalo Bills’ Super Bowl Window Could be Closing

2025 should be seen as an absolute disappointment for the Buffalo Bills. The AFC had no clear top team, and the Bills should have been the clear team to take the open spot. Injuries resulted in Patrick Mahomes missing much of the season, no Lamar Jackson in the playoff race, and no Joe Burrow for much of the season to get in the way.

Yet, somehow the Bills found themselves in a dogfight to simply win the division with the Patriots (which they didn’t win), and flamed out in the AFC Championship behind a lackluster Josh Allen performance and numerous injuries hurting the team. Fans may point to the final call on the interception Allen threw against Denver in the 4th quarter, but  his team’s 4 other turnovers proved too costly to overcome. Now, the NFL may be passing by Buffalo if something isn’t done quickly this offseason.

It’s time for the Dolphins to Clean House

2025 was a big year for Miami and Tua Tagovailoa. With expectations to contend for a playoff spot, Miami flamed out and missed altogether… again. Miami has just two NFL playoff appearances in the Tua era, and both were disappointing flameouts in the Wild Card. While injuries could be to blame for the Dolphins’ weak season this year, namely Tyreek Hill’s season ending injury in week 4, it might be more important to see the 1-6 start to the season as a reason for the NFL playoffs being missed. Even a late season surge didn’t give much hope, as the Dolphins were out of the postseason picture by week 15.

So what to do now? Tua is a turnover machine, and multiple big contract players are likely to be traded or cut for less pricey options. With coach Mike McDaniel already out alongside the front office being completely overhauled, it’s not likely we’re going to see a very similar roster to previous seasons. In other words, Tua time might be over.

The Vikings Made the Wrong Decision, Now They Have to Live with it

The Minnesota Vikings had Sam Darnold as their starter in 2024 but not by choice, injuries to young rookie JJ McCarthy forced their hand. Darnold had a great statistical season, leading Minnesota to 14 wins and a playoff berth- yet his play was rewarded by being let go. Darnold signed with the Seahawks, and the rest is history. McCarthy struggled in his first full NFL season as a starter, tossing for just 1632 yards, 11 touchdowns, and an embarrassing 12 picks, as well as losing 2 fumbles. The future of the current core is in question.

Star wideout Justin Jefferson only caught 2 scores and 1,048 yards in a career low season with McCarthy at the helm. Now, Minnesota must choose to pivot away from McCarthy, or ride out another season with him under center, but either way, they surely are missing Darnold as he became one of the top NFL QBs.

Now that the 2025 NFL season is done, we’re on to the 2026 season. WIth a full offseason ahead, stay tuned to Shady Sports for all things sports, whether it be arena football or the major sports, we have it all.

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