What Are The 10 Biggest Storylines Entering The 2025 NFL Season?

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4 days ago

National Football League What Are The 10 Biggest Storylines Entering The 2025 NFL Season?
Published
Aug. 5, 2025 9:03 p.m. ET
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A new NFL season is on the horizon, bringing hope and promise to all 32 fan bases, but deep within each lie some uncertainty and questions about how well their team will perform in 2025.
Of course, some of those unanswered questions are bigger than the others, and the answers to many of those burning questions will go a long way in determining who wins Super Bowl LX next February.
That said, which storylines are the biggest entering the 2025 season? We've rounded up the most notable.
10 Biggest Storylines Entering The 2025 NFL Season
10. How will Jayden Daniels follow up his historic rookie season?
Jayden Daniels is looking to repeat the success from his rookie season. (Photo by)
For the first time in decades, Daniels has given Washington Commanders fans hope. His historic rookie season not only won him Offensive Rookie of the Year, but he also led the Commanders to the NFC Championship Game. A successful Year 2 would almost certainly prove that last year was no fluke. But what if Daniels experiences a sophomore slump? He wouldn't be in jeopardy of losing his job by any means, but he would enter 2026 facing a good deal of pressure.
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Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen were the last two quarterbacks to win MVP. (Photo by)
Mahomes, Allen and Jackson have established themselves as the cream of the current quarterback crop. They're the last three quarterbacks to win an MVP and have each consistently been one of the best players at their position over the past five years or so. If Mahomes, Allen or Jackson win MVP again in 2025, the group would further establish themselves as the three most elite quarterbacks in the league.
8. Will the Bears win a playoff game this year?
Caleb Williams and the Bears are looking to bounce back in 2025. (Photo by)
Once again, the Bears enter a new year with high expectations. And while we've said this many times in the past, this year might be different. They got the hottest commodity in the coaching market in Ben Johnson, who might be able to unlock quarterback Caleb Williams' full potential after a shaky rookie season. Chicago also added several veterans within the trenches to bolster its offensive and defensive lines, which should pair well with the talent it has on the outside at wide receiver and along the edge on defense. But Bears fans will only know the hype is for real when their team starts winning games, especially big ones. That's the only way Williams and Johnson can push away pressure to perform in 2026, because if they fall short of expectations in 2025, their seats will turn hot in the offseason.
7. Will the Bengals make the playoffs this year?
Joe Burrow was one of the NFL's top passers in 2024. (Photo by)
Not many teams have as much elite talent as the Bengals. Joe Burrow was the NFL's leading passer in 2024, while Ja'Marr Chase won the receiving triple crown and Trey Hendrickson led the league in sacks. But that wasn't enough for them to make the postseason, as the Bengals missed the playoffs for the second straight year after going 9-8 in the regular season and facing several excruciating losses. The Bengals were able to make most of their top talent happy over the offseason, extending Chase and fellow wideout Tee Higgins. However, Hendrickson remains without a long-term deal and is holding in. If Hendrickson continues to push the issue, that would be a catastrophic loss for a defense that was already one of the worst in the league and further slimming their margin of error. If that ends up being the difference between a third straight season without making the playoffs or not, the situation in Cincinnati might become uncomfortable.
6. Can Brock Purdy lead the 49ers back to dominance?
Brock Purdy and the 49ers struggled in 2024 with many players missing time due to injury. (Photo by)
The 49ers were struck by the Super Bowl hangover last year, dealing with a multitude of injuries to key players and overall regression en route to a 6-11 season. Even though there were a lot of departures over the offseason, there are reasons for optimism in the Bay Area entering 2025. Christian McCaffrey is returning from injury, while their defensive line has some promise after spending their first two draft picks there (Mykel Williams, Alfred Collins). They also have the league's easiest strength of schedule. Still, Purdy will ultimately be tasked with leading the 49ers back to the postseason. He put up a decent stat line in 2024 (3,864 yards, 20 touchdowns, 12 interceptions), but those numbers were a drop-off from his 2023 season. The 49ers still gave Purdy one of the largest contracts for a quarterback in the league this offseason, but another season like that might lead to some immediate buyer's remorse at a position that John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan have struggled to get a long-term solution for.
5. Can the Cowboys make it back to the playoffs?
Dak Prescott missed the back half of the 2024 NFL season. (Photo by)
Following a strong regular season in 2023, the Cowboys took a step back in 2024 and went 7-10 as QB Dak Prescott missed roughly half the season due to a hamstring injury. Jerry Jones fired head coach Mike McCarthy as a result but had a relatively uninspiring search to replace him, promoting offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. They didn't turn over much of their roster, either, with wide receiver George Pickens being their only notable acquisition. If Dallas misses the playoffs again, could more changes be on the horizon? Well, the Cowboys haven't gotten off to a good start in training camp, upsetting Micah Parsons in contract negotiations to the point that he's requested a trade. So, who knows if Parsons will be around when the season begins, but having him under contract would at least ensure some long-term stability with their core.
4. Will Aaron Rodgers have success in Pittsburgh?
Aaron Rodgers is entering his first year with the Steelers. (Photo by)
Rodgers has another new home in 2025, and he has indicated that the upcoming season will be his swan song. The four-time MVP's legacy is set in stone, firmly placing himself in the conversation of the greatest quarterbacks of all time based on what he did in his 18 years with the Green Bay Packers, but his short stint with the New York Jets was filled with drama and poor play that was clouded by his season-ending Achilles tear in 2023. If this is really Rodgers' final season, doesn't he want to end it on a good note? He did say he had something to prove when he requested a trade from Green Bay two years ago, and the Packers have been just fine without him. Even if the Packers have a better season in 2025 than the Steelers, a playoff by Rodgers would at least serve as a happy ending after a wild last few years. On the flip side, if Rodgers falls short of expectations, Mike Tomlin might feel even more heat in Pittsburgh. The Super Bowl-winning head coach hasn't won a playoff game since 2016, and while he hasn't had a losing record, Tomlin's constant shortcomings have seemingly taken a toll on Steelers fans' patience.
3. Can the Eagles repeat as Super Bowl champions?
Saquon Barkley had a year for the ages in his first season with the Eagles. (Photo by)
For roughly two decades, no team was able to repeat as Super Bowl champions. The Chiefs broke that drought in 2023, though, winning it all that year after their Super Bowl victory in 2022. So, going back-to-back is certainly possible. After ending the Chiefs' three-peat hopes, the Eagles are in a good spot to repeat. The vast majority of their core is back in 2025, including Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley, A.J. Brown, Lane Johnson and Jalen Carter. But the last time this group made it to the Super Bowl, they fizzled out late in the year, losing six of their final seven games after a 10-1 start en route to a first-round playoff exit in 2023. Have Nick Sirianni & Co. learned their lesson from that season? If they can, we might be hearing dynasty talk in Philadelphia soon.
2. Can the Lions make it to the Super Bowl?
Jared Goff's 2024 season didn't end the way he would've liked it to. (Photo by Amy Lemus/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Arguably, no team has had more excruciating playoff losses over the last few years than the Lions. In 2023, the Lions were one half away from reaching their first Super Bowl, but they couldn't hold onto their 24-7 lead against the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. Last season, Detroit had the best record in the NFC. However, the season-ending injuries mounted up before the Lions committed too many self-inflicted errors in their divisional round loss to the Commanders. The Lions return much of the nucleus of those two teams in 2025, giving them a chip on their shoulder, but they'll have to do with two new coordinators, as offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn departed for head coaching gigs. If Dan Campbell's squad is able to overcome that and reach, or even win, the Super Bowl, decades of misery might be put to rest. If not, questions about Campbell and QB Jared Goff will continue to persist.
1. How will Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs bounce back?
Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes are seeking answers about what went wrong at the end of the 2024 season. (Photo by)
The Chiefs' quest for a three-peat wasn't all that pretty, winning 11 of their 15 regular-season games by one score. Still, they went 15-2 and wound up reaching the Super Bowl for a third consecutive season. Once they got to Super Bowl LIX, though, their quest for a three-peat was quickly derailed, getting blown out by the Eagles. Mahomes, Travis Kelce and Andy Reid are all back for the Chiefs in 2025, making them one of the betting favorites to win it all again. However, Mahomes arguably had his worst season in 2024, while Kelce showed his age. Was that just an anomaly, or is the page turning in the AFC West? If it's the latter, the AFC might be more wide open than ever before.
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