The Big Lead

Super Bowl 2025: Ranking the 4 potential matchups ahead of the conference championships

By Sam Westmoreland

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen gets ready to launch a pass during first half action at the Buffalo Bills divisional game against the Baltimore Ravens at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park on Jan. 19, 2025.
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen gets ready to launch a pass during first half action at the Buffalo Bills divisional game against the Baltimore Ravens at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park on Jan. 19, 2025. / Tina MacIntyre-Yee/Democrat and Chronicle / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs just aren't much fun to watch this season.
Jan 18, 2025; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) shakes hands with fans after defeating the Houston Texans in a 2025 AFC divisional round game at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

3. CHIEFS VS. COMMANDERS

Why it's Good: This one has some fun narrative angles to it. Mahomes vs. Jayden Daniels, who plays with a similar level of improvisational flair and brilliance. The Chiefs, who have been one of the most successful franchises of the last decade, taking on a Commanders team who hasn't sniffed a Super Bowl in the last 30-plus years, and haven't really come anywhere close in the last 20. The freewheeling Commanders might be the most chaotic team left in the playoffs, and chaos almost always equals Super Bowl fun.

Why It's Not: Once again, I feel the need to reiterate that this Chiefs team is not the high-flying, high-speed, high-octane offense of years past. They are ruthlessly efficient, but not terribly explosive, and sans Mahomes, they'd be downright pedestrian.

The defense certainly has experience against mobile quarterbacks, and would like nothing more than to deprive Washington of any joy in this potential matchup. Daniels is incredible and dynamic, but Kansas City is fully capable of locking him down and turning this game into a slugfest, or a blowout.

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