2025 NFL Season: 5 Underdogs That Could Make the Playoffs

Well, here we are, the second month of the 2025 NFL season. 

What has transpired to date? Start with each of the 32 teams having at least one loss on the ledger. The last undefeated teams (Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles) both went down at home this past Sunday, which sort of ‘explains’ what’s happened to this point. 

While the Super Bowl board-favored Bills and defending-champion Eagles do not qualify as underdogs to make the NFL playoffs, several weak sisters around the league have served notice they might well have postseason plans.

In no particular order, we will try to plead the cases of the New England Patriots, Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Denver Broncos, and Indianapolis Colts. 

New England, 3-2 through five NFL games, comes off a signature win over the Bills in Orchard Park. Their sophomore quarterback, Drake Maye, has improved, and while the team continues on the road, there are winnable games against the New Orleans Saints and Tennessee Titans.

It’s not far-fetched to envision the Pats at 5-2 nearing the halfway point of the season.  

The 2-3 Panthers did exhum themselves out of a 17-point hole against the visiting Miami Dolphins in their last game. Though lacking consistency on the road, the team has proven to be tough in Charlotte, admittedly a work in progress.

Jacksonville was a chic choice a few seasons ago, but trainwrecked to 4-13 in 2024. Well, the Jags have matched that win total through five games this season. Already with gutsy wins over a division rival (Houston Texans) and two perennial elites (San Francisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs) while quarterback Trevor Lawrence has silenced his critics, at least through five games,  

Denver bounced the champion Eagles on the road with 18 unanswered Bronco points in the final quarter. At 3-2 and with those losses by a total of four points, this is a team which has proven effective on both sides of the ball,

Now, last but not least in NFL news are the Colts, joining the Jags atop the AFC South at 4-1; Show of hands, who among us saw this coming with quarterback Daniel Jones? 

Granted, two of Indy’s wins were against woebegones Tennessee and Las Vegas, but the Colts did nip Denver after a second-chance field goal on the final play. 

NFL game odds might not always respect this aforementioned quintet, but they have proven worthy of gazing at as the season progresses.  

With a decent sample size to date, here’s a bit of a primer on the 2025 playoffs…

How Do NFL Playoff Brackets Work?

In the 32-team National Football League, the two conferences (American and National) each have four, four-team divisions (North, South, East, and West).

Each of the conferences gets seven teams in the NFL playoffs, beginning with the four division champs. There are also three ‘wild card’ teams, defined as teams that did not win their division but had the best records of that next tier.

The two teams with the best records in each conference earn a bye in the opening round of the playoffs, having the home-field advantage throughout the playoffs in the AFC and NFC.

The other dozen teams compete in the opening round. Then, after the first round of the playoffs, the three surviving teams in each conference join the top seed to comprise the final eight. The playoffs continue, with the higher-seeded teams, who are invariably favored in NFL betting odds, hosting the games.

Once each conference has finished its playoffs, then the Super Bowl qualifiers are determined. 

What Days Do NFL Playoffs Start?

It’s not just NFL rumors; it’s a fact. Grab a 2026 calendar and circle January 10th, 11th, and 12th, three days (and nights) of the NFL schedule wild-card round. Those half-dozen survivors join the conference’s top seeds in the division round of the playoffs.

Which AFC Teams Have Never Won a Super Bowl?

In the American Football Conference (AFC), teams without a Super Bowl title include the Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Cleveland Browns, Houston Texans, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers, and Tennessee Titans. 

There are varying degrees of BetUS NFL playoff odds associated with each of those seven.

Any Final Thoughts?

NFL odds are what drives the bus in sports gambling, and not just Team ‘A’ against Team ‘B’. There are a plethora of props all over the board, including those NFL lines on individual winners of regular-season awards. Do some homework before placing any wager.