Seahawks eye Super Bowl title

The wild-card round of the 2025 NFL playoffs is completed, and the divisional round matchups are set. In the NFC, the San Francisco 49ers will play at the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday, and the Los Angeles Rams  face the Bears in Chicago on Sunday. As for the AFC, the Buffalo Bills take on the Denver Broncos on Saturday, while the New England Patriots  host the Houston Texans on Sunday.

The top spot is firmly in the grasp of the Seahawks, who dominated the 49ers in San Francisco to close out their regular season. The Seahawks clinched the NFC West title and the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs. The Rams remained second on the board after a 34-31 wild-card win over the Panthers in Carolina, and the Pats sit in third after a 16-3 win over the Chargers to open the postseason.

After earning the No. 1 seed, Seattle are coming off two weeks of rest in that matchup whereas the 49ers have just six days to prepare following their Wild Card win over the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday.

The Seahawks have several other factors working in their favour as they try to reach Super Bowl LX on February 8. Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold has emerged as a Super Bowl MVP favourite alongside Los Angeles Rams signal-caller Matthew Stafford.

The only two non-quarterbacks in the top-10 are Seahawks wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Rams pass-catcher Puka Nacua. That pair led the NFL in receiving yards by a sizable margin in the 2025 regular season. Both had more than 1,700 yards, while no other player hit 1,500.

Smith-Njigba made history en route. He became the first player to lead the NFL in receiving yards while playing for the No. 1 seed in his conference since Jerry Rice in 1994, when the 49ers went on to win Super Bowl XXIX.

There’s still a lot of work to be done before Darnold can secure a Super Bowl MVP. But his defense is the best in the league, and that at least gives him a better chance than most.