We’re under a week away from the start of the 2025 NFL season.

As is always the case heading into the new year, the week leading up to the opening kickoff is a golden opportunity to dish out some of the boldest predictions.

Today, it’s time to unleash those hot takes into the world – for better or worse.

Patriots, Giants, Cardinals and Titans all make playoffs

The Titans, Giants, and Patriots held three of the top four picks in the 2025 draft. They will all make the playoffs this year.

The AFC South is the league’s weakest division, and the Houston Texans’ persisting offensive line issues tell me they are due for a drop-off. The young, improving Titans will win their division.

As for New England and Big Blue, they won’t win their divisions this year, but the roster turnarounds and improvements in quarterback play will help them get to the postseason.

Finally, while the Los Angeles Rams or San Francisco 49ers are easy picks to win the NFC West, neither team will get the title. That will fall to the Arizona Cardinals, who took a four-win jump last year and are trending up.

Jets finish 9-8, miss playoffs

When Bill Parcells took over the Jets in his first season, the team missed the playoffs, but finished over .500, a massive improvement from a one-win year. The hot take surrounding the 2025 team is that they go through a very similar season to the 1997 iteration.

New York will miss the playoffs for a 15th straight season. However, for the first time in a decade, the team will finish over .500. It will be the first true sign of a positive turn for the franchise in decades.

READ MORE: NY Jets hold significant advantage over Steelers in overlooked area

Chiefs miss conference title game

It’s been almost a decade since the Kansas City Chiefs failed to reach the conference title game. Since Patrick Mahomes joined the starting lineup in 2018, no team has been more consistently successful.

That run will end this year.

Kansas City is much older than in recent years, and the stars of their team seem to be breaking down. This is the year that a team like Buffalo or Baltimore should be able to get over the hump.

QB outside “Big 4” wins MVP

The four best quarterbacks in the NFL are – in no particular order – Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen, and Joe Burrow. They are at the top of the MVP race going into the 2025 season.

The coveted award will go elsewhere.

Instead, whether it’s Baker Mayfield in Tampa Bay, Jordan Love in Green Bay, or Jayden Daniels in Washington, a quarterback outside the “Big Four” will win the MVP award – throwing the league’s quarterback hierarchy on its head.

Aaron Rodgers, Steelers collapse into worst year since 2003

There’s a chance that the four-time NFL MVP can lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to championship title contention. They still have stars on both sides of the ball.

There’s also a good chance Pittsburgh fails to reach new heights with its aging quarterback.

The hot take here is simple. Rodgers, much like he couldn’t with the Jets, will be unable to turn the Steelers around. To take it a step further, he will lead Pittsburgh to its first sub-.500 season since 2003, and the first in the Mike Tomlin era.

It may just lead to the end of Tomlin in Pittsburgh as well.