The NFL playoffs are finally here, which means Super Bowl LIX is just a few weeks away. Fourteen teams entered the postseason after battling for months to make the playoffs and are ready to embark on a month-long race to try to earn a spot in New Orleans and hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
Entering the postseason, there were seven teams on each side of the bracket, meaning there were 49 different possible Super Bowl combinations available to us, along with odds for each matchup, as well as exact odds for who beats who.
(The number of potential Super Bowl matchups will shrink as more teams are eliminated. First to go: The Los Angeles Chargers, who lost 32-12 to the Houston Texans on Saturday.)
The odds you see below, courtesy of FanDuel, are only for those two teams to meet in the Super Bowl, not who wins. Which is a little far-fetched, considering a multi-team matchup probably wasn’t even that high before the season.
Such is life when there are a bunch of top teams in the AFC and plenty of solid contenders on the NFC side as well.
What follows is a not-so-scientific ranking of all the possible matchups plus some concise comments. However, let’s be clear about a few things.
First, all of the Super Bowl matchups are mostly good and/or great. I don’t really see many of these matchups that I don’t like, if I’m honest. But (two), there are definitely some less attractive games when it comes to scoring and that is reflected below to some extent. Third, I love uniform combinations! If you don’t want that included, make your own list. Fourth, training is important and I want to see some fun training matches (if only we could get a HarBowl). Fifth, I’m going to try to avoid any big upsets in the Super Bowl because a close game is better than anything else.
Without further ado, every possible Super Bowl matchup, ranked:
49. Steelers vs. Commanders (600-1): Look, Jayden Daniels at the Super Bowl, his first year would be crazy and Steelers fans would travel like crazy, but aesthetically I’m not sure this is what we’re looking for. I’m sorry.
48. Broncos against Lions (70-1): There’s just not much chance that the No. 7 seed with a rookie quarterback will be competitive with the Lions at this position.
47. Texans against commanders (550-1): This would certainly be a boon for the future of the quarterback position in the NFL, but let’s not pretend this is an exciting matchup for the general public.
46. Broncos vs. Buccaneers (320-1): Only if both teams promise to wear their old uniforms. Mile High Orange vs. Cream. Wait, maybe we shouldn’t do that after all.
45. Steelers against Águilas (150-1): I saw this in the regular season and I don’t need to see it again.
44. Texans against Buccaneers (320-1): Am I allowed to not want a Super Bowl matchup strictly because the uniform combination won’t be appealing? Of course I am.
43. Broncos vs. Commanders (550-1): We’ve never seen a rookie quarterback in the Super Bowl before, so why not make it two?
42. Broncos against Packers (320-1): Two top-tier franchises facing off should probably get a higher rating, but there’s something about this matchup that lacks the necessary sex appeal.
41. Chiefs against Buccaneers (25-1): This wasn’t a particularly great Super Bowl when Tom Brady was playing for the Bucs and I’m not sure it’ll be a great game this time around either, just for opposite reasons. Mayfield vs. Mahomes is spicy for college reasons, but that’s it.
40. Chargers against commanders (230-1): The grades won’t be good.
39. Steelers against Vikings (250-1): An aging Russell Wilson against a revitalized Sam Darnold in a Super Bowl would be a fever dream.
38. Broncos vs. Rams (430-1): Kind of a sneaky coin toss showdown, but also kind of like that.
37. Steelers against Buccaneers (370-1): Russell vs. Baker to start Short King Spring.
36. Texans against Vikings (210-1): I imagine all these games in my mind and when I imagine this I make a face like my dog George is sleeping next to me and I just cut the cheese.
35. Chargers against Buccaneers (130-1): A great game, it might be a little hard to watch.
34. Steelers against Rams (500-1): To be honest, I should probably have this even lower.
33. Broncos against Vikings (210-1): Denver is playful enough, particularly on defense, to keep him around if they can pressure Sam Darnold.
32. Texans against Rams (430-1): It’s my list and I even think I might have ranked it too high.
31. Chiefs against Vikings (16-1): A little worried that this is going to get out of control.
30. Chargers against Eagles (50-1): I don’t think the Chargers can really get beat, but this wouldn’t be a high-flying matchup.
29. Steelers against Lions (80-1): The uniforms are an elite combination and fans would flock to NOLA for this matchup even if the Lions were heavy favorites.
28. Texans against Packers (320-1): Two young quarterbacks who were mentioned in the MVP race before the season but disappointed a bit, it would be fun to see the streaks here.
27. Broncos against Águilas (120-1): The good thing here would be some incredible theatrics between Sean Payton and Nick Sirianni before the game and possibly during the game.
26. Chargers against Rams (180-1): I love LAAAAAAA (And, man, would this be an interesting matchup given what’s going on in Los Angeles right now? Thoughts and prayers to everyone affected by the wildfires.)
25. Ravens against Buccaneers (38-1): Todd Monken’s Revenge Game!!
24. Chargers against Vikings (90-1): The uniform showdown is strangely attractive to me.
23. Bosses against commanders (44-1): The present versus the future.
22. Texans against Eagles (120-1): If the Texans got here, it would mean CJ Stroud was screwed.
21. Bills against Buccaneers (35-1): Alpha male showdown between Josh Allen and Baker Mayfield.
20. Ravens against Vikings (25-1): Deeply concerned about a possible explosion here.
19. Texans against Lions (70-1): I’m always intrigued by two teams trying to win their first Super Bowl and what’s at stake.
18. Ravens against Rams (50-1): This is where we start to get into concerns about blowout even though the matchups between coaches and quarterbacks are at a high level.
17. Steelers vs. Packers (370-1): A low-ranked risky bet here, but fans would go crazy and it goes back to 2011, albeit with perhaps less impressive offensive production.
16. Loaders vs. Packers (130-1): Maybe I’m higher on the Chargers than everyone else, but I think they’re in a position to advance this postseason. Same with the Packers. Justin Herbert vs. jordanian love It’s pretty spicy for legacy purposes.
15. Bills against Vikings (23-1): A little worried that the Bills might succeed, but the same goes for the first Super Bowl in history.
14. Chiefs against Rams (34-1): Matthew Stafford with the opportunity to seal his legacy in the Hall of Fame facing Mahomes who is trying to achieve his third title.
13. Bills against commanders (60-1): Really unlikely matchup, but the combination of two elite quarterbacks clearly gets my engine going.
12. Ravens against Packers (38-1): This is just a fun, sneaky matchup, I wasn’t even planning on having it this high.
11. Chargers against Lions (28-1): Dan Campbell vs. Jim Harbaugh means the world will have no more brick walls because they will have been broken through before this game.
10. Bills against Packers (35-1): Do you like GUNSLINGING? Because this is a shooting range, with echoes of Jim Kelly and Brett Favre.
9. Ravens against commanders (65-1): Great explosion chance, but Lamar Jackson vs. Jayden Daniels 2.0 for all the marbles would be SOMETHING.
8. Bills against Eagles (13-1): Another matchup of two of the best rushing quarterbacks ever facing each other in their prime.
7. Chiefs against Packers (25-1): A rematch of the original Super Bowl. Beautiful uni combo too.
6. Bills against Rams (48-1): I’m biased because I love Matthew Stafford and picked this up before the season, but it would be an incredible game between two outstanding quarterbacks.
5. Bosses vs. Eagles (+950): A rematch from two years ago that delivered an incredible Super Bowl plus the added bonus of Andy Reid once again facing his old team at the highest level in search of a third title.
4. Ravens against Eagles (14-1): The first ALL BIRD Super Bowl; The pressure and stakes for Lamar Jackson and Jalen Hurts would be incredible here.
3. Chiefs vs. Lions (+480): We’ve seen these two face off before, with Detroit winning the opener in KC. The ultimate “final boss” for the Lions as they try to win their first real Super Bowl.
2. Ravens against Lions (+750): There’s a lot of gunfight potential here with all the explosive weapons on both sides. The Ravens defense has improved significantly down the stretch, but I’m not sure anyone is slowing down the Lions’ lethal offensive attack. Conversely, Detroit’s defensive injuries would likely allow Lamar to cook.
1. Bills against Lions (7-1): Two all-time fans, accustomed to years of losing, and neither of them with an actual Super Bowl victory. New Orleans full of rabid Bills and Lions fans would be awesome and the matchup is just as good.
