Power ranking 2025 Sunday Night Football matchups

Sunday best

Sunday Night Football caps off a great day of NFL action, but fans are locked into the standalone game to finish the day. We'll look at the matchup for every Sunday on the schedule, noting which games look like duds, and which you should circle on the calendar. We’ve excluded SNF telecasts for games not played on a Sunday night.

17. Week 3: Kansas City Chiefs at New York Giants

This doesn’t feel like a fair fight on paper. While it’s true that the Chiefs played a bunch of close games in 2024, we’re not sure how the Giants are going to stay competitive in this one. Perhaps a ferocious New York defensive line can pressure Patrick Mahomes similar to last year’s Super Bowl, but we wouldn’t bet the mortgage on it.

15. Week 9: Seattle Seahawks at Washington Commanders

Seattle figures to be a bit of an unknown heading into the season. Gilberto Manzano of Sports Illustrated gave Seattle a D+ for their free agency moves, which could be a bad sign for things to come. NFL fans are waiting to see if quarterback Sam Darnold can duplicate his impressive 2024 season with a new team.

14. Week 16: Cincinnati Bengals at Miami Dolphins

The Dolphins are a risky bet for primetime NFL schedule late in the season. At least Miami is at home for this one, where they play markedly better than they do on the road. Of course, the NFL is hoping that Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa makes it to Week 16 healthy, which is a big if considering his injury history.

13. Week 10: Pittsburgh Steelers at Los Angeles Chargers

There’s a possibility that we may be too low on this game, but both teams are comfortable playing a physical football game with a final score of 13-10. While football purists might enjoy a defensive slugfest, that style of play doesn’t usually appeal to the masses, especially on primetime.

12. Week 7: Atlanta Falcons at San Francisco 49ers

The 49ers got somewhat burned by the Brandon Aiyuk holdout situation in 2024, so they wanted to avoid that at all costs in 2025. That’s why they got the Brock Purdy deal done in May, with plenty of time to spare heading into training camp. As it pertains to this matchup, the Falcons might actually have more offensive talent than the Niners, but Purdy’s new deal indicates San Francisco is hoping he can rise above that.

11. Week 14: Houston Texans at Kansas City Chiefs

This isn’t a bad game on paper, but it feels like the Texans can’t beat the Chiefs no matter what they do. Houston has lost to Kansas City twice in the postseason in recent years, and they may not be as strong in 2025 as they were in 2024 due to injury and free agency departures. We’ll see if the result is as inevitable as it's been in the past.

8. Week 15: Minnesota Vikings at Dallas Cowboys

This shapes up to be a solid if not spectacular game late in the season. Much of the gravitas will be determined by how well J.J. McCarthy plays, and whether the Cowboys can find a running game in 2025. The headliners in this one will be two superstar wide receivers, CeeDee Lamb and Justin Jefferson. Jordan Addison or George Pickens could steal the show too.

7. Week 17: Chicago Bears at San Francisco 49ers

The NFL has the right to flex games out of Sunday Night Football, and if the Bears aren’t markedly better than last year, this game won’t remain in its current time slot. If it does, though, it would signify a huge improvement from Caleb Williams and Chicago’s offensive line. The Bears are so serious about protecting Williams that they signed guard Joe Thuney to an extension before he ever played a game.

6. Week 4: Green Bay Packers at Dallas Cowboys

The last time we saw Green Bay take on Dallas was the 2023 NFL playoffs, where the Packers dismantled Dallas on their home turf. The game was a blowout from the opening kickoff, which stunned NFL fans. A lot has changed since then, but Dallas might be a little more motivated to defend their territory with that embarrassing playoff loss in the background.

5. Week 12: Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Los Angeles Rams

When Baker Mayfield’s career was hanging in the balance before he landed in Tampa Bay, it was Sean McVay who gave him a chance to land on his feet with the Rams. They were only together for a brief time, but Mayfield played well in McVay’s quarterback-friendly system. We’ll see if McVay or Mayfield use their knowledge of each other against one another in this one.

4. Week 13: Denver Broncos at Washington Commanders

Both the Broncos and the Commanders were two of the NFL’s surprise teams in 2024. Both teams made the playoffs, led by rookie quarterbacks. Bo Nix and Jayden Daniels get it done, but with very different styles. It’ll be exciting to see them together on the same field as both try to prove year one was not a fluke.

3. Week 6: Detroit Lions at Kansas City Chiefs

The Detroit Free Press reported that Kelvin Sheppard was promoted from linebackers coach to defensive coordinator in the wake of Aaron Glenn’s departure to the New York Jets. He’s going to have his hands full trying to slow down Kansas City at home, but it’ll be a great test to see whether or not Detroit can play at a high level under new leadership.

2. Week 11: Detroit Lions at Philadelphia Eagles

This is the matchup most NFL fans expected to see in the NFC title game a year ago, but the Lions were upended in the Divisional Round. These might still be the two best teams in the conference from a roster talent perspective, which we’ll hopefully get to see on full display in November. It’ll be fun to watch Philadelphia try to stop Detroit’s two-headed backfield monster of David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs.