With the NFL postseason here, it’s a good time for us to cross our fingers and hold out hope for the best possible Super Bowl matchup that will deliver Oscar-worthy entertainment.
The last three Super Bowls were decided by a single score and went down to the very wire. If you want more of the same February thrill, join us in praying for one of these five dream Super Bowl matchups. And if they’re not meant to be, let’s at least hope that five potential matchups that look like dreadful nightmares on paper do not come to be.
So, without further ado: 5 dream matchups we all want for Super Bowl 59 and five we don’t want whatsoever.
Which matchup are you rooting for in the upcoming Super Bowl 59?
Want: Detroit Lions vs. Kansas City Chiefs
May as well get the obvious out of the way early, no?
The Chiefs have been the best team in the AFC all season long, becoming the first club to win at least 15 regular season games since the 2015 Carolina Panthers. Love or hate the Chiefs, there’s no denying that any Super Bowl game would be more entertaining with them in it.
The Lions, at least until injuries started mounting on the defensive side of the ball, were unquestionably the best team in the NFC during the regular season. And sometimes, the best possible matchup is the one involving the two No. 1 seeds.
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We still can’t get over the thrill of the 2023 NFL Kickoff Game between these two teams at Arrowhead, with Dan Campbell’s squad stunning the defending champions en route to the franchise’s best season in the Super Bowl era.
Even if Detroit’s defense is banged-up and vulnerable coming into the Super Bowl, it doesn’t mean a Lions-Chiefs Super Bowl would suck by any means.
If anything, it would just mean an epic back-and-forth thriller between the two NFL juggernauts. Patrick Mahomes and the offense have regained their elite form with Marquise ‘Hollywood’ Brown and Isiah Pacheco returning from injury.
Even if David Montgomery doesn’t return for the postseason? You still have Jared Goff, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jahmyr Gibbs, Sam LaPorta, and Jameson Williams. Sign us up for that group going up against Mahomes, Brown, Pacheco, Travis Kelce, and Xavier Worthy.
And think about the storyline: Either the Lions bite off KC’s kneecaps and win the franchise’s first Super Bowl after nearly seven decades of misery. Or the Chiefs cement themselves as the greatest NFL dynasty ever by completing the first Super Bowl three-peat.
If there’s one Super Bowl a neutral fan wants, this has to be it!
Don’t Want: Los Angeles Chargers vs. Los Angeles Rams
If you’ve watched an NFL game at SoFi Stadium, you’ve probably noticed that the Rams and Chargers haven’t exactly attracted an overwhelming amount of fans. It feels like almost every Rams or Bolts home game is filled up with fans by the opposing team.
So, does Los Angeles really deserve an all-LA Super Bowl? The Rams already won their Lombardi Trophy three years ago. The Lakers are just four seasons removed from an NBA Championship, and the Dodgers just held a World Series parade a couple of months ago.
We’re also struggling to see the appeal of this actual matchup. The Rams and Chargers are rush-heavy offenses with stingy defenses that control the games in the trenches. It just feels like you’re asking for a 17-13 or 14-10 final score of some point.
NO THANKS!
Want: Buffalo Bills vs. Minnesota Vikings
Remember when the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland met in the 2016 World Series? It was epic because it was a battle of baseball’s two saddest fanbases. The two teams had the longest active World Series championship droughts at the time.
SOMETHING had to give.
You see, it was thrilling because Cleveland out-choked Chicago by blowing a 3-1 series lead. So picture this: The Bills against the Vikings: Two snake-bitten franchises that are both 0-and-4 all time in the Super Bowl.
And think about how jinxed these two teams have been in big games. The Bills? Wide Right and Wide Right II. For the Vikings? Gary Anderson’s missed kick. Brett Favre’s costly interception in ‘09. Blair Walsh’s missed GIMME against the Seattle Seahawks.
So we could focus on the back-and-forth thrill and offensive firepower. Sam Darnold, Justin Jefferson, Jordan Addison, TJ Hockenson, and Aaron Jones vs. Josh Allen, James Cook, Khalil Shakir, and Amari Cooper have a lot of juice on paper — not to mention both teams field championship-level defenses.
But we’re convinced this game would end like the 2016 World Series: Who would choke the least? Would it come down to a missed field goal? A careless Darnold or Allen giveaway? A fumble near the goal line?
Plus, any fan would be thrilled to see the long-suffering Vikings or Bills fan bases finally get to celebrate a Super Bowl trophy. As we said, something would have to give here.
Don’t Want: Philadelphia Eagles vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
This matchup would have been juicy a month ago, but the Eagles’ 27-13 shellacking of the Steelers at Lincoln Financial Field has us all crossing our fingers and hoping this Super Bowl 59 matchup doesn’t happen.
The Saquon Barkley-led Eagles have been a force all season long. The superstar running back and Vic Fangio’s lights-out defense has been so dominant that it’s easy to forget that Jalen Hurts, AJ Brown, and DeVonta Smith also exist on this team.
The Steelers were a pleasant surprise early on, jumping out to a 10-3 start that had Mike Tomlin in the conversation for Coach of the Year. But the Steelers inexplicably unraveled in the final stretch, getting entirely outclassed by the Eagles, Baltimore Ravens, and Chiefs in three straight blowout losses.
So, if the Steelers somehow fluked their way to a Super Bowl appearance, and if they met the Eagles? Woof. Blowout written all over it.
Plus, let’s be real. The Steelers and Eagles are two of the most hated teams in football. Unless you root for either of these clubs, do you really wanna watch Super Bowl 59 knowing one of these teams has to hoist it?
The NFL could do so much better.
Also Read: Which NFL Teams Are Still Waiting For Their First Super Bowl Victory?
Want: Baltimore Ravens vs. Green Bay Packers
Is this the year that Lamar Jackson and the Ravens finally break through with a trip to Super Bowl 59? With Derrick Henry aboard, this might be Jackson’s best opportunity to win it all.
Meanwhile, it feels like everyone is sleeping on Jordan Love and the Packers this year. Such is life when you’re “only” the third-best team in the NFC North, featuring arguably the conference’s top two teams in the Vikings and Lions.
But don’t sleep on the Packers, who’ve actually fared much better on the road this year. This is a team that crushed a second-seeded Dallas Cowboys team at AT&T Stadium in last year’s postseason before nearly shocking the top-seeded San Francisco 49ers in the Divisional Round.
The Ravens’ defense has underachieved this year, but we love the idea of their deep secondary — namely Kyle Hamilton, Marlon Humphrey, Nate Wiggins, and Marcus Williams — going up against a Packers’ pass-catching corps of Christian Watson, Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed and Tucker Kraft.
New Packers offensive weapon Josh Jacobs has taken this offense to another level, but how would he fare against the league’s best run defense? How would Jeff Hafley’s stingy D account for Lamar, Henry, Mark Andrews, and Zay Flowers?
So many fun chess matches to think about here. Does Jackson finally win it all, or does Love stick it to Aaron Rodgers by leading the Pack to a title in the same year where his career sunk with the Jets?
Give us this matchup, please.
Don’t Want: Houston Texans vs. Washington Commanders
Make no mistake, the odds of this happening are extremely low. It doesn’t at all mean we want this to be the Super Bowl matchup, though.
It’s just hard to think of anything that appeals to this matchup. The Texans have been in shambles ever since Stefon Diggs suffered a season-ending ACL tear mid-season, and Tank Dell’s gruesome dislocated kneecap in Week 17 put this team in a further bind.
The Commanders have been a feel-good story in 2024 under rookie QB Jayden Daniels and new head coach Dan Quinn. Finally, football is fun again in DC, with the disastrous Dan Snyder era long gone.
Hopefully, most folks wouldn’t complain about the Commanders being in the Super Bowl. But it just feels like it’d be either a blowout in Washington’s favor…or a low-scoring affair filled with punts, sacks, and turnovers.
With all due respect to the Texans and Commanders, they’re also not exactly the most beloved or nationally-followed teams outside of their respective locations. So it’d be awfully difficult to get psyched about a Texans-Commanders Super Bowl, should the two teams pull off miraculous underdog runs in January.
Want: Baltimore Ravens vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Some may wonder why we have this on the list, given how disappointing their Week 13 matchup was. Saquon Barkley’s Eagles came into Baltimore and dominated the Ravens 24-19 in a game that wasn’t at all as close as the final score indicated.
It was an uncharacteristically sloppy game for Lamar Jackson and company, but we’re convinced that a rematch would be better. Don’t forget that both teams were missing key players, including Darius Slay, DeVonta Smith, Marcus Williams, and Kyle Van Noy.
Barkley and Henry have been the two best running backs in football this year. Jackson and Hurts are the league’s best rushing QBs. And they both have game-changing pass-catchers at their disposals, to say nothing of the star-studded secondaries they each boast.
But really, it’s the Henry and Jackson vs. the Barkley and Hurts storyline we can’t get over. Add everything up, and a Ravens-Eagles Super Bowl 59 dance in New Orleans has the makings to be a classic.
Don’t Want: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Minnesota Vikings
On first thought, who wouldn’t want to see these two juggernauts face off? They’ve both been at the top of the standings throughout the year, thanks to top-10 defenses and offensive machines loaded with playmakers across the board.
But it just feels like this game has “blowout” written all over it. Sam Darnold has enjoyed a career year, but he hasn’t exactly played his best against elite competitions. Turnovers remain an issue, and we can just see him totally imploding against the league’s best and most battle-tested defense on the grand stage.
Even Minnesota’s rock-solid defense has been exposed against top-flight offenses. You think they have the personnel to shut down Patrick Mahomes and all his weapons? 35-year-old Harrison Smith and 34-year-old Stephon Gilmore aren’t shutting down Xavier Worthy, Travis Kelce, Hollywood Brown, et al., folks.
The Chiefs dominated the Vikings 27-20 in Minnesota a year ago, and that was with Kirk Cousins behind center for the home team. This year’s Chiefs are better than last year’s, so we can see Kansas City easily winning by double-digits here.
Want: Buffalo Bills vs. Detroit Lions
To us, the Bills, Lions, Vikings, and Cleveland Browns are in Tier 1 of snake-bitten NFL franchises whose fanbases have suffered the most heartbreak.
So, like our previous talk about a Bills-Vikings Super Bowl, imagine if Buffalo and Detroit squared off in a Super Bowl showdown featuring two jinxed franchises.
Oh, and did we mention their Week 15 matchup? You know, where the Bills won 48-42 in a game that featured 1,080 yards of offense, teams going a combined 4-for-4 on fourth downs with only one total takeaway?
It’d be hard not to shed a tear for Bills Mafia or Lions Pride…whichever team emerged victorious here. But as we saw in their regular-season clash, a Buffalo-Detroit matchup would be filled with offensive fireworks and very few defensive stops. Isn’t that what every fan dreams of?
Sign us up for Part II from Week 15. And like how “Terminator 2: Judgement Day” was better than the original, the Bills-Lions sequel would be far better than the regular-season bout.
Don’t Want: Kansas City Chiefs vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Now we know the Chiefs and Eagles are two of the most star-studded and well-rounded teams in football. But does anyone really care to see the same Super Bowl matchup for the second time in three years?
Yeah yeah, the matchup two years ago was an all-time thriller until the officials ruined the fun with a tacky defensive holding call against James Bradberry on JuJu Smith-Schuster. And the Eagles came into KC the following year and got a bit of comeuppance with a thrilling victory at Arrowhead on a Monday nighter.
The game could be epic, yes. But if you hate the Kansas City Chiefs, you probably hate the Philadelphia Eagles, too. They’re two of football’s most obnoxious fanbases and filled with bandwagoners, we may add.
And as much as we love the Kelce brothers, I mean, Jason is retired. We don’t need Travis’ Chiefs vs. Jason’s old team in the headlines.
Remember how everyone used to love or hate the New England Patriots, which remains the case for the Dallas Cowboys? Nobody wanted that Super Bowl because it meant one of football’s most despised teams was guaranteed to win.
Same deal here if it’s KC vs. Philly.
If you want to see Kansas City vs. Philadelphia so badly, here’s a reminder that they will meet again at Arrowhead in 2025. There’s zero need for us to see them square off again in the big dance.
