The 2025 NFL season kicked off in full on Thursday night with quite an eventful game between the Eagles and Cowboys.
As the whole Week 1 slate is set to commence on Sunday, teams across the league will be looking to start their campaign with a win. Obviously, no NFL team plans on having a slow start to the year, but it is undeniable that there are a few franchises who are under a little extra pressure to win straight out of the gate.
Who’s under the most pressure to start out the year with a few wins? Let’s take a look.
6. Los Angeles Chargers
We’ve all heard the jokes about Justin Herbert being the greatest hypothetical quarterback in the history of the NFL. Many of those jokes are warranted. That said, anyone with eyes can see that Herbert is extremely good at his job, but him being extremely good at his job has not stopped the Chargers from, well, being the Chargers.
No one is on the hot seat or anything, but with the Broncos and Raiders both reloading this offseason and the Chiefs remaining the Chiefs, Los Angeles can’t start slow and expect to keep pace with a crowded AFC West.
5. Miami Dolphins
The vibes coming out of Miami are not all that great right now. Tyreek Hill is back and presumably ready to play, but it’s not going to be easy for his teammates to forget him quitting on the squad late last year. The fact that he’s not a captain this year says a lot.
Meanwhile, the charm of coach Mike McDaniel might be wearing thin for some fans who are frustrated that even the best teams he’s put on the field have not found much success.
4. Chicago Bears
You always want to give a little leeway to a first-time coach taking over a new team, but there’s going to be a lot of eyes on Ben Johnson and the Bears right out of the gate this year. Year 2 of Caleb Williams needs to be better than Year 1, and Johnson’s reputation as a play-calling savant is going to be put to the test immediately.
Chicago hosts the Vikings on Monday night, and it is the most hopeful that Bears fans have been going into a primetime game since, gosh maybe the Jay Cutler era?
3. Jacksonville Jaguars
With a new coach and a new general manager, the hope is that the Jaguars have fully turned a corner and are ready to start a new chapter as a consistent, winning franchise.
But the clock is ticking. Trevor Lawrence is now in his fifth year as a pro, and while it’s clear the Jaguars have faith that he is the guy, his growth has been stunted by the franchise’s constant coaching turnover.
That said, Jacksonville’s move to trade up and get Travis Hunter in this year’s draft felt like it was meant to show that this team believes it is ready to make a move. Let’s see if they’re right.
2. Cincinnati Bengals
The Bengals have struggled with slow starts in recent years. They’ve lost their season opener in three straight seasons, and lost at least three of their first five games in each of those years.
Cincinnati is hoping to prevent such a slow start from happening yet again, and decided to give its starters preseason snaps for the first time in years to hopefully kickstart their momentum.
Making the start of the season all the more important is the fact that their first game comes against the Cleveland Browns. Two years ago, the Bengals were fresh off of a 12–4 season that saw them reach the AFC title game. In the season opener, they put up just three points against the Browns.
This year, expectations are once again low for Cleveland, and Cincinnati should be able to take care of business in the opener. If the Bengals win, it’s an expected, but at the very least smooth start to the year. If they lose, well, they better figure it out quick, lest another slow start keep them out of the playoffs again.
1. Minnesota Vikings
The Vikings are simply fascinating this year. How many times has a team won 14 games in one season, and willingly decided to hand the reins of the offense over to another player the very next year? Not often, if ever.
But Minnesota is a special case. Last year, rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy was in the running to immediately take over as the team’s starter, but a preseason injury meant that it would be veteran Sam Darnold under center for the year. Darnold excelled, but the team apparently liked what it saw in McCarthy enough to let Darnold head off to Seattle and give McCarthy the keys to a Ferrari of an offense that includes Justin Jefferson.
Under more normal circumstances, McCarthy would get plenty of leeway from fans and media alike—starting your first game as an NFL quarterback is no easy feat. But if a few weeks into the year it’s clear that the Minnesota offense has not taken a step forwards, but rather a step back, there’s going to be a whole lot of questions—especially if Darnold and the Seahawks look good to start the year.
Part of this is the Vikings simply being victims of their own success—it’s hard to improve on winning 14 games. But if Minnesota doesn’t look like an NFC contender in the first few weeks of the year, there’s going to be plenty of second guessing.
More NFL on Sports Illustrated
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Six Teams Under the Most Pressure for Immediate Success to Start 2025 NFL Season.