2025 NFL playoffs: Reason for hope for seven bubble teams entering Week 14

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In The First Read, Jeffri Chadiha provides a snapshot of the hottest stories and trends heading into Week 14 of the 2025 NFL season, including:

But to kick things off, why seven teams currently outside of the playoff picture still have hope to make the postseason …

Oh, we’re in it now. We’re moving into December with the conclusion of Week 13, and the games are way more intense. Teams that we thought looked like the best in the NFL– like the Eagles and Rams — just lost. Teams that we had questions about not that long ago — like Dallas, Houston and Carolina — just won. It was all one more indication that the final month of the season will be as wild a ride as the first three.

The First Read doesn’t want to waste too much time hyping this edition. The playoffs are nearing and the debates about who belongs in the mix are heating up. One thing we already can see is that there are going to be some good teams sitting home come January. The question is how many will ultimately fall into that category.

That’s why we’re going to focus on the teams that currently sit on the outside of the playoff picture. There are plenty of familiar names and a couple of surprises, but they all have the same thing in common: They don’t want to be stuck in this position for much longer. And if that’s going to change, they better find something to push them forward.

That’s why we think there’s one reason for hope for each of those teams. Here they all are:

AFC BUBBLE TEAMS

REASON FOR HOPE: That ridiculous defense.

 It was a mistake to write off the Texans after their 0-3 start because their defense really is that dominant. Houston ranks in the top 10 of every major statistical category on that side of the ball. Only three opponents have been able to gain more than 300 yards against this bunch in 12 games, and Indianapolis just scored a season-low 16 points in Houston’s four-point victory on Sunday. Even those first three defeats to start the year are a little misleading. The Texans lost by a total of 13 points to three teams that all currently lead their respective divisions (the Rams, Buccaneers and Jaguars). The Texans’ defense has been gaining steam with each passing week, and you can see the impact it’s having on the team’s confidence. Houston lost quarterback     C.J. Stroud     to a concussion for three games, and the team still won all three with backup     Davis Mills     as the starter. The Buffalo Bills came to town two weeks ago, and quarterback     Josh Allen     was lucky to finish the game upright after taking eight sacks. What makes the Houston defense especially dangerous is the number of playmakers it can throw at teams from every level. The front seven can stuff the run. Edge rushers     Will Anderson Jr.     and     Danielle Hunter     can create all sorts of chaos when teams decide to throw. The coverage on the back end is also sticky, with     Derek Stingley Jr.     and     Kamari Lassiter     comprising one of the league’s top cornerback duos. This defense is even more critical as the Texans come down the stretch because that offense has too often underwhelmed against some of the league’s better teams. Stroud and Co. will need to score points to beat what’s left on their schedule — they see the Chiefs this week, the Chargers in Week 17 and the Colts once again in the season finale — but timing is also working in Houston’s favor. Both Kansas City and Los Angeles are dealing with serious offensive line injuries, and we just saw what Houston could do to the Colts on the road. The Texans’ defense was able to pull this team out of a deep hole. Good fortune might be enough to help this group return to the playoffs.

REASON FOR HOPE: The AFC North.

Anybody who caught Pittsburgh’s 26-7 loss to Buffalo on Sunday had to be thinking the same thought that has haunted the Steelers all season: How is this team going to make the playoffs? The answer hasn’t changed over the last three months. The Steelers are contending for a postseason spot because they reside in a division that has stunningly become one of the worst in football. The Steelers’ best shot of reaching the playoffs involves winning the AFC North. They currently are tied for first place with the Baltimore Ravens, and those teams will meet twice over the next five weeks (starting next Sunday). Pittsburgh once seemed capable of running away with this division when the Ravens started 1-5 and the Bengals lost   Joe Burrow   to an early-season turf toe injury. The Steelers still have a decent shot of taking the crown even though the Ravens have pulled even with them (and hold the common-games tiebreaker). As much as Baltimore has improved, the Ravens are facing real issues with the effectiveness of quarterback   Lamar Jackson   . He hasn’t played well in over a month, and an assortment of injuries have slowed him down. The Ravens aren’t running away with anything if Lamar’s not fully capable of being the player we’re accustomed to seeing. The Bengals made that apparent in pounding Baltimore by a score of 32-14 on Thanksgiving, but they’re still only 4-8 on the season. This all means the Steelers have to find a way to be more productive than what they showed in that Bills loss. Pittsburgh is dealing with an injured   Aaron Rodgers   , a defense that has disappointed most of the year and an overall lack of consistency. You literally don’t know what you’re going to get from the Steelers from week to week. The good news for Pittsburgh is that every team in the division falls into the same category.

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