Super Bowl 59 matchup rankings, from best (Bills-Commanders) to worst (Eagles-Chiefs)

NFL fans began the season dreaming about watching their favorite teams play in Super Bowl 59. What seemed like a distant dream for some franchises is now right around the corner.

There are just three games remaining in the 2025 NFL playoffs. The Philadelphia Eagles are set to host the Washington Commanders in the NFC championship game. On the same day, the Kansas City Chiefs will host the Buffalo Bills in the AFC championship game.

Once those two games are played, the matchup for Super Bowl 59 will be set. With the playoff field whittled down, there are only four potential matchups that could take place to cap off the 2024 NFL season.

Neutral fans will want the Super Bowl to be fun, exciting and competitive. Which of the potential matchups has the best chance of delivering on that promise? Here's a look at the four options based on how much we would like to see them.

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Ranking potential Super Bowl 59 matchups

1. Buffalo Bills vs. Washington Commanders

The Bills and Commanders both haven't made the Super Bowl since the early 1990s. Seeing them each finally reach their goal in the same postseason would create an excellent matchup that would guarantee one long-suffering fan base a reprieve from decades of torture.

It would also feature the two most explosive offenses remaining in the postseason. The Bills averaged the second-most points per game during the 2024 NFL season behind only the Detroit Lions. The Commanders have upped their scoring average to fourth-best in the NFL by virtue of their playoff wins, so this could be a back-and-forth shootout between Josh Allen and Jayden Daniels.

Neutral NFL fans could make a case to root for either Allen or Daniels in this matchup. Allen has long played at a high level but doesn't have any hardware to short for it. Meanwhile, Daniels helped key a rapid turnaround in Washington after the Commanders finished with the second-worst record in the league last season.

Given the playmaking talent of both Allen and Daniels, neither team would be likely to run away with the game. That would set up plenty of splash play opportunities and another tightly contested Super Bowl.

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2. Kansas City Chiefs vs. Washington Commanders

Yes, the Commanders would be in the two most exciting potential Super Bowl matchups. They are a high-flying, offensive-minded underdog, so they would easily earn the backing of most neutral fans if they are able to scoot past the Eagles.

While the Bills vs. Commanders matchup would be a feel-good matchup for long-suffering fan bases, this Kansas City vs. Washington game would be more of a David vs. Goliath situation. The Chiefs would be looking to set an NFL record with a third consecutive Super Bowl win; the Commanders would be looking to pull off arguably the most improbable Lombardi trophy run in NFL history.

The matchup itself would also feature a great strength-on-strength matchup between the Chiefs defense and the Commanders offense. Daniels would be tasked with overcoming Steve Spagnuolo's well-coached unit and disproving the "defense wins championships" cliché. If he could achieve that, the 24-year-old would enter himself into the conversation among the NFL's best quarterbacks after just one season.

If not, it could be the start of another great quarterback rivalry between him and Mahomes. Either option would be encouraging for NFL fans.

3. Buffalo Bills vs. Philadelphia Eagles

If you're looking for the game that's most likely to come down to the final play, this would probably be the one. These two teams are evenly matched and is probably the closest thing to a coin-flip game.

Both the Bills and Eagles have strong offenses. Buffalo relies on Allen to do most of the damage for its group while Philadelphia has leaned on 2,000-yard rusher Saquon Barkley as its offensive engine. The two teams run the ball well thanks to their quarterbacks having strong legs, so this contest could come down to which team is better equipped to stop the run.

On paper, that would give the Eagles a slight edge, as their defense is more consistent than Buffalo's against the run. That said, Allen could erase it by outplaying Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, who hasn't been at his best during the 2025 NFL playoffs and has struggled, at times, to deal with pressure.

While this game would be competitive, it's hard to imagine it being flashy. It's more likely to be a ground-and-pound contest where the first team to make a mistake will lose. That's what's keeping this option from leapfrogging the Chiefs vs. Commanders game for No. 2 on this list.

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4. Kansas City Chiefs vs. Philadelphia Eagles

We live in an era where popular franchises almost always end up with sequels for which nobody asked. This game would fall into that category.

The Chiefs and Eagles met just a couple of years ago in Super Bowl 57. The game was noted for being the first Super Bowl battle where brothers played against one another, Travis Kelce for Kansas City and Jason Kelce for Philadelphia, and helped turn their mother, Donna Kelce, into a star.

The game was a tight one – the Chiefs won 38-35 on a Harrison Butker field goal with eight seconds remaining in regulation – and helped further establish Mahomes as one of the NFL's best quarterbacks.

A rematch between the two teams would have trouble competing with that contest. Sure, the two teams earned a combined 30 wins during the regular season, but neither the Eagles nor the Chiefs feature the same explosive offenses that squared off in Super Bowl 57. Both defenses rank top-3 in scoring this season, which could make this a defensive slog.

Additionally, Jason Kelce has retired. He will be part of the spectacle in his new analyst role with ESPN, but the game itself won't have the "battle of brothers" angle that defined the first matchup.

Add in some Chiefs fatigue from them winning back-to-back Super Bowls and this is probably the matchup NFL fans would least like to see.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Super Bowl 59: Ranking potential matchups from best to worst