Ahead of the 2025 NFL season, we're rolling out our brand-new SBR Watchability Index driven by a proprietary formula to help you decide which games are worth watching every week. We've ranked all 272 games and will be updating this page weekly throughout the regular season and postseason, so be sure to bookmark it and check back regularly during the year.
Top 5 best games of 2025 NFL schedule:
⭐ Game of the Year: Ravens @ Bills (Week 1)
Excitement score: 104.02
Kickoff: Sunday, Sept. 7 @ 8:20 PM ET
It's only fitting that the first game on our list breaks the scale ... OK, not exactly, but it's the only matchup all year to post better than a 96 SES (SBR Excitement Score). Even its unadjusted score (93) - which only includes on-field factors - would have nearly taken the top spot all on its own.
It's when you start to appreciate the pomp and circumstance of this matchup that it really pulls away from the field. Consider this: the last time we saw these teams play in January, it generated "Game of the Century" levels of hype and was ultimately decided by a goal-line stand on a 2-point conversion.
Since then, Josh Allen took home his first MVP award in a historically close race against Lamar Jackson, who enters this year atop the NFL MVP odds in pursuit of his third such trophy. Why not put their encore showdown on Sunday Night Football as a Week 1 crescendo? This will be tough to beat all season long.
While both of these teams are among the Super Bowl favorites, only one of them is projected to reach the AFC Championship in our NFL AI predictions.
2️⃣ Chiefs @ Bills (Week 9)
Excitement score: 95.39
Kickoff: Sunday, Nov. 2 @ 4:25 PM ET
These teams' Week 11 meeting last year - which effectively ended with Allen scampering for a 26-yard touchdown run on fourth down to seal the win - was one of the best games of the season, and the Chiefs got their revenge in the AFC Championship before getting blasted in the Super Bowl.
Both sides know how important it'll be to win this Week 9 contest, which could easily be the deciding factor for home-field advantage between these two Super Bowl odds contenders. Any time Allen and Patrick Mahomes share the same field, it's essentially appointment viewing.
3️⃣ Eagles @ Chiefs (Week 2)
Excitement score: 94.60
Kickoff: Sunday, Sept. 14 @ 4:25 PM ET
It shouldn't surprise anyone to see this Super Bowl rematch slotted into the top five, especially with the Chiefs slightly favored to deliver payback to the defending champions just two weeks into the regular season. You think they won't be fired up for this one?
This game has the lowest betting total (45.5) of any matchup in the top 15 of our adjusted SES rankings, but it makes up for it with just about everything else - star power, bad blood, familiarity, and a whole lot of hype around this early-season title rematch. I wouldn't want to miss it.
4️⃣ Ravens @ Chiefs (Week 4)
Excitement score: 93.60
Kickoff: Sunday, Sept. 28 @ 4:25 PM
When you have Mahomes, Jackson, and Allen vying for MVPs in the same era, they're bound to dominate big-game rankings like this one. Sure enough, the Ravens and Chiefs are featured a combined eight times in the top 10, including this Week 4 matchup between two familiar foes.
Baltimore has beaten Kansas City just once in its last seven tries - a thrilling 36-35 win in 2021 - and lost the season opener last year by literal inches. The Chiefs are narrowly favored to win this one, too, but I wouldn't be shocked if that flips before kickoff of what should be another instant classic.
5️⃣ Eagles @ Bills (Week 17)
Excitement score: 85.77
Kickoff: Sunday, Dec. 28 @ 4:05 PM
There's a chance this game is a dud by the time we get to Week 17, when some top teams start resting their starters if they can afford it. But there's an even better chance that it flirts with Game of the Year territory by that point.
If either the Eagles or Bills (or both) need a Week 17 win to remain in the hunt for a No. 1 seed or division title, this could serve as an early Super Bowl preview with legitimate spoils for the winner and dire consequences for the loser. It's also one of just two games all year that Philadelphia isn't favored to win.
View the full list HERE. What is your favorite game on the 2025 NFL schedule? Comment below!
Top 5 best games of 2025 NFL schedule:
⭐ Game of the Year: Ravens @ Bills (Week 1)
Excitement score: 104.02
Kickoff: Sunday, Sept. 7 @ 8:20 PM ET
It's only fitting that the first game on our list breaks the scale ... OK, not exactly, but it's the only matchup all year to post better than a 96 SES (SBR Excitement Score). Even its unadjusted score (93) - which only includes on-field factors - would have nearly taken the top spot all on its own.
It's when you start to appreciate the pomp and circumstance of this matchup that it really pulls away from the field. Consider this: the last time we saw these teams play in January, it generated "Game of the Century" levels of hype and was ultimately decided by a goal-line stand on a 2-point conversion.
Since then, Josh Allen took home his first MVP award in a historically close race against Lamar Jackson, who enters this year atop the NFL MVP odds in pursuit of his third such trophy. Why not put their encore showdown on Sunday Night Football as a Week 1 crescendo? This will be tough to beat all season long.
While both of these teams are among the Super Bowl favorites, only one of them is projected to reach the AFC Championship in our NFL AI predictions.
2️⃣ Chiefs @ Bills (Week 9)
Excitement score: 95.39
Kickoff: Sunday, Nov. 2 @ 4:25 PM ET
These teams' Week 11 meeting last year - which effectively ended with Allen scampering for a 26-yard touchdown run on fourth down to seal the win - was one of the best games of the season, and the Chiefs got their revenge in the AFC Championship before getting blasted in the Super Bowl.
Both sides know how important it'll be to win this Week 9 contest, which could easily be the deciding factor for home-field advantage between these two Super Bowl odds contenders. Any time Allen and Patrick Mahomes share the same field, it's essentially appointment viewing.
3️⃣ Eagles @ Chiefs (Week 2)
Excitement score: 94.60
Kickoff: Sunday, Sept. 14 @ 4:25 PM ET
It shouldn't surprise anyone to see this Super Bowl rematch slotted into the top five, especially with the Chiefs slightly favored to deliver payback to the defending champions just two weeks into the regular season. You think they won't be fired up for this one?
This game has the lowest betting total (45.5) of any matchup in the top 15 of our adjusted SES rankings, but it makes up for it with just about everything else - star power, bad blood, familiarity, and a whole lot of hype around this early-season title rematch. I wouldn't want to miss it.
4️⃣ Ravens @ Chiefs (Week 4)
Excitement score: 93.60
Kickoff: Sunday, Sept. 28 @ 4:25 PM
When you have Mahomes, Jackson, and Allen vying for MVPs in the same era, they're bound to dominate big-game rankings like this one. Sure enough, the Ravens and Chiefs are featured a combined eight times in the top 10, including this Week 4 matchup between two familiar foes.
Baltimore has beaten Kansas City just once in its last seven tries - a thrilling 36-35 win in 2021 - and lost the season opener last year by literal inches. The Chiefs are narrowly favored to win this one, too, but I wouldn't be shocked if that flips before kickoff of what should be another instant classic.
5️⃣ Eagles @ Bills (Week 17)
Excitement score: 85.77
Kickoff: Sunday, Dec. 28 @ 4:05 PM
There's a chance this game is a dud by the time we get to Week 17, when some top teams start resting their starters if they can afford it. But there's an even better chance that it flirts with Game of the Year territory by that point.
If either the Eagles or Bills (or both) need a Week 17 win to remain in the hunt for a No. 1 seed or division title, this could serve as an early Super Bowl preview with legitimate spoils for the winner and dire consequences for the loser. It's also one of just two games all year that Philadelphia isn't favored to win.
View the full list HERE. What is your favorite game on the 2025 NFL schedule? Comment below!