2026 Season Predictions

Yeah yeah yeah I waited till after week 1. You know why? Because no one knows what teams will be. New coordinators, new head coaches, and no one plays more than a series or two in the preseason. You just hear a bunch of beat reports toeing the line between being too nice and too harsh to their team, whatever the shtick is, that’s what they write. So I wanted to see every team play once before.

Let’s start with the NFC. I will star all teams that make the playoffs, that are not divisional winners.

NFC West:

  1. Seattle Seahawks*
  2. Los Angeles Rams*
  3. San Francisco 49ers*
  4. Arizona Cardinals

Seahawks defense did not go anywhere. I think the Sam Darnold injury is nothing to be worried about and it will help Seattle longterm with the forced need to run the ball with rookie Jadarian Price. MacDonald is a phenomenal coach and that defense will be number 1 for a second year in a row.

Everyone thinkings the Rams should be crowned NFC West Champs if not Super Bowl Champs based on their roster. We quickly learned that the Sean McVay travel plan to Australia was a horrible idea, but it might mean they are more fresh for their next couple games….doubt it though. They are a relatively old team with little depth. If Stafford stays healthy, they will surely make the playoffs and contend for division title.

The Niners did the exact opposite than their divisional foe. They went to the land down a week before their opening game and it clearly worked. They dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and it did not make any key mistakes. I am worried about their receiver depth as Pearsall had another surgery pre-season and they lost their rookie Stribling in week 1. Mike Evans and Deebo looked solid but Evans, Deebo, CMC, and Kittle are all players with a lot of miles on them. All absolute studs, but I think there will be a lot more substation talk as the year continues.

The Arizona Cardinals! What a week one win. Everyone counted them out, their win total for the year was 3.5, they are already 1/4 of the way to cashing those tickets. Their defense absolutely stifled Justin Herbert and the Chargers while the offense used their weapons effectively. McBride, Bourne, Wilson, Maserati Marv, and rookie running back Love is a group that has fire power. If Brisset keeps the ball out of harms way, they should easily cash in their win total over, but it will be hard to make the playoffs in one of the best divisions in football. Good debut for Mike LaFluer.

NFC North:

  1. Chicago Bears*
  2. Detroit Lions*
  3. Green Bay Packers
  4. Minnesota Vikings

All Ben Johnson did this offseason was talk about how he wants the best offense to ever touch an NFL field. Well he is well on track with an absolute masterclass against the Panthers scoring 59 points on the road. Caleb Williams looked like a future MVP as he threw for two touchdowns and added two on the ground, one of his rushing touchdowns was a 30 yard scramble to cap a beautiful two-minute drill to end the first half of the season with 31 points - and they Luther Burden fumbled the opening drive! The Bears have weapons all over, but their prized possession is their offensive line, kept Caleb’s white jersey clean all while Swift and Monongai rushed for over 250 yards and 5 touchdowns. On the other side of the coin, the defense is bad, like really bad. The Bears will be in shootouts in almost every game.

Detroit did not look great in the first half and I have absolutely no idea how that is not a fumble on Chase Young’s strip sack. Intention matters on whether or not the ball went backwards?? How have we never seen this before. I think the Lions defense looks more formidable in the front 7, hopefully they stay healthy this year. Still lots of questions for their secondary as they are still handling injuries from last season with Jospeh and Branch. I give them the edge of the Packers and Vikings as their schedule is quite favorable. Perks of losing in Minnesota late last year to lock up 4th place in the division.

Green Bay Packers picked up right where they left off. They just cannot close games out and it has nothing to do with Micah Parsons being injured. Yes their prized edge rusher being hurt does not help their cause, but their offense is too flat at the end of games. The seem to piss down their leg whenever they need a big first down. Jordan Love is got killed against Minnesota, I don’t see a world where he stays healthy the entire season. They got screwed with some penalties that help ignite the 4th quarter meltdown but the refs are not the reason they lost. If Love stays healthy, Jacobs does not get suspended, and Micah comes back and ignites the defense a bit - they should give the Lions a run for second place and fight for a wild card. Right now I think they will be the odd man out. 

The Kyler Murray train last two drives. The first being just a horrible, unnecessary interception and the second ending in Kyler getting decapitated. Carson Wentz came in and played fine but he did the one thing no one did last year: find number 18. Justin Jefferson is their best football player and needs to touch the ball a whole lot more than he did last year. Brian Flores brought the house as expected and if they can consistently win the turnover battle, they will be fighting for a wild card spot. I just do not think Carson Wentz and the running game will be consistent enough for the Vikings to make the playoffs.

NFC East:

  1. Philadelphia Eagles*
  2. New York Giants*
  3. Dallas Cowboys
  4. Washington Commanders

It is always hard to open a season with a divisional team, but the Eagles got it done. I like how Jalen Hurts pushed the ball down the field and spread it out to all of his weapons. The surprising aspect was how bad the traditionally great Philly offensive line looked. Saquon was getting hit at or before the line off scrimmage on most run plays, this is something I think will get improved on as the season continues. The defense looks as good as usual and I think Riq Woolen will be up near the top of the league in interceptions this year.

The New York Football Giants looked great in their debut under John Harbough. They controlled the clock by getting easy looks for Jaxson Dart and running the ball with Skattebo and Singletary. They only gave the Cowboys two possessions in the second half - that’s how you win games! Dart played smart and clearly made an effort to not put his body in harmless way unnecessarily. The additions of Isiah Likely and Richard paid dividends not only on the field but in the locker room to help establish the John Harbaugh culture. Looking forward to watch this team on a weekly basis. Have not said that about the Giants since Eli was slinging to Odell. And Odell is back! This time in a veteran cheerleader role but fun nonetheless.

Dallas going to Dallas. Way too much hype per usual. Their revamped defense looked pretty bad. They let up the same swing pass to Singletary tallest 4 times in the 4th quarter that moved the chains each time. They will go 9-8 at best with a run in November to make all the network talking heads shouting from the rooftop that Dallas might be the worst team to play at that very moment. They will flash but fall short once again.

Washington put up a much better fight that I anticipated, but they just don’t have enough to get it done this year. Especially when 5 plays like he did in the first 3 quarters of the game on Sunday. He arguably looked worse, the offense could not scheme open Diggs or Scary Terry. Sonny Styles looked phenomenal, but that defense just will not get it done consistently. It will be Dan Quinn’s last year coaching and the Commanders will have a top ten pick come May.

NFC South:

  1. New Orleans Saints*
  2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  3. Carolina Panthers
  4. Atlanta Falcons

All four teams lost in the NFC South on opening weekend. Only division to do so.

Saints could not get anything going offensively for the first half but looks like Shough, Olave, Vele, Etienne, and Johnson got in a groove in the second half. Chase Young had some explosiveness which was nice to see as he was all but forgotten a year or two ago. That was a fumble - I can’t stop thinking about it. How does the defender get penalized for hitting the quarterback. Who cares?! The ball went backwards while Goff was throwing it = fumble. All that to say, the Saints are the most complete team in the South with the best quarterback, sorry Baker. I also think Kellen Moore has proved enough to give him the nod over Bowles and Canales, Stefanski has won two COTY awards. With the Browns, so that’s pretty damn good.

Bucs lost on the road to the Bengals due to 4 fumbles, 3 by their quarterback Baker and 1 by running back Bucky Irving. I am happy that Baker and Vita Vea got a contract, but I just don’t see the Bucs winning the division. I do not think they got much better in the offseason and they lost 3 straight games last to their entire division to lose out on hosting a playoff game. It’s the last year for Bowles but they will still put up a fight with how bad the division is.

Panthers got shredded by the Bears on their home field. 59 points in the NFL is inexcusable. Especially when their defense was the best part of their team and only reason they got to the playoffs. They almost beat Stafford and the Rams last year! I think they have the potential to fight for top spot, but with their schedule they will likely go 8-9 again, I am just betting the Saints go 9-8 or 10-7.

Cooper Rush does not deserve to get plastered by the media, but boy that was a tough watch. Thankfully it was against the Steelers or that game would have been a lot uglier on the score board. They have so many weapons on the offense and defense side of the ball but the quarterback play will leave to start tanking towards the start of November. Also their two top 2025 draft picks not being available doesn’t help. If you haven’t read in on the details of James Pearce arrest, do so. It is wild that a grown man can act like that.

AFC West:

  1. Kansas City Chiefs*
  2. Denver Broncos*
  3. Los Angeles Chargers
  4. Oakland Raiders

Kenny Walker looked phenomenal Monday Night. I had a lot of questions on what the Chiefs would look like losing their corners and Mahomes coming off an ACL tear. Andy Reid did not ask Mahomes to be Mahomes, they trusted the game to their offensive line and Kenny Walker. They dismantled the Broncos offense and got a huge division win to start their season. Chiefs will be back in the party after their lone season as onlookers, and as Mahomes gets even more healthy, the will be a sure wrecking ball in the AFC. I would not want to play in Arrowhead in January.

Broncos offense and defense looked horrible. Shocked at how bad one of the top 2025 defenses looked to open up the 2026 campaign. They couldn’t catch Covid if they lived in Wuhan. It was tough to watch. It didn’t help that Bo Nix played like trash. Literal garbage, sitting out on a hot day garbage. I predict Sean Payton will take back over play calling after the first quarter of the season. I expect defense to figure it out and the Broncos to make one of the wildcard spots.

Los Angeles Chargers - yuck. Thank god I switched my survivor pick once Cooper Rush was designated QB1 for the Falcons. 9.5 points they were favored, lost by two scores! At Home! Herbo looked bad, horrible debut for McDaniels. Scary road ahead for the Chargers.

The Raiders had a good to start the year 1-0. Miami sucks though. Good for Kirk Cousins and it was great to see Jeanty in his full form. Ethical Jeanty now and forever. Excited to see when Mendoza gets his shot.

AFC North:

  1. Cincinatti Bengals*
  2. Baltimore Ravens*
  3. Pittsburgh Steelers
  4. Cleveland Browns

The Bengals and Ravens both get it done, the Raven even got it done is more impressive fashion. Joe Burrow always start off cold week 1 and to start the season for that matter, but now he has a competent defense. I think the Bengals and Ravens have a showdown at the end of the year to take the division. New Years Eve - what a way to go into the New Year.

Pittsburgh has Rodgers becoming a podcast headliner on his farewell tour. They will be 9-8 win some games they shouldn’t and lose games they shouldn’t. Like the game this pst weekend against the Falcons.

Browns are horrendous. I feel bad for the entirety of Cleveland they don’t deserve to see that product. DeShaun is horrible but so is Shedder. The future is bleak in Cleveland.

AFC East:

  1. Buffalo Bills*
  2. New England Patriots*
  3. New York Jets
  4. Miami Dolphins

Buffalo went into Houston and put up 36. Josh looked like the MVP and appears to be on a mission. Josh MVP favorite and I think Bills get the 1-seed. The road to the Super Bowl runs through the brand new Buffalo stadium.

Drake Maye looked pretty bad. The Seahawks may just have his number like the Texans used to have Josh’s. They will be okay after a shaky start and be a threat in the playoffs if AJ Brown comes back and they stay healthy.

Miami put up a fight, gotta respect it. Not much you can do when you are paying more cap space to players not playing on your team than players that are. Wild thing to say in this day and age of footall. But that 2023 Tua was fun to watch.

AFC South:

  1. Houston Texans*
  2. Jacksonville Jaguars
  3. Indianapolis Colts
  4. Tennesse Titans

First I think it’s going to come down to Jacksonville vs Denver for a wild card spot based on the schedules. I just am not a Trevor Lawrence believer yet, I can’t put too much stock into a breakdown of the Browns. The Houston defense will win them games, especially against Jacksonville.

Colts just don’t have it. Steichen is a good coach but it’s time for a new regime. Ballard should have been fired years ago.

I can’t believe there were chants of Fire Saleh in Nashville. A little early but pretty hilarious. The team looked terrible in their debut.

NFC:

  1. Seattle Seahawks
  2. Chicago Bears
  3. Philly Eagles
  4. New Orleans Saints
  5. Los Angeles Rams
  6. San Francisco 49ers
  7. Detroit Lions

AFC

  1. Buffalo Bills
  2. Kansas City Chiefs
  3. Cincinatti Bengals
  4. Houston Texans
  5. Baltimore Ravens
  6. New England Patriots
  7. Denver Broncos

Super Bowl: Buffalo Bills (W) vs Los Angeles Rams

Awards MVP: Josh Allen COTY: Ben Johnson OPOY: Jamarr Chase OROY: Jeremeyiah Love DPOY: Aidan Hutchinson DROY: David Bailey