With a total of 18 teams not making the playoffs in the NFL, there are a lot of clubs that end up on the couch in January and February. In 2025, we saw some flat-out shocking scenarios develop. The Detroit Lions and Kansas City Chiefs, for example, both missed the playoffs in 2025 after each earning the top playoff seed the year prior.
And, on the flip side, the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks both did not make the playoffs in 2024, yet made it to the Super Bowl in 2025. This could mean that 2026 features an even wilder and more unexpected playoff field. We are months away from that, but that won't stop us from releasing yet another power rankings on this topic.
Let's power-rank some non-playoff teams from 2025 that could win the Super Bowl in the 2026 season.
Power-ranking the non-playoff teams that could win the Super Bowl in 2026
6. Minnesota Vikings
Very quietly, the Minnesota Vikings managed to finish with a winning record. Winning their final five games of the 2025 season, the Vikings record really did not reflect just how dysfunctional that offense was at times.
Wide receiver Justin Jefferson barely reached the 1,000-yard mark, and despite the unit featuring a ton of talent, things just went south thanks to a bottom-3 quarterback room. Enter, Kyler Murray. While Murray has never been a great quarterback, he's been consistently productive and has produced rather well on some horrific Arizona Cardinals teams.
Even with the Vikings defense seeing a good bit of change, which isn't a guarantee to work out, the offense likely trotting out Murray as the starter in 2026 could significantly improve the entire club. Murray suddenly finds himself in the best supporting cast he's had in his NFL career, and as we have seen, head coach Kevin O'Connell has been able to get the most out of certain quarterbacks during his tenure with Minnesota.
It would take everything going right for this to happen, but a Vikings Super Bowl title in 2026 would not be the craziest thing that the NFL has seen happen.
5. Dallas Cowboys
What the Dallas Cowboys have done this offseason, at least on paper, is worth talking about. Even going from Matt Eberflus to Christian Parker feels like a massive upgrade. Eberflus fielded one of the worst defenses in the NFL last year, and Parker is a Vic Fangio disciple, so that is enough reason to believe he'll work out.
Personnel-wise, the Cowboys added players like Rashan Gary, Jalen Thompson, and Caleb Downs. This unit is suddenly filled with a ton of functional, rock-solid football players. What benefits Dallas here is that the defense really doesn't need to be anything more than average in 2026, as the offense is star-studded and explosive.
It's hard to find a better offensive nucleus in the NFL than what the Cowboys have in Dak Prescott, Javonte Williams, George Pickens, and CeeDee Lamb. If the offense can be a top-7 unit in 2026, and the defense can be, let's say, 14th in points allowed per game, the Cowboys would suddenly have enough going in their favor to easily slide into the playoffs.
A Super Bowl run may feel rather unlikely at the moment, so the team is a bit lower in these power rankings.
4. Kansas City Chiefs
I am not sold on the Kansas City Chiefs roster, but this team tends to prove us wrong when even a sliver of doubt creeps into the picture. While the secondary got significantly worse this offseason, and both the wide receiver and tight end rooms are still a mess, they're still the Chiefs, right?
That didn't seem to be enough for them in 2025, as they were struggling even with a healthy Patrick Mahomes. But with three Super Bowl titles since 2019, this team has done it more than any other during that span. We all might look like fools for doubting the Chiefs. The roster is flawed, but the quarterback and head coach are all-time.
Kansas City is No. 4 in our power rankings.
3. Baltimore Ravens
Coming in at No. 3 in our power rankings, the Baltimore Ravens come into the 2026 season with a lot at stake, despite hiring a new head coach in Jesse Minter, who was previously the defensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers.
Baltimore nearly won the AFC North last year despite a horrendous 1-5 start that was plagued by injuries. The Ravens playoff experience in the Lamar Jackson era has been a talking point for years, as this team just flat-out regresses when the postseason rolls around, which includes Jackson himself.
The pressure is mounting for this franchise, a team that has not won multiple games in any playoffs since that Super Bowl season in 2012. On paper, though, the Ravens are continually one of the more talented clubs in the NFL and appear to have enough to win it all.
2. Cincinnati Bengals
Given the aggressive defensive changes this offseason, the Cincinnati Bengals may have just recreated the 2021 team, a club that went on an improbable run to the big game. What we saw this offseason appeared to be the front office feeling a bit of heat to field a playoff team. The Bengals have not been to the playoffs since 2022, so it's now three years in a row with no playoffs, despite having two cornerstone pieces on offense in Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase.
Collectively, this team got a lot better this offseason, and the Burrow-led Bengals have at least advanced to the AFC Championship Game in his tenure with the team, so a deep run is possible.
1. Detroit Lions
Talent-wise, the Detroit Lions are one of the best in the NFL. In 2023, this team made a run to the NFC title game, and if it wasn't for mounting injuries in 2024, the Lions could have gotten that far again. This team is still just one year removed from an insane 15-2 season.
Across those 2023 and 2024 seasons, the Lions won 27 of 34 regular season games. This team is capable of making a run, but the injuries simply have to disappear a bit, and the defense could also hold up its end of the bargain a bit more.
This team is simply too good to miss the playoffs again, and even without the postseason, Detroit still finished 9-8. Having now sustained a winning record four years in a row, the Lions are stable, dangerous, and have topped our power rankings.