With how much parity is present in the NFL right now, anything is possible, but what we cannot deny is which teams are truly the best in the league at the moment. Sure, the order of those teams can change, but it's not much of a discussion overall.
The same goes for the worst teams in the league, and with training camp in full force and now us already approaching a week into August, the regular season is right around the corner, which is awesome.
Let's dive into some more predictions and predict eight teams we believe are guaranteed to make the playoffs this year.
8 teams guaranteed to make the playoffs in the 2026 NFL Season
Denver Broncos
Having won 14 games in 2025 and 24 over their last two seasons, the Denver Broncos are simply among the best, sport a top-3 roster in the league, and check all the boxes you want in a Super Bowl contender. This team is likely playing in the Super Bowl last year had Bo Nix not broken his ankle, so it's important to continue making that note.
While a slight regression could be coming since the Broncos won a ton of one-score games in 2025, that 'regression' might still have the Broncos finishing with 11 or 12 wins, which would still be plenty enough to get into the playoffs.
Buffalo Bills
Having made the playoffs every year since 2019, the Buffalo Bills are as reliable as a Honda Civic with 40,000 miles. While getting over the hump and making a Super Bowl appearance has evaded them, what has been a guarantee in almost every year of the Josh Allen era has been a playoff berth, and I am not sure why that wouldn't continue in 2026. Even with Buffalo not winning the AFC East, they still settled into a Wild Card spot.
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