4. Houston Texans
It's hard to imagine that the Houston Texans miss the playoffs in 2026. We did see Houston lose out on the AFC South title thanks to the Jacksonville Jaguars, but the already loaded Texans somehow found a way to get better in the offseason.
Steady running back David Montgomery came over in a trade, and General Manager Nick Caserio shored up the offensive line with Wyatt Teller and Braden Smith. Not to mention, the defense was the best in the NFL last year and did see the arrival of Kayden McDonald in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Houston's roster is among the three best in the league. While there are valid questions with CJ Stroud, he's been good enough to help his team into the playoffs in all three years of his career.
5. Cincinnati Bengals
The story of the Cincinnati Bengals offseason has been the major defensive overhaul with guys like Dexter Lawrence, Jonathan Allen, Boye Mafe, and Bryan Cook. Cincy has missed the playoffs three years in a row now and does seem to have an average, at best, head coach in Zac Taylor. This roster got significantly better in 2026, but there are still enough questions for the Bengals ceiling in 2026 to be questioned.
6. Los Angeles Charges
The Los Angeles Chargers have earned a Wild Card spot with an 11-6 record in each of Jim Harbaugh's two seasons as the team's head coach. Not only did Los Angeles not do enough along the offensive line this offseason, but losing Minter as the defensive coordinator is a huge blow.
Both of those unfortunate realities are going to again limit the ceiling of this team.
7. Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars played extremely well last year, but did lose Travis Etienne and Devin Lloyd in free agency. There's also reason to believe that a slight regression could be coming, as teams now have a full season's worth of tape on the Jaguars, but that wasn't the case with a new-look coaching staff in 2025.
Jacksonville is still well-coached, and the team may also have a borderline-elite quarterback in Trevor Lawrence. There is enough present with this team to sneak into the playoffs as a Wild Card in 2026.
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