There is a ton of parity in the NFL, and you could probably make an argument for about 26 different teams to get into the playoffs in the 2026 season. We all know, though, that there aren't that many legitimate contenders, as even some of the playoff-caliber teams have rather notable roster concerns.
With the regular season rapidly approaching, we'll soon know for sure which teams are contenders and which are unfortunately pretenders, which brings us to our latest exercise. While guaranteeing anything in the NFL is a bad idea, we're going to give it a try.
Let's predict all the teams we believe are already guaranteed a playoff spot this year.
Predicting teams that are already guaranteed a playoff spot this year
Denver Broncos
The Denver Broncos have won 24 regular season games over the past two seasons, including finishing with the best record in the NFL this year, tied with the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks. The Broncos have a top-3 roster in the sport, are the best team in the NFL in the trenches, and also happen to have a top-5 defensive coordinator and a future Hall of Fame head coach.
This team simply checks all the boxes, and while the one-score victories were perhaps too frequent in 2025, the Broncos are a team that boasts more talent than most and have progressed each year of the Sean Payton era.
Buffalo Bills
Despite switching head coaches from Sean McDermott to Joe Brady, the Buffalo Bills are primed to again make the playoffs. Buffalo has been into the playoffs each year since 2019, which also included the AFC East title each year from the 2020-2024 seasons.
The Bills are far from the perfect team when the playoffs begin, as they've suffered a multitude of playoff heartbreaks, but the Josh Allen era has morphed this team into a regular season juggernaut, if nothing else. Buffalo takes care of business in the regular season and, if they had the option, would probably prefer to just fast-forward until the playoffs.
Houston Texans
Yes, the Houston Texans might have some quarterback concerns with CJ Stroud, but Stroud has been into the playoffs each year of his career, as the Texans have won double-digit games three years in a row and still managed to win 12 games last year despite the 0-3 start.
The roster is out of this world, and the defense is the league's best. All Stroud has had to do is play average football the past two seasons, and while he'd surely love to play better, the Texans have quickly turned this franchise around and can overwhelm opposing teams with the talent and depth they sport.
DeMeco Ryans is clearly among the better head coaches in the league as well, and you just struggle to find a notable weakness with this team overall. Even if it's another Wild Card spot, the Texans are a lock to get into the playoffs this year.
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