When you assess the entirety of the NFL, it's clear that some teams are in a much stronger position to compete than others, and even some of the best teams in the league are built differently. On the flip side, there are a good bit of teams that are far from contenders and are hovering between rebuilding, needing to rebuild, and somewhere in that irrelevant middle.
With the preseason now over and the regular season rapidly approaching, we've decided to do a bit of a different exercise, and have used one word to describe each team ahead of the new year beginning.
We tried our best here to be as accurate as possible and have provided some analysis for why we chose the word we chose.
Using one word to describe each team in the NFL ahead of the regular season
AFC North
Pittsburgh Steelers - Mediocre
The Pittsburgh Steelers are mediocre, folks. This team doesn't do anything well and have a quarterback in Aaron Rodgers who turns 43 years old during the regular season. The roster is average, at best, and there isn't even a guarantee that Mike McCarthy works out despite him coaching his hometown team.
Baltimore Ravens - Health
Had it not been for a ton of injuries to open up the 2025 season, the Baltimore Ravens would have made the playoffs. Not only does it seem like the team is much healthier heading into the regular season, but Lamar Jackson also does appear to be healthy, and that's really the main thing here. With how good the roster is, the key players remaining healthy will make or break this season.
Cincinnati Bengals - Urgency
With how aggressive the front office got in revamping the defensive side of the ball, the Cincinnati Bengals are clearly in an urgent spot right now. This team hasn't made the playoffs since 2022 and have seen prime Joe Burrow years pass them by. Without some substantive winning in 2026, we could see some major changes take place.
Cleveland Browns - Dysfunctional
This might not even be as aggressive a word, as the Cleveland Browns could legitimately have one of the worst QB rooms of the 21st century. Sure, there is a good bit of young talent present, but it's hard to envision how this team wins more than a small handful of games given how atrocious the most important position in sports is for them.
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