21. Pittsburgh Steelers
The Pittsburgh Steelers are No. 21 in our power rankings. In 2025, the Steelers just barely won the AFC North, ranking 15th in points scored and 17th in points allowed, embracing what it means to be average. With that said, average might be too lofty of a goal for this team in 2026.
The Steelers now have Aaron Rodgers a year older, and he was himself average last year. A new head coach is in town in Mike McCarthy, and while he does bring a winning track record, the last time he took over for a team as their new head coach, he finished with a losing record.
This team just does not do anything all that well and won't have a path to much of anything this year. With the presence of the Browns in the division, Pittsburgh won't be the worst, but they won't make the playoffs and really don't scare you at all.
20. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are looking to bounce back after a shaky 8-9 season that just barely saw them missing out on the playoffs. Tampa Bay is a good team, but that's about it. The ceiling has been rather low with the Buccaneers, and that could be primarily due to Todd Bowles and Baker Mayifield being the head coach and quarterback.
Both are competent, but neither is close to being the best in their respective roles. On paper, this team is plenty good enough to win the NFC South, but they don't have much true star talent and haven't really accomplished all that much since Tom Brady retired.
Tampa could go 9-8 this year and not a single soul would be shocked.
19. Washington Commanders
The Washington Commanders went 5-12 in 2025, just one year after going 12-5 and getting within one game of the Super Bowl. Not only did this team struggle to stay healthy last year, but the overall lack of notable roster talent also seeped through.
We did see General Manager Adam Peters get a bit aggressive this offseason to address the weak spots, but mind you, this team did just win five games. Given the talent they added this offseason, though, they could be closer to a 7-ish win team.
With all of that said, Jayden Daniels remaining healthy for the entire season is the key here. He played in just seven games last year, so a healthy Daniels could end up making this ranking look quite silly.
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