4. Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jacksonville Jaguars are AFC South champions after throttling the Tennessee Titans in Week 18. The Jaguars now head to the NFL Playoffs under first-year head coach Liam Coen. Coen could be a major candidate for the Coach of the Year award, as the 13-4 Jaguars came a long way just from a year ago.
Not only has Trevor Lawrence been on fire, but the defense has been stingy all year. The Jags have also recently inked some extensions in some forward-thinking moves by extending WR Jakobi Meyers and OT Cole Van Lanen.
It’s enviable how quickly the Jaguars have turned things around, and I would not be shocked if they ended up winning the AFC. This is a balanced roster with a QB heating up at the right time and a defense that takes the ball away at an insane level.
Juggernaut.
3. New England Patriots
The New England Patriots blew out the Miami Dolphins in Week 18 and secured the second seed for the AFC playoffs, which means they will face the Los Angeles Chargers. LA comes to town for Wild Card Weekend, and it’s going to be some new faces for the Pats.
The Patriots have not been in the playoffs since the 2021 NFL Season when Mac Jones was under center, and that game was in Buffalo. The Pats have their first home playoff game since the 2019 NFL Season when Tom Brady was still in town.
We saw the Patriots emerge as one of the best overall teams in the league all year. They’re stout on both sides of the ball but might not have enough roster talent to make a deep run. However, head coach Mike Vrabel might just be the Coach of the Year, so they have that going for themselves.
New England isn’t going to make it to the Super Bowl, but this team is flat-out excellent and have a ton of resources to go all-in next offseason for what could be a very special 2026.