3. Buffalo Bills
Buffalo is No. 3 in our power rankings. After a rather active offseason, the Bills clearly hope that a major head coaching change is what this franchise needed all along. Thanks to another playoff heartbreak, this time by the Denver Broncos, the Bills were once again wondering what went wrong.
The Bills have made the playoffs each year since 2019 and did have a five-year run winning the AFC East. It's unfathomable that the team failed to at least get to the Super Bowl in any of those years. Buffalo is again very talented on paper, but the ceiling of this team in the postseason will continue to come into question.
2. New England Patriots
Coming in at No. 2 in our power rankings, the New England Patriots broke out big-time in the 2025 season, winning 14 games and capturing the AFC East title from Buffalo. New England's schedule is going to get a lot harder this season, but given how many games this team won in 2025, it would be hard to envision a stark drop-off.
The Patriots had the No. 2 finisher in the MVP race in Drake Maye, and also have a future Hall of Fame coordinator in Josh McDaniels running the show on offense. This team should still be quite good in 2026.
1. Denver Broncos
The Broncos are the best team in the AFC right now and should be viewed as the team to beat in the conference. If the team had Bo Nix on the field and still lost in the AFC Championship Game, you could easily make the argument that the Patriots are better.
But even without Nix and even starting running back J.K. Dobbins, the Broncos still only lost by three points. Denver's roster talent is rather overwhelming in many areas, and now with Jaylen Waddle in the picture, the offense finally has that No. 1 playmaker it lacked in the first years of the Nix era.
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