There are some teams that stand atop their respective divisions, and likely will in 2026. But not every NFL division is created equal. Some are simply better than others, and the teams sitting in the basement of those divisions have a very tough path forward.
And given how the NFL does their playoff format, a 10-7 division winner, for example, is going to have a higher playoff seed than an 11-6 second-place finisher. Some may want the NFL to adopt an NBA-style playoff format, where teams are seeded by record, but there's something to be said about how important divisional games are in the NFL.
On that note, let's power-rank the eight divisions here for the upcoming season, primarily using the 2025 finishes as the basis for our rankings.
Power-ranking all eight divisions as the 2026 NFL Offseason rolls on
8. NFC South
Not a single team in the NFC South finished with a winning record in 2025, as all of Carolina, Tampa Bay, and New Orleans were 8-9. While I do believe a winning record will have to win the division in 2026, there just isn't much talent at all here.
Many of the quarterbacks are simply bad or nothing special (yet), and the overall roster talent could be a lot better.
7. NFC East
Sometimes called the "NFC Least," the NFC East saw one winning record in 2025, and it's not like the 11-6 Philadelphia Eagles were a dominant team. While I am quite high on the Dallas Cowboys, and do believe the New York Giants could be frisky, there is still a lot of unproven players and teams here.
It'd be unfair if I ranked a division higher on this list because I only 'felt like' the division as a whole would improve.
6. AFC North
Once a tough, rugged division with solid quarterback play and multiple playoff teams a year, the AFC North is mostly a joke. The 10-7 Pittsburgh Steelers won the division with an over-the-hill Aaron Rodgers in 2026.
It's clear that Pittsburgh won't win the division in 2026, and at best, the AFC North will be a two-horse race between Cincinnati and Baltimore, but even the Bengals have missed the playoffs three years in a row now.
Add us as a preferred source on Google