8. Houston Texans
The Houston Texans might have the best roster in the NFL, but their success in 2026 could 100 percent come down to the performance of CJ Stroud, which is both awesome and terrifying. Stroud was playing out of his mind during his breakout rookie campaign back in 2023, but he's since been rather average.
Given that Houston has made it to the Divisional Round three years in a row now, there is a very high floor present here. And if Stroud can channel that 2023 production in 2026, Houston would be plenty good enough to win it all.
7. Detroit Lions
The Detroit Lions have a stellar roster and a top-tier quarterback in Jared Goff, but we have seen injuries plague this team, particularly on defense, over the past two seasons. Despite this harsh truth, Detroit has still managed to win 24 regular season games since the start of 2024, which included an insane 15-2 regular season.
If the injury luck is just a hair better, the Lions should quickly find themselves back atop the NFC North, and seeing as this team made it to the conference title game back in 2023, a deep playoff run is possible.
6. Buffalo Bills
Buffalo's playoff experience in the Josh Allen era is very well-documented, and while it's been insanely successful, the Bills have also fallen short time and time again. Failing to get past the AFC title game, the Bills have at least advanced past the Wild Card Round each year since 2020, which is something.
And while the Bills did make some notable coaching changes this offseason, they've also been so successful that most, if not all of us look at this team as being a legitimate contender - roster-wise, they have it all.
5. New England Patriots
New England shocked the NFL world in 2025, riding a very easy schedule to a Super Bowl berth. The schedule does get harder in 2026, but getting to the big game is impressive, no matter how it's done. The Patriots land at No. 5 in our power rankings, simply because the schedule gets a lot harder, and a regression could be on the table.
The roster is good, but it's not great. However, the Patriots have a top-7 head coach in Mike Vrabel, a top-5 quarterback in Drake Maye, and a top-2 offensive coordinator in Josh McDaniels, so this operation could again be good enough to make another deep playoff run.
And oh yeah, adding Brown to the mix is also going to help. Brown joins a remade wide receiver room that could thrust New England into a new tier in 2026, alongside Romeo Doubs.
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