New England Patriots: 11 wins
After seeing them get dismantled in the Super Bowl by the Seahawks, a lot of fans and analysts in the NFL world did a little revisionist history with the Patriots.
While everyone was singing their praises all throughout the 2025 season, calling Drake Maye an MVP candidate, many of the same people were quick to call the Patriots frauds for playing an easy schedule in the regular season before a rather atrocious postseason run, at least offensively.
Still, you can't ignore or deny what the Patriots were able to do last season. If they can figure out a way to finalize the AJ Brown trade, that offense could vault to even crazier levels in 2026.
What's the primary issue with the Patriots right now? It's ironically their head coach, Mike Vrabel. We have no idea how his off-field issues right now are going to impact the Patriots -- if at all -- this coming season. The Patriots won 14 games last season, but a regression to 10 or 11 wins feels realistic with a tougher slate of opponents.
Los Angeles Chargers: 11 wins
There might be more reasons to like the Los Angeles Chargers this year than any other year of the Justin Herbert era.
The Chargers have a great head coach in Jim Harbaugh. They hired Mike McDaniel to come in and call the offense this year, and McDaniel is a genius when it comes to drawing up a run game scheme. Especially for a team like the Chargers, that is huge. The Chargers need balance offensively, and they need to stay healthy on the offensive line. McDaniel can help with at least one of those things.
Defensively, the loss of Jesse Minter probably isn't getting talked about enough. He was truly one of the elite coordinators in the league, which is why the Ravens stole him away as their new head coach. The Chargers have a veteran-laden defense, but a first-year coordinator in Chris O'Leary.
This Chargers team won't win fewer than 10 games this coming season so long as Herbert stays healthy.
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