NFL (2026-2027 Season)

[NWI_Irish96]

My season predictions, # denotes Wild Card:

AFCE: BUF, #NE, NYJ, MIA
AFCN: BAL, PIT, CIN, CLE
AFCS: HOU, IND, JAX, TEN
AFCW: KC, #DEN, #LAC, LV

NFCE: PHI, DAL, NYG, WAS
NFCN: GB, #CHI, DET, MIN
NFCS: TB, CAR, NO, ATL
NFCW: SEA, #LAR, #SF, ARI

AFC Championship: BUF over NE
NFC Championship: SEA over LAR
Super Bowl: BUF over SEA

[thspfc]

Tier 1: Super Bowl favorites
1. Rams
2. Seahawks
The league messed up not giving us this matchup until week 16. On paper these are the top two teams in the league by the largest margin I can ever remember, but of course, nothing is guaranteed, one or both could be struggling or out altogether by Christmas.
Tier 2: Super Bowl ceiling
3. Texans
4. Broncos
5. Patriots
6. Bills
7. Eagles
8. Lions
9. Chiefs
10. Ravens
I don't love any of the teams in this tier as likely champions, but I see the upside. I think the gap between #2 and #3 is larger than the gap between #3 and #10.
Tier 3: Playoff Bubble
11. Cowboys
12. 49ers
13. Chargers
14. Bears
15. Packers
16. Jaguars
17. Steelers
18. Vikings
The Packers, Vikings, and Steelers all feel like locks to be between 8 and 10 wins. The other 5 teams here have some of the widest ranges. The Bears in particular I could believe anywhere from 6 to 14.
Tier 4: mid
19. Bengals
20. Colts
21. Commanders
22. Saints
23. Buccaneers
Tier 5: bad
24. Panthers
25. Falcons
26. Giants
27. Titans
28. Raiders
Tier 6: trash
29. Cardinals
30. Browns
31. Dolphins
32. Jets

Division winners in bold

NFC playoffs: Rams, Seahawks, Eagles, Lions, Cowboys, I guess Saints... roll a 4-sided die between the 49ers, Bears, Packers, Vikings. Of the four I think the Bears have the most upside and least injury concerns so I'll take them

AFC playoffs: Texans, Broncos, Patriots, Bills, Chiefs, Ravens, Chargers

Super Bowl: Rams vs Seahawks I have zero clue. I think the NFC West's best team plays either the Texans, Broncos, Patriots, or Chiefs. I guess I'll say Seahawks vs Texans, won by the Seahawks

Fired coaches: Dan Quinn (Commanders), Todd Bowles (Buccaneers), Aaron Glenn (Jets), Zac Taylor (Bengals), Todd Monken (Browns), Shane Steichen (Colts)

[jgb191]

Division winners in bold

NFC playoffs: Rams, Seahawks, Eagles, Lions, Cowboys, I guess Saints... roll a 4-sided die between the 49ers, Bears, Packers, Vikings. Of the four I think the Bears have the most upside and least injury concerns so I'll take them

AFC playoffs: Texans, Broncos, Patriots, Bills, Chiefs, Ravens, Chargers

Super Bowl: Rams vs Seahawks I have zero clue. I think the NFC West's best team plays either the Texans, Broncos, Patriots, or Chiefs. I guess I'll say Seahawks vs Texans, won by the Seahawks

Are your playoff lineups in order of regular season record?  I see that you have the Texans and Rams listed first, does that mean you think both of them will finish with the best record in their respective conferences?

-----------------

I'm going to make bold prediction about my Texans: Despite our strong defense (by many accounts top three in the NFL, which I believe) CJ Stroud will continue to shoot holes in our ship and continue to find ways to lose picking up where he left off in the playoffs, despite our defense's best efforts to keep our ship afloat; our defense alone can win several of our games.  After the season GM Nick Caserio will be at a crossroads:  what to do with CJ.  He hasn't shown me that he's worthy of a max deal...he just hasn't.

[thspfc]

I think the Seahawks have the best coached defense in NFL history.

[Roadgeekteen]

Um Mr. Maye the hell you doing out there?

[ZLoth]

26. Giants
28. Raiders
32. Jets

Why do you have the Giants and Raiders ranked so high? If anything, both the Giants and Jets should share the same ranking.

[thspfc]

Division winners in bold

NFC playoffs: Rams, Seahawks, Eagles, Lions, Cowboys, I guess Saints... roll a 4-sided die between the 49ers, Bears, Packers, Vikings. Of the four I think the Bears have the most upside and least injury concerns so I'll take them

AFC playoffs: Texans, Broncos, Patriots, Bills, Chiefs, Ravens, Chargers

Super Bowl: Rams vs Seahawks I have zero clue. I think the NFC West's best team plays either the Texans, Broncos, Patriots, or Chiefs. I guess I'll say Seahawks vs Texans, won by the Seahawks

Are your playoff lineups in order of regular season record?  I see that you have the Texans and Rams listed first, does that mean you think both of them will finish with the best record in their respective conferences?

Not really.

26. Giants
28. Raiders
32. Jets

Why do you have the Giants and Raiders ranked so high? If anything, both the Giants and Jets should share the same ranking.

An optimist can say the Giants and Raiders have a scenario where they manage to go ~.500. Giants have a great defensive front on paper (though they also did last year to zero success) and young talent on offense that could possibly, maybe, stay healthy. The Raiders have a great QB prospect and high upside young weapons, and I'm not certain that their coach sucks.

I'm certain the Jets coach sucks, their QB is washed, their defense sucks, they have 2 weapons who I wouldn't blame for quitting on the team midseason.

[Henry]

Well, it was no surprise last night that the Seahawks beat the Pats again, although it was much closer than it was back in February.

[Ted$8roadFan]

The Patriots were winning the game until they weren't. Hate to admit it, but it was kind of poetic justice how it ended.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

A dumb pick in the end zone has never decided a Pats/Seahawks game before, has it? 

[Great Lakes Roads]

Uh... I guess that the 49ers were more prepared than the Rams.

[epzik8]

The most impressive thing about the Bears scoring 52 today is that the Lions scored 52 against them in week 2 just last year.

[NWI_Irish96]

The most impressive thing about the Bears scoring 52 today is that the Lions scored 52 against them in week 2 just last year.

Bears have a top 5 offense and bottom 5 defense so games like today may be the norm this year.

[The Ghostbuster]

I am sorely disappointed that the only team in the NFC North that didn't win today were my Green Bay Packers.

[thspfc]

I am sorely disappointed that the only team in the NFC North that didn't win today were my Green Bay Packers.

I don't think it's an exaggeration that the Packers are on the worst 6-game run in franchise history.

3 highly winnable games before the Bears in week 5, let's see if they can manage to play a second half at a level above the worst team in the NFL.

[JayhawkCO]

I am sorely disappointed that the only team in the NFC North that didn't win today were my Green Bay Packers.

I don't think it's an exaggeration that the Packers are on the worst 6-game run in franchise history.

3 highly winnable games before the Bears in week 5, let's see if they can manage to play a second half at a level above the worst team in the NFL.

As a Vikings fan, those refs were pretty terrible. Didn't cost the Packers the game (bad decisions did), but it certainly didn't help.

[thspfc]

I am sorely disappointed that the only team in the NFC North that didn't win today were my Green Bay Packers.

I don't think it's an exaggeration that the Packers are on the worst 6-game run in franchise history.

3 highly winnable games before the Bears in week 5, let's see if they can manage to play a second half at a level above the worst team in the NFL.

As a Vikings fan, those refs were pretty terrible. Didn't cost the Packers the game (bad decisions did), but it certainly didn't help.

Bad decisions also did not cost them the game. In the second half, going back to mid-December, their offense cannot score and their defense cannot get a stop. No amount of game management will fix a team completely lacking in fundamental ability to score more points than the opponent.

[darmstarm]

My Eagles certainly got the job done... but I'm a little concerned moving forward. We shouldn't be already deciding games by an onside kick, but then again inter-division games are always gonna be tough.

Also, two scorigamis in one week, wow!

[jgb191]

Counting yesterday, the Texans lost their last six regular season games by a combined 29 points, which approximates to about 4 points per game. 
Conclusion: The Texans are good enough to keep it competitive against the best, but just can't seem to get over the hump.

[CoreySamson]

Counting yesterday, the Texans lost their last six regular season games by a combined 29 points, which approximates to about 4 points per game. 
Conclusion: The Texans are good enough to keep it competitive against the best, but just can't seem to get over the hump.

The good news is that the Texans offense looks nothing like it did last year. The bad news is that the Texans defense looks nothing like it did last year, but maybe you could just chalk that up to Josh Allen randomly becoming unstoppable every once in a while. We'll see if this is something to be worried about.

[Henry]

I am sorely disappointed that the only team in the NFC North that didn't win today were my Green Bay Packers.

I don't think it's an exaggeration that the Packers are on the worst 6-game run in franchise history.

3 highly winnable games before the Bears in week 5, let's see if they can manage to play a second half at a level above the worst team in the NFL.

As a Vikings fan, those refs were pretty terrible. Didn't cost the Packers the game (bad decisions did), but it certainly didn't help.

Bad decisions also did not cost them the game. In the second half, going back to mid-December, their offense cannot score and their defense cannot get a stop. No amount of game management will fix a team completely lacking in fundamental ability to score more points than the opponent.

With the Bears scoring 59 points down in Carolina and the Packers losing in Minnesota, I chalk this up as a successful opening week.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

My Eagles certainly got the job done... but I'm a little concerned moving forward. We shouldn't be already deciding games by an onside kick, but then again inter-division games are always gonna be tough.

Also, two scorigamis in one week, wow!

Yeah, Washington went to the NFCCG 2 years ago and this is a "prove it" year for them. I don;t think they're great, but should be better than 2025 unless Daniels gets hurt again.

[jgb191]

Counting yesterday, the Texans lost their last six regular season games by a combined 29 points, which approximates to about 4 points per game. 
Conclusion: The Texans are good enough to keep it competitive against the best, but just can't seem to get over the hump.

The good news is that the Texans offense looks nothing like it did last year. The bad news is that the Texans defense looks nothing like it did last year, but maybe you could just chalk that up to Josh Allen randomly becoming unstoppable every once in a while. We'll see if this is something to be worried about.

Our defense held the Bills to just 19 points last season and sacked Josh eight times.  Yesterday the Bills scored almost twice that against that same defense.  Seems as if our defense is also regressing.

[NWI_Irish96]

I am sorely disappointed that the only team in the NFC North that didn't win today were my Green Bay Packers.

The Packers were ahead 25 to 17 but then were outscored 22 to -3 the rest of the game.

[epzik8]

Kenneth Walker proving why he was the Super Bowl MVP last night.