My AFC Preview For 2026 season.
AFC Preview 2026
Every Evangelical Pastor Worth Their Salt Shares One Imperative to New Converts To The Church: A Pillar of the Christian Church Speaks, “The Old Is Gone, the New Has Come.” God Has Cast Your Sins As Far As the East From the West. The Same Principle of the Upcoming NFL Season Rings True: All of the Mismanaged Time, Poor Personnel Decisions, Muffed Punts, and Blown Coverages of 2025 Lay Dormant In The Streaks of Time and in the Record Books, Absolved from the minds of Most Fans. Despite what the sportsbooks, sports media, and Poly market say, every NFL Team Has an Equally Brutal Chance of winning the Lombardi; some teams look better before the race starts. Injuries Have Already Started to Shave Away at Some Rosters, and I feel the time to reassess where every team and every transaction stands. Mathematically and for the sake of narrative, the Rams have the best odds to win the Super Bowl, And The Ravens, for the second consecutive season, have the best odds to win the AFC. The Ravens have fallen into the talons or Claws Of The Ravens. The Ravens Have Landed On The Top Odds To Win The AFC For Most Of This Decade but Haven’t Made the Super Bowl.
AFC North:
Cleveland Browns—
The Browns find themselves in a familiar place: a space that has defined the second iteration of the franchise- an Untenable Quarterback Situation With Two Quarterback Competition With Both Options Exhibiting Lackluster Performances In Their Browns’s Tenure. The Browns Paid A King’s Ransom In both Draft Capital and The Richest Contract In Guaranteed Money For Quarterback Deshaun Watson Back In 2022, and despite the injurious social image, Cleveland Dubbed Watson A savior Of Sorts. Watson’s Injury History With The Browns and his injurious play don’t endear him To A New Coaching Staff Taking Over The Browns under the direction of a new offense. Ravens OC Todd Monken Enters The Browns Coaching Lore Seeking To Right The Ship In Cleveland. If We’ve Seen The Best Of Deshaun Watson in Cleveland already, we don’t need to see any more, and Shedeur Should Take The Job If Both Quarterbacks Will Lead Cleveland to another top-five pick. The new coaching staff wants “competition everywhere,” And Monken probably doesn’t care about redeeming the Browns' bad contract decisions. I’m Curious To Witness Wether The Browns Defense Could Remain Top Five Despite The Loss Of Myles Garrett and Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz, Who Vacated Cleveland After The Browns Passed On Schwartz For The Head Coach. The Browns Defense Has Consistently reached the top 10 since 2020 (except 2024), despite not pulling in wins and The Offense Lagging Substantially.
Pittsburgh Steelers—
Aaron Rodgers Will Suit Up For A Definite Final Season Of his a Storied Career But after Last Season’s Production and limitation Maybe Last Year Should Have Ended The Career Of The Four Time MVP. Rodgers Paced The League In Quick Passes (2.5
Secs Or Less)268 Of 498, Better Than Fifty Percent Of His Passes. Rodgers faced a league-low pressure rate on quick passes, so Pittsburgh’s Offensive Line Crumbling Around Him Didn’t Force Rodgers To React with a sudden strike; he’s not the marksman of His Former Days. The Steelers Made The Playoffs based More On The Struggles that beat the Ravens Most Of The 2025 season, based on finishing 17th in Offensive DVOA and 22nd in Passing DVOA, 295 Yards Per Game. The Packers Reunite Rodgers With His Long Time Head Coach Mike McCarthy After McCarthy Parted Ways With The Cowboys A Season Ago Cowboys Team McCarthy Designed Into The Number one Offense to Outstanding Production Including Averaging 406 Yards Per Game In 2021. McCarthy’s Offensive Principles Became The Skeleton Of The Cowboys' superb Offense From Last Season, but Because Of The Player Rodgers looks like in the twilight of his career, this second run with McCarthy seems doomed from the start.
Cincinnati Bengals—
Bengals Star Joe Burrow enters his age-30 season coming off a year where he missed nine games, and as the lines of his injury history lengthen and his early playoff success becomes fond Memories Of The Good Old Days. Burrow remains a fixture at the top of any quarterback rankings in the league; he's accurate, deliberate, and recognizes defenses at an elite level, but the bright-eyed, the “Virgin Glow” Of His Career Has Faded. Now one has to wonder: can Burrow Get The Bangals Back In The Running and Live Up To The Hype Of Talent? Burrow closed the 2025 season with nine touchdowns and One Interception; all Three He Completed Better Than 70% Of His Passes After A Slow Start To the Season. During that stretch, the Bengals defense had its most successful run in terms of EPA Per Play and Success Rate allowed. The Bengals Defense Needs To Improve Consistently Throughout The Year and Should Improve After Ranking At The Bottom In Virtual Every Meaningful Metric. Dexter Lawrence: Some added Talent and A Change In Philosophy Alone Won’t Turn This Defense Around In One season. The Bengals Bet Heavily On The Offense By Handing Out Massive Extension to Burrow, Jamar Chase and Tee Higgins In Recent Year Indicating The Teams Intent To Bet On The Offense To Carry The Forward Into Future Season. Burrow Must Lead An Efficiency Offense To Keep Their Defense From Getting Over Expose.
Baltimore Ravens—
The Ravens Had A “Hyperactive” offseason, and No Other team in football generated more buzz and pixels in both social Media and Traditional Media than Baltimore. The team dismissed longtime coach John Harbaugh, traded for a Raiders star edge rusher, Signed Edge Trey Hendrickson, and recently signed wide receiver Zay Flowers to a massive extension that pays him top-five money at the receiver position. The Quietest Matter For The Ravens In Terms Of Transaction And Not In Terms Of Social Discussion: The Lamar Jackson Extension. The Media And Players Have Discussed Lamar's Contract Situation With Two Years Left On The Deal He Signed Back In 2023. Both Lamar and the Ravens Not Coming To Terms On Extension Could Prove Strategic For Both Sides. Lamar and Baltimore Have Produced a lot of “Excitement” and Promise, but Not Results in Terms of Deep Playoff Runs or Championships. Instead, the Ravens have consistently failed to rise to expectation, and while Lamar’s play creates these expectations, he’s also part of the fault. The Ravens Can’t reach The Height of Other AFC teams Caught In Contention In the AFC. Offensively, the Ravens Look Similar To The team they fielded last year, with key contributors like tight end Mark Andrews and running back Derrick Henry All Getting older. The Ravens Will Function Under A New Offensive Playing But I Can’t Imagine the Offensive Philosophy Will Shift Away From Of What And How Lamar Jackson Operates To This Point in His Career. The Defense Added Trey Hendrickson, giving the Ravens the elite pass rusher they desperately needed, but he too is entering his 30s This Season.
AFC South:
Tennessee Titans—
The Titans begin A New Era Of Football Under Head Coach Robert Saleh, Taking Over In Hopes To Make The Titans Competitive Again. Saleh Didn’t Have To Wait Long to wait long to return to heights as a football coach after He Spent Just One Season Back In San Fransisco As A Defensive Coordinator after A Failed Run With The jets. Saleh Never Proved Himself An Elite Head Coach With 20-36 Record As The Jets head coach. Still, he coached the Jets, The Most dysfunctional Team In Football, so other NFL teams over the win percentage, and the Titans hired Saleh Based On Intangibles, His Values As A Human being. "We immediately connected with his competitive spirit and detailed approach to developing our players and team,” Titans Owner Amy Adams Strunk said in a statement. Leading The Titans Back To The Playoff for first Time Since 2021 Saleh Staff will Spear Head The Development of Former number One Overall Pick Quarterback Cam Ward Who Showed Signs Of Brilliance And Strobe Lights of Dysfunctional Talent In First Season.
Houston Texans—
The Texans Pose As A Super Bowl Contender Right Out Of The Gate In 2026 With Piercing Down On Quarterback CJ Stroud Entering His Fourth Season. The First Season Of Stroud in Houston Indicated That The Team Had Fill The Void For Houston After The End Of The Deshaun Watson Trade in his rookie year. Stroud Has Regressed In Successive Season Since His Polish First Year To The Point He’s Morph From One Of The Team’s Greatest strength Into Their Biggest Liability. I’ve Always Theorized That Ohio State Quarterbacks Fail In The League Because The Buckeyes Talent At Receiving Incubates These Quarterbacks from Facing High Doses of High-Level Situations—Situations That Require Precise Execution—And Stroud's First-Season Production Rebuffed This Hypothesis But Now He Seems Overwhelmed By The Complexities Of NFL Defenses Without Enough Elite Talent In Houston to Bolster his Shortcomings. The Texans Didn’t “Suped” Up The Offense In The Offseason, The Offensive line Still Has Question Even If We Expect Some Players Along The Line To Step Up. The Defense Will Begin To Get Expensive After This Year, and We Might Not Witness This Elite Unit of Defensive Backs and Pass Rushers After This Season.
Jacksonville Jaguars—
Most Football Critics and Plaudits Dubbed The Jags' First Season Under Liam Ceon A Success; He Did Lead The Jags To The Playoffs and A 12 Game Win Streak. Trevor Lawrence Proved Himself, Redeemed A Former Golden Boy, A Franchise Savior. Number One Pick Lawrence Made The Leap From Potential To Actuality. In 2025, Lawrence hit 4,000 yards for the third time in his career, with a career-high 29 Touchdowns while Keeping His Interception Rate Respectable. Knowledgeable football fans have seen this leap from Lawrence before, and he has to prove he can sustain this level of play for multiple seasons. Not long ago, the football world thought former Jags head Coach Doug Pederson Had Put Lawrence’s career in the right order after Lawrence produced drastic jumps in his numbers from his first year under Urban Meyer To His Second Year Under Pederson, only to regress the Following Season quickly. Lawrence still stands on the proving ground heading into 2026. After Daniel Jones Crumbled In The Second half Of Last Season, Daniel Jones Took Over As The Top Quarterback In The Division But any Quarterback In This Division Could end the season with the mantle as the top passer in the division.
Indianapolis Colts—
The Colts opted to “Run It Back” (mostly) with the roster and coaching that got them to 8-2 through Week 10 before, in the second half of the season, eventually missing the playoffs with a few exceptions and shifts. The Micheal Pittman Jr Move To Pittsburgh Pushes deep threat Alec Pierce into The Receiver One Role, Josh Downs takes The Secondary Receiver Role With Tight End Tyler Warren Fitting In Somewhere Above and Between Those. Warren Starter His Rookie Year Looking stellar Before His Play Collapse and Their Collective Roles Hinge On The Return Of Daniel Jones and What Form He Returns In From His Achilles Injury. Jones looks like the top-ten pick the Giants Selected Him As Back in 2019, and the player whose play back in 2023 convinced the Giants to give Jones top-ten quarterback money for about half a season in Indy. The Colts Handed Jones two years for $88 million and tacked on two years for $44 Million To Jonathan Taylor’s contract, “holding out hope they can recapture…” The Thrill, The Magic, and The Execution They Found Before The Collapse. The Colts can’t Try To Live Their Football Backward Focusing On What Slipped Through Their Fingers and Not Focused On What They Have To Produced Each Day To Re-Welcome Those High spirited Days.
AFC West:
Kansas City Chiefs—
The Chiefs have Patrick Mahomes back from the ACL tear he suffered in November Of Last Year For Training camp and to Start The Season (presumably) as the franchise enters a crucial act in the Mahomes era. Every “Dynasty” Has A second Act, They’ve Locked Up The Quarterback and Other Key Components Long Term But The Roster Has Suffered Considerable Turnover and Their Not The Team All Other Teams Had To Get Past, They’re In a Limbo Of Sorts. In 2025 The Chiefs Wedded Metric Base Numbers And Reputation To Hang Amidst The Top Ten Teams In 2025 But Eventually The Wins-Loss Columns Told The Truth About The Chiefs Season, They Play Mediocre Football Most Of Year Disguise As “Efficiency”—2nd In EPA Per Play and scoring Drive Weeks 1 Through 13. The Chiefs Might Field The Least Talented Offensive Skills Players Of The Mahomes era next season: no star receivers, a good running back, an aged Travis Kelce, and an OK-ish offensive line. The Chiefs have to find their way back to the foot of the mountain: no Andy Reid Mysticism, No “Aura,” Just Effort and Execution. After A Loss To The Chargers Patrick Mahomes said Teams Were Very Conscious Of The Plays That We’re Hit For as Long Time” Sometimes You Run Out Of “Mojo” and what Always Work Stop Working and You Have The “Go-Getters” On Your Team To Make Something Happen AND Describes The Chiefs.
Denver Broncos—
By all accounts, the Broncos stood one Bo Nix Ankle Injury Away From Potentially Making A Super Bowl Appearance. Nix hasn’t won over fans and critics as an upper-echelon quarterback, but few would argue that with Nix at quarterback instead of Jarrett Stidham, the Broncos would have had better odds against the Patriots. The Broncos Shifted The Weight Of The Division More Over Into Their Favor With addition of Jaylen Waddle In A Trade From The Dolphins, Giving Their Offense A Versatile Number One Receiver. Amongst The Many Elite Skills At Waddle's “Disposal,” He’s Excellent After The Catch, Averaging 2.7 Yards Of Separation, But He’s Also Special Over The Intermediate Portion Of The Field And Deep. Nix Hasn’t Shown An Immense Propensity For The Nuances quarterback play. Still, he’s an elite deep-ball passer, and A Weapon Like Waddle Will Either Expose Or Force Him To Grow Into The Mold Of Franchise Dependable player. "You can't ever let up and think that, 'I've made it. I've gotten to where I need to be,' because quite honestly, I'll never feel that way." Nix said,
Los Angeles Chargers—
If Any Team Looked Poised To Take Over The AFC West In The Chiefs Decline The Chargers Had Ground On The Other AFC west Having Already Made a Playoff Appearance This Decade But The troubles On and Injuries Hampered The Chargers For A Few Years. The Chargers, under Greg Roman, produced a respectable offense, averaging 21.6 points per game (20th in the league) and ranking 19th in offensive DVOA. Los Angeles Ran One Of The Slowest Offenses In Football In Terms Of Pace The Rarely No Huddle, almost Forcing One Of The Most Prolific Passers In Football, Justin Herbert, To Play A Contained Version. the Chargers Relied Heavily On Unproven Talent Ladd McConkey Produced A Polished Rookie Season But the Scheme That Got Him Open As Rookie Didn’t Have The Same Affect After Defense Got An Entire Offseason To Study McConkey’s Craftsmanship. Third-year receiver Quentin Johnston and former first-round pick Quentin Johnston produced the best stats Of His Career: 14.4 Yards Per reception, +5% Catch Rate Over Expected, and +16.7 receiving yards per reception, brilliant compared to his previous seasons' work. But He Played At A Number Two Receiver Level At best. He’s Still Yet To Unlock His True Capacity. The Chargers offense leaned in on rookie seventh-round tight end Orunde Gadsden as one of the Team's Top producers, along With Veteran Receiver and Longtime Charger Kenaan Allen. The Chargers added more receiving options in free agency, but adding former Dolphins Head Coach Mike McDaniel as their offensive coordinator will prove the largest difference-maker for the Bolts and the West. McDaniel's led the Dolphins to multiple top-ten offenses, and He’ll play A Crucial Role in unlocking Justin Herbert’s Full Capacity As A Quarterback Talent.
Las Vegas Raiders—
The Results Of The Raiders' efforts to win have gone awry, but the evidence shows the Raiders Have Tried To Find The Winning Track. Geno Smith and Pete Carroll era didn’t pan out; the Davante Adams trade a few years back provided A Little Spark But Nothing sustaining. If effort doesn’t result in desired outcomes, this “Wins” effort results in lessons, and the Raiders have learned that they can't skip over the quarterback development process by signing on with Drags Of Some Former High Quality Quarterbacks Like Geno Smith and Jimmy Garoppolo. The Raiders Selected Quarterback Fernando Mendoza Out Of Indiana to Eventually Step Into The Franchise Savior Role The Raiders First Such Player Since Derek Carr Lead The Team To The Playoffs once In His Nine Year Run With The Team (2014-2022). Mendoza Won’t Start Day One Under New And First-Time Head Coach Klint Kubiak; Veteran Kirk Cousins Will Own The Helm. His Presence Gives Mendoza, Kubiak, And The Organization Time To Align and tweak the Offensive Infrastructure to Mendoza's needs.
AFC East:
New England Patriots—
The Patriots' return to the top of the AFC in 2025 Proved A Revelation For Wayward Fans of the franchise hoping for a Return to the Glory Days of Non-Stop Winning, and A Hint Of Dejection For Fans Of The sport who long awaited the downturn of the Patriots' dominance. The Patriots Made The Super Bowl, and yes, they put on one of the worst offensive displays of football in Super Bowl History, coasted on an “Easy” Schedule That critics Of The Team Never Failed To Remind Fans about, And Also Found Favor During Their Playoff Run. The Patriots Surpassed Expectations In One Season and Now Welcome Higher Expectations The Following Year, 2026. The Patriots Haven’t Snatch Back Their Place as The Team To Fear in the AFC or establish themselves as the measuring stick match in the AFC—That Position Belongs To The Bills. The Patriots Will Look upon 2026 as everyone has ascribed to them: a Team That “Shouldn’t” Have Made The Super Bowl. The Patriots added AJ Brown in a late-ish offseason acquisition, an elite difference-maker on the outside and a player with true championship valor to his pedigree, and the Maye-to-Brown will prove must-see on Sunday. They Added More Firepower With Romeo Doubs To The Receiver To Join Kayshon Boutte, Whom They May Or May Not Trade. Still, They Give The Patriots a versatile corps. Drake Maye will enter just his third season. The trouble with sports teams jumping ahead of schedule in Terms Like The Patriots Last Season, or LeBron James’s Cavaliers Of The 2000s, is getting back on the schedule as previously defined ahead of the leap.
Buffalo Bills—
Yes, The Light still peaks through the crack, but the door has started to close on this competitive iteration of the Bills That Started Back In 2020 when the Bills and Josh Allen Made Their First Playoff Appearance. The best Bills Teams Couldn’t Defeat The Chiefs team, and Their Best Bills Team Would Walk Into 2026 as the clear AFC favorite, but a lot has changed throughout the Bills Roster. The Offense Enters Its Latest Iteration With The Newly Acquired Wide Receiver DJ Moore Stationed As The Top Outside Option, A Position The Bills Have Struggled To Secure After The Departure Of Star Wide Receiver Stefon Diggs. Moore Won’t Bring The Same Presence As Diggs did some five years ago, but the Panthers and Bears Number One Will Serve As Better Option Than Amari Cooper or Keon Coleman. If the Bills Can Get Continued Productive From slot option Kahlil Shakir Who Lead The Team In Receiving Yards and Receptions(72), Nearly Double The Production Of The Best Receiver. The Bills Still Have Superman himself, Josh Allen, Who Gives The Bills a Chance To Win and Control Games Anytime He’s In The Huddle. Still, They’ll Need Another Pass Catching option To Step Up On Outside, like a Josh Palmer or Tyrell Shavers, On The Outside Making Explosive Plays. The Bills’s Secondary Got Exposed Late Against The Broncos In The Divisional Round and Wild Card Against The Jags, But The Team Could See Improved Play From The Section Of The Defense If Guys Stay Healthy and Sustain A High Level Of Play. The Bills Will Put Themselves In Position To Contend Every Year They Have Josh Allen In His Prime At Quarterback, But They’re Starting A New Era Of Play under New Joe Brady.
Miami Dolphins—
The Dolphins Brief Run As a Contender-ish Team Under Mike McDaniel’s Came To An Official End As McDaniels, Wide Receivers Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle All Departed The Team In One Offseason, A Massive Overhaul In Miami. Former Packers Defensive Coordinator Jeff Hadley Takes Over This Dolphins roster as one of the least talented and recognizable names, particularly at receiver. Former Eagles first-round pick Jalen Reagor was famously selected before Justin Jefferson in 2020, And Former Panthers second-round pick Terrace Marshall Jr. stands out in terms of name recognition and Snaps. They’re Third On The Depth Chart. The Dolphins Will Spend $13.2 Million Total On Wide Receivers Heading Into The 2026; the highest-paid receiver in the league makes More Than Triple That Figure Alone. The Dolphins Signed Former Packers backup quarterback Malik Willis To A three-year $67.5 million deal, a sizable payday for a potential long-term starter, but because of how the Dolphins Structure This Roster and all the dead cap the team ate this offseason, Miami Might Not Get The Best Out Of Willis and His Deal. Do the Dolphins have the ability to assemble A Better Cast Around Willis—Not the fault of the current regime—He(Willis) Could Prove More Than Just A “Gap Year” quarterback, which this roster relegates him to at this point. The Dolphins defense will probably play historically bad or, at best, 2025 Dallas Cowboys bad, as critical units like the defensive line and the secondary Hinge On rookies and Aged, past-their-prime vets.
New York Jets—
The Jets and the Dolphins Share Similar Qualities as dead-in-the-water AFC teams With A Sizable Chunk of Dead Cap(Salary Percentage Allotted For Players No Longer On The Team’s Roster), the second most in the league, and Heading Into A “Gap Year” As They Most Likely Plan To Draft Their Quarterback Of The Future. The Jets decided To Keep Head Coach Aaron Glenn Despite A Disastrous First Season, and Glenn Will Spare Head A Youth Movement Of Sorts After the Team Moved On From All-Pros Quinnen Williams and Sauce Gardner before last season’s trade deadline and Defensive End Jermaine Johnson This Offseason. The Jets Have A lot Of Upside On offense, adding Tight End Kenyon Sadiq and Receiver Omar Cooper Jr. in the draft. The promising young offensive lineman Olu Fashanu and Armand Membou are expected to, at worst, improve if not play elite pass protection. The Jets definitely stand a few inches ahead of the Dolphins in terms of rebuilding time frame; the next step is an elite quarterback prospect. Returning Talents Like Adonai Mitchell and Mason Taylor Will Join Star Garrett Wilson, Coming Off A season where he led the Jets In Receiving Despite Playing Less Than Half The Season Due To Injury. The Jets have a high-upside pass-catching corps that could put up a lot of points, depending on which version of Geno Smith Plays and whether everyone stays healthy. I Don’t Expect The Jets to Win Many Games, but They’ll Play A Far More Entertaining Brand Of Football This Season Than Last Season.
