Monday, January 5, 2026

NFL Playoff Support Rankings

The 2025-2026 NFL Regular is finally over... what a weird year.  It seems fitting that it ended on a missed Field Goal allowing the Pittsburgh Steelers to win the AFC North.  I don't have a team that I root for, but I do take joy in watching the Ravens collapse.  (Why Yes, I'm still bitter...)

Considering that my pre-season Super Bowl involved two teams that missed the playoffs (The Detroit Lions and Baltimore Ravens), no one should take my NFL thoughts seriously.

I'm ranking the NFL Playoff teams on two scales- who I think is most likely to win, and who I want to win.

Who I think will win and who I want to see win


In terms of most likely to win, here's my non-professional thoughts:

  1. Seattle Seahawks
  2. Los Angeles Rams
  3. New England Patriots
  4. Denver Broncos
  5. Buffalo Bills
  6. Philadelphia Eagles
  7. Chicago Bears
  8. Jacksonville Jaguars
  9. San Francisco 49ers
  10. Los Angeles Chargers
  11. Houston Texans
  12. Green Bay Packers
  13. Pittsburgh Steelers
  14. Carolina Panthers

But I've got no faith in any of these teams.  Only a few teams have great Quarterbacks.  The #2 seeds both went worst-to-first, so who knows how much of their won-loss record is due to their schedule.  The Seahawks and Rams seem like the most complete team, but I wouldn't bet heavily on any of them.

Now I rank them based on who I'd like to see win.  This is a combination of teams that haven't won recently (or at all), my own past fandom history of dealing with the team, and... vibes, I guess.  I don't really hate any of the teams left in the playoffs (thank you again, Pittsburgh)

By that ranking, here's who I'm hoping wins it all...

  1. Buffalo Bills (it'd be great if they finally won one)
  2. Chicago Bears
  3. Green Bay Packers (mainly for the Tom Grossi content...)
  4. Houston Texans
  5. Pittsburgh Steelers 
  6. Seattle Seahawks
  7. San Francisco 49ers
  8. Denver Broncos
  9. Los Angeles Chargers
  10. Los Angeles Rams
  11. Carolina Panthers
  12. Jacksonville Jaguars
  13. New England Patriots (nothing against the team, but if there is one fanbase that doesn't need another superbowl, it's the Patriots)
  14. Philadelphia Eagles (don't hate them, but they did win it all last year)