8 NFL Teams That Will Make the Playoffs in 2026 After Missing Them Last Season

The playoffs. They are the goal of every NFL team entering a season. The bane of Jim Mora's existence (some videos just never get old). And for 18 teams every season, they are a no-go.

The fact that some teams missed the postseason last year is hardly surprising—clubs like the Las Vegas Raiders, New York Jets, and Cleveland Browns were abjectly terrible. But there were also more than a few surprises—the reigning AFC champions and the No. 1 seed in the 2024 playoffs in the NFC both missed the playoffs in 2025.

Some of those surprise disappointments will get things back on track in 2026 and make it back to the tournament. But the playoffs annually throw in a surprise or three—the number of folks who predicted a Patriots/Seahawks Super Bowl a year ago at this time numbers exactly zero. Either way, the 2026 postseason will look different from 2025—perhaps markedly so.

Granted, eight new playoff teams would sail past "markedly" at about 85 miles per hour on the way to downtown Wacky.

But the NFL has been known to be wacky.

So let's get nuts.

Baltimore Ravens

AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson

The Baltimore Ravens entered the 2025 season as more than just contenders in the AFC North. They were supposed to be one of the leading contenders to represent the conference in Super Bowl LX.

But the Ravens shockingly lost five of their first six games. Quarterback Lamar Jackson missed four games and clearly wasn't himself in several others. After falling to Pittsburgh in a winner-take-all Week 18 contest, the Ravens finished 8-9, and longtime head coach John Harbaugh was shown the door.

The Ravens hired Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter to replace Harbaugh, and Minter brought in Anthony Weaver to revamp a defense that finished 31st in the league against the pass. Weaver told reporters that he intends to install a defense that strikes fear into opponents' hearts.

"I want our guys, when they finish the game, to [give] 60 minutes of hell," Weaver said. "When you play us, you're going to know you left a fight. We're going to try and hit everything, fly around, play connected, play together, and just do all we can to make sure that you play a game that was 60 minutes of hell."

Fixing the defense isn't Baltimore's only issue—the team also needs to upgrade its weapons in the passing game. But the Ravens have an MVP quarterback in Jackson and were one of two NFL teams to average over 150 rushing yards per game this season.

If Baltimore's new coaching staff can get the defense even close to on par with the offense, the Ravens will shake off last year's disappointment in short order.

Detroit Lions

AP Photo/Ryan Sun

Lions EDGE Aidan Hutchinson

In 2024, the Detroit Lions won 15 games and were the NFC's No. 1 seed. Things weren't quite as smooth in 2025, but the Lions were still 5-2 at the bye week and 8-5 after their first game in December.

From there. However, the wheels fell off. Three straight losses to the Los Angeles Rams, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Minnesota Vikings dropped the Lions to .500, and while the team won the regular-season finale, it was too little, too late by then.

At the time, head coach Dan Campbell acknowledged to reporters that the 2025 season was a massive disappointment—while maintaining that a quick turnaround was doable.

"Sometimes you've got to hit rock bottom before you can work your way back up. And relative to where we were at, this is rock bottom," Campbell said ahead of Wednesday's practice. "But as bad as it looks--I said this the other day--it's not as far away as it may appear. We've just got to get a few things back in line here."

Injuries played a significant role in Detroit's demise, as did a defense that was 22nd in the league in points allowed and the presence of new coordinators on both sides of the ball. But Campbell is right. It won't take much for the Lions to get back in the mix in the NFC North.

The Lions are loaded on offense. Have a quality offensive line. And have young difference-makers at all three levels of the defense.

Patch a couple of holes, get some more familiarity with those new coordinators, and the Lions will be right back in it in 2026.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

AP Photo/Lynne Sladky

Buccaneers QB Baker Mayfield

It has been a minute since Tom Brady led the Buccaneers to a victory in Super Bowl LV. But prior to last season, the Buccaneers had peeled off four straight NFC South championships. At the bye week in 2025, the Buccaneers appeared to be headed for a similar finish at 6-2.

Post-bye, the wheels fell off. Tampa won just two of their final nine games, finishing in a three-way tie for "first" place in a bad NFC South and missing the playoffs for the first time since 2019.

Injuries played a sizable role in that collapse. But ESPN's Jeremy Fowler wrote that Tampa's lack of a consistent pass rush is the biggest obstacle standing between the team and a return to the postseason.

"Tampa Bay falls somewhere between contention and the need for a mini rebuild," he said. "The Bucs need to address their defense this offseason. The group needs talent improvements at all three levels, most notably pass rusher. This would be as good an offseason as any to take some chances to acquire quality defensive players."

Tampa has some prominent in-house free agents, headlined by wide receiver Mike Evans, and not a ton of salary cap space to work with. Taking an edge-rusher with the 15th overall pick will be a trendy selection in mock drafts in the weeks to come, and if Tampa can upgrade at that spot and stay healthier, the offense can play with anyone.

Throw in an NFC South that isn't exactly a gauntlet, and if the Buccaneers can get back to double-digit wins (not the heaviest of lifts), it should be enough to win the division.

Cincinnati Bengals

AP Photo/Jeff Dean

Bengals WR Ja'Marr Chase

Not that long ago, the Cincinnati Bengals were the AFC representative in Super Bowl LVI. The following season, the Bengals narrowly lost the AFC Championship Game in Kansas City. However, that has been followed by three straight seasons of missing the playoffs—including a 6-11 campaign in which star quarterback Joe Burrow missed more than half the season.

The Bengals will have a healthy Burrow back in 2026. The collection of skill-position talent Cincy has on offense is as good as any in the league. When asked by reporters what the Bengals need to do this offseason, wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase said the answer is pretty obvious—the team needs to fix a defense that was 30th or worse in both yards and points allowed in 2025.

"I mean, everybody pretty much knows what we need," he said. "I've said it out in the media. All I gotta do is sit back and watch. I can't control that, so all I gotta do is control my production. I mean, at the end of the day, I'm just stating my opinion on what I think we need. So, you know, I sit back, let the organization do what they do, and I just gotta let my play do the rest."

The defense isn't the only problem—the team's offensive line was ranked in the bottom-five by Pro Football Focus. But Cincinnati has over $53 million in cap space per Over the Cap and the 10th pick in April's draft.

If the team can use those resources to build even average units on defense and in front of Burrow, the Bengals' high-octane offense could propel the team to the top of the AFC North.

Kansas City Chiefs

AP Photo/Charlie Riedel

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes

You had to know the Kansas City Chiefs would be on this list.

For over a decade, the Kansas City Chiefs terrorized the AFC West. The team won nine straight AFC West titles. Played in seven consecutive AFC Championship Games. And made it to five Super Bowls, including as recently as two years ago.

Super Bowl LIX didn't go according to plan, but the season that came after was exponentially worse. Most will point to Patrick Mahomes tearing his ACL as what doomed the Chiefs in 2025, but the reality is the team was barely clinging to playoff relevance before he got hurt. The offense was inconsistent. The defense backslid. And the success the team had in one-score games the year before evaporated.

Getting Mahomes back is the biggest key to Kansas City getting back to the postseason in 2026, and team owner Clark Hunt told reporters that he's optimistic he'll be ready for Week 1.

"He certainly has a goal to be back for the beginning of the season," Hunt said. "I wouldn't put it past him. He's somebody in the past who has healed very quickly and, again, his work ethic, I think, gives him a huge advantage in getting back and being ready to play in 2026."

The Chiefs need to improve Mahomes' passing-game weapons. Kansas City amassed just 35 sacks last year. The offensive line was shaky at times—especially at tackle.

But if No. 15 is anywhere close to 100 percent when the season starts, the Chiefs are going to be in the mix for a playoff spot.

They just are.

Dallas Cowboys

AP Photo/Richard W. Rodriguez

Cowboys QB Dak Prescott

The Dallas Cowboys enter every season with Texas-sized aspirations. But those aspirations have turned into disappointment over the past two years, with the team winning just seven games in each of the past two seasons. But after the Cowboys were eliminated from the postseason last year, quarterback Dak Prescott pledged that things would be different in 2026.

"We won't be back here in this spot," Prescott told reporters. "I feel like the last few times I've said that were playoff losses. Each year has its own troubles. Each year has its own highs, lows, ebbs, and flows, and everything within it. The importance is controlling what you can ... I'm going to do my damnedest, controlling what I can and as you get older, I think having more input, having more say so and being asked more questions from the front office. Maybe there's a little bit more that I can do, and it's not physically or me getting better at my game. Maybe it's speaking up and saying that this will help, or I think this can help."

The Cowboys are annually in salary cap purgatory. The Dallas defense was 30th in the league in total defense and dead last in points allowed.

But Dallas somehow always manages to create cap space. The Micah Parsons trade leaves Dallas with a pair of first-round picks—both in the top-20. The Cowboys were second in total offense and seventh in scoring offense last year.

If Dallas adds some pieces defensively and new defensive coordinator Christian Parker can engineer improvement on that side of the ball, the Cowboys will make some noise in an NFC East that wasn't especially imposing in 2025.

Indianapolis Colts

AP Photo/Martin Meissner

Colts WR Alec Pierce

It was all going so well for the Indianapolis Colts in 2025.

Ten games into the season, the Indianapolis Colts were one of the biggest surprise successes of the season—an eight-win team that appeared headed toward the AFC South title.

Then came the bye week—and the Colts didn't win another contest the rest of the way.

Two of those losses came before quarterback Daniel Jones tore his Achilles and the franchise's season imploded. While addressing the media, Jones said he intends to be a go for training camp—and he hopes that camp is with the Colts.

"I think, obviously, it's a long process in recovery and there's a time frame to it," he said. "You've got to check a lot of boxes along the way, but I expect to be ready to go by training camp. So, we'll attack the process and make sure I'm ready to go."

Re-signing Jones is just one of the major decisions facing Colts general manager Chris Ballard—wide receiver Alec Pierce is also about to hit free agency after his first career 1,000-yard season. And even if Jones does make a quick return to action, expecting him to be 100 percent for Week 1 toes the line between optimistic and delusional.

But the Colts are in pretty good shape against the salary cap and don't have any glaring holes on the roster.

Keep the roster mostly intact and weather the early-season bumps that could come as Jones works his way back into shape, and the Colts can turn last year's early success into the franchise's first playoff trip since 2020.

New York Giants

AP Photo/Adam Hunger

Giants QB Jaxson Dart

What? I said we were going to get nuts.

Actually, the idea of the New York Giants making the playoffs isn't that outrageous. We just watched a New England Patriots team that was 4-13 in 2024 win 14 games in 2205 and make it all the way to Super Bowl LX. And the teams share some similarities.

Like the Patriots a year ago, the Giants have a promising quarterback entering his second NFL season in Jaxson Dart. Like the Patriots, the Giants just hired a proven, veteran head coach in John Harbaugh. And per Ian O' Connor of The Athletic, Harbaugh has his sights set high—like say a parade in February high.

"I've heard people say the parade in New York is the most incredible thing ever," Harbaugh said. "Coach (Tom) Coughlin told me that, and I have a vision, like, 'Wow, I want it. I want to see that. I want to be in that parade.' But with that being said, what I'm thinking about is what the team looks like that earns the right to be in that parade someday. What do we have to build to get there? That's really what I'm consumed with."

There are questions in New York, whether it's the health of players like running back Cam Skattebo and wide receiver Malik Nabers, the impending free agency of important contributors like wideout Wan'Dale Robinson, or a less-than-ideal salary cap situation.

But teams with no cap space annually create loads of it with restructures and releases. New York quietly boasted a top-10 offensive line in 2025. And there are pieces on defense—especially up front.

The Patriots weren't the only four-win team to make the postseason in 2025—the Jacksonville Jaguars did it too.

In 2026, it could be the G-Men's turn.