Easiest Path to Post Season

Well, at least the writer is honest about AFCN matchups being trouble....

NFL Teams With the Easiest and Hardest Paths to the Playoffs in 2026

Easier Playoff Pushes

Baltimore Ravens
Baltimore Ravens fans have some serious hope about their team getting into the postseason this year, with new head coach Jesse Minter. The team lucked out with a bye week in Week 13, and the five games after are all winnable. That late bye is not a small detail either. Baltimore gets its reset right before the part of the schedule where playoff teams usually separate themselves from the teams simply hanging around. For a team trying to close under a new head coach, that timing matters.

Week 14: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 15: @Pittsburgh Steelers
Week 16: vs. Cleveland Browns
Week 17: @Cincinnati Bengals
Week 18: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

The majority of the matchups are between AFC North opponents. And if there’s one thing we’ve learned when watching that division play football, it’s that every game is legitimately 50/50. Hosting the Buccaneers, Browns, and Steelers should all be likely wins for the Ravens, with the toughest being the Bengals on the road in Week 17.

The counterargument is obvious: calling any AFC North stretch “easy” is asking for trouble. These games are usually physical, ugly, and decided by a handful of possessions. But compared to teams closing against multiple elite non-division opponents, Baltimore’s path is still more manageable because it gets three of the five at home and avoids a long travel-heavy run after the bye.

Ravens have a real shot to go 4-1 during this stretch and be hot going into the playoffs, if they start hot early in the season. Even a 3-2 finish would not be a disaster if Baltimore handles its earlier business, but 4-1 is the number that would put real pressure on the rest of the AFC North. The schedule gives them the runway. Whether they turn it into a division-clinching push depends on how cleanly they handle the games they should control.

Cincinnati Bengals
There’s plenty of talk about the Cincinnati Bengals and their upgraded defense heading into 2026. We all know what the duo of Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase can do. But with the acquisition of Dexter Lawrence II from the New York Giants, the Bengals’ playoff aspirations are clear. That move changes the tone around Cincinnati because the issue has rarely been whether Burrow and Chase can generate offense.

The question has been whether the Bengals can hold up defensively long enough to make that offense matter in January. Adding a player of Lawrence’s caliber gives the argument more weight, not just more noise. Bengals coverage has framed the move as part of a clear “all-in” push, and that is exactly how this schedule should be viewed.

Week 13: @Cleveland Browns
Week 14: vs. Kansas City Chiefs
Week 15: @Carolina Panthers
Week 16: @Indianapolis Colts
Week 17: vs. Baltimore Ravens
Week 18: vs. Cleveland Browns

No game in the NFL is ‘free,’ but getting the Browns twice during this stretch helps. The Panthers and Colts aren’t easy road match-ups either. Still, we don’t know how Daniel Jones will look after his Achilles injury, and the Panthers could struggle despite the excitement surrounding them heading into 2026. The Chiefs are no doubt the hardest game here, but hosting them helps. That is the real balance of this stretch: it is not soft, but it is workable. Kansas City is the obvious measuring-stick game, Baltimore could swing the division picture, and the two Browns games are the kind Cincinnati cannot afford to split if it wants to be taken seriously as a playoff team.

If the Bengals are truly the team destined to make a run with their upgraded defense, they should go 4-2 or, at worst, 3-3 during this stretch, heading into the playoffs. Anything worse would make the “upgraded defense” conversation feel premature. This is exactly the kind of closing stretch a contender should survive: one heavyweight game, one major division test, two road spots that can get uncomfortable, and two games against a Browns team Cincinnati should be targeting.

 

This year, I agree with you. New HCs, new offenses for three teams. Past years, they seemed to play out with who had the healthiest QBs but they still always seemed 50/50 (AFCN games I mean).

 

True...Projection wins is not perfect but much better

 

agreed. doesn't take into account any injuries either which can derail a season quickly.

 

Post season? What exactly are Steelers gonna do in the post season? I've seen nothing to convince me this team is any better off at the most important position. Gotta have that QB in the AFC. And we'll NEVER know if Howard or Allar is legit while we recycle old QBs.

 

we did win the division last year and this team should be better and better coached this year with the new additions. i don't think we are doomed yet.

 

I remember last season when we kept hearing how the Ravens were going to run away with the division once Lamar got healthy . And Bengals fans thought they were going to run the table when Burrow returned .

 

Ok

Put one together with the scores from this years games