Name two teams that made the playoffs in 2025 but won't in 2026

Jacksonville
LA Chargers

 

Los Angeles and Pittsburgh for me.


Justin Herbert is truly Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde; great sometimes but not so much in others. Add the fact that the Chargers have a Top 10 brutal NFL Schedule along with the fact that both starting Tackles are returning from Season Ending injuries and I don't see much to get excited about regarding them. Even if I were to be charitable and award both Joe Alt and RaShawn Slater the benefit of returning to 100% along with the likes of Mike McDaniel and his complex Offense hitting the ground running; Run Defense remains the Chargers major Achilles Heel. The AFC West has improved tremendously in terms of their rushing attacks and LA has not done enough to convince me that they will be in position to capture a potential third Playoff Spot.


For Pittsburgh, my main concern lies with how long it will take the entire team to get acclimated into new systems by new Coaches; Starting with Offense. People tend to forget that installing new systems for Units does take some time to both adjust to and become more consistent with. Aaron Rodgers knows McCarthy's system well but he would account for the only one to do so. This also accounts for Defense and Special Teams as well for both Patrick Graham and Danny Crossman both have different coaching philosophies to their units; Graham in particular. Yes, the Steelers will run the 3-4 more often but communication and formation based differences will be very, very different and therefore complex to grasp. Overall, while one can argue that Pittsburgh does have a more favorable NFL Schedule, Baltimore's and Cincinnati's are either more easier or far more easier when factoring in said metric. Of the two teams I can expect to bounce back, Cincinnati tops the list. Dylan Fairchild, Dalton Risner and Ted Karras, while not being a top flight NFL IOL Unit, are better than people giving it credit for. Cincy's biggest splurge though has been on Defense. Dexter Lawrence won't be the guy making sacks but he will be commanding a lot of attention. Add in Boye Mafe, Johnathan Allen and Bryan Cook?! Cincy is in much better standing Defensively than they were a season ago.

 

Chargers and jags

 

F-It. I am going with last year's Number 1 and 2.

I think the Pats will suffer without their Head Coach being at the top of his game, or even being able to commit full time to his team this year. I still think this may explode if Dianna Russini is not paid off by the NFL to sign an NDA. The big NFL Legal question would be is "Was she promised inside information about the team and the NFL in exchange for sexual favors? " Will she also drag down more head coaches and GMs like Washington GM Scot McCloughan, who's wife accused Roussini of having an affair with her husband when Roussini coved the Redskins in 2015?

And, with Denver, I am just not a fan of Bo Nix and neither is Sean Payton. Payton told Nix that if he would have known about his ankle history in High School and College, he wouldn't have drafted him. Bo fired back and told his coach to go to hell, and keep his mouth shut about his injury history.

Another take on why the Broncos will implode in 2026.

 

Jags and Steelers.

 

Chiefs and Ravens made it in 2024 and were the 2 teams to miss it in 2025. The other 5 were the same.

I think NFC had 3-4 different ones from 2024 to 2025.

 

Steelers and Patriots

 

Steelers for sure running it back with a 43 year old QB who failed to produce a TD in 2 out of our last 3 games. The second team was tough to pick but the Patriots tough schedule and Vrabel still brooding about his wife not allowing him to bang Dianna Russini anymore could drop them down to around a 9-8 record.

 

I wasnt on the Bo Nix train myself in the 2024 NFL Draft myself. I didnt even have him my Top Five either. Biggest reason for me was he is, like so many others I have seen, way too dependent on off script and/or off platform plays. He still stares down his receivers too much for my liking and his accuracy is still only average from within the Pocket.


Oddly enough, I did believe that Sean Payton could work with him given how much Payton's Offenses relying heavily on timing based on rhythm; something Nix can do. However, after the recent rift as you highlighted?! Not entirely sure about it.


Some may blow it off. Others like me have seen this movie with Sean Payton before. If he doesnt respect you, he will let yoy know about it. For further evidence, see Russell Wilson.

 

Gotta agree here. Too many changes for the Steelers to adjust quickly. Schedule not very friendly. CIN has done enough on defense to lead the division given their offense.

NE will have a target on their backs by every team. Plus, SB hangover is a real thing. This isn't even counting the Vrabel saga.

 

I think the chargers offense will be at a another level with Mike McDaniels as OC

 

Chargers and Steelers.

 

Carolina Panthers and Pittsburgh Steelers.

 

Denver added Jaylen Waddle and their defense should still be good.

 

AFC teams only

 

The Patriots signed Romeo Doubs and might trade for AJ Brown, I doubt they will be as good as last year with a harder schedule. But they will contend for the playoffs still I'm not sure Buffalo has done enough to overtake them.

 

I think it's just AFC. I also would have put Panthers if including NFC.

 

The Mike Vrabel situation is a huge concern

 

The players aren't worried about that crap the media will move on unless there's another big layer to the story.

 

Chargers signed Mike McDaniel but also lost Jesse Minter. Among the players I believe will be hurt the most will be Derwin James. Under Minter, James looked like the Top 10 Talent I knew he would be coming out in 2018. When James was with Brandon Staley though?!... yikes.


One of my honorable mentions was going to be Houston. That said, I have been on record in stating that I don't have a lot of faith in Ohio State QBs as a whole anyways. That said, for me, Julian Sayin could buck that trend.

 

I’ll take the ones without a franchise QB.