The Seattle Seahawks are the defending Super Bowl champions. The New England Patriots were 60 minutes away. And as the 2026 NFL season approaches, the field chasing Super Bowl LXI at Levi’s Stadium on February 14, 2027 feels as wide open as any in recent memory.
Here are the top 10 contenders, ranked by their combination of roster strength, coaching stability, and realistic path to the Lombardi Trophy.
1. Los Angeles Rams
Matthew Stafford is entering his age-38 season coming off an MVP campaign — the first of his career — and the Rams are the betting favorites at +600 to win Super Bowl LXI. Sean McVay’s offense hummed in 2025 despite injuries along the offensive line, and the front office enters the season with both cap flexibility and a pair of first-round picks to address weaknesses at the trade deadline. The defense, coordinated by Chris Shula, was a narrow playoff miss from a deeper run. As long as Stafford is upright, the Rams belong at the top of this list.
2. Buffalo Bills
Josh Allen alone keeps Buffalo in any championship conversation. The Bills have won double-digit games in six consecutive seasons. They have been eliminated in the playoffs by Kansas City three times in that span, but the Chiefs’ grip on the AFC has loosened following Patrick Mahomes’ injury. Buffalo’s offensive line remains elite. The defense, coordinated by Sean McDermott, ranked top five in DVOA in 2025. This is a complete team that has simply run into the wrong matchup at the wrong time — and the AFC landscape in 2026 might finally tilt in their favor.
3. Baltimore Ravens
Lamar Jackson’s 2025 injury-plagued season obscured what the Ravens were building on defense: a top-three unit by EPA per play that returns nearly intact. Derrick Henry remains a force at running back — his 1,600-yard 2025 season at age 31 defied every aging curve in the book — and Zay Flowers has developed into a legitimate WR1. If Jackson stays healthy, Baltimore has the defense to carry them deep and the offensive firepower to win shootouts. That combination is rare.
4. Chicago Bears
The Bears won 11 games in 2025 — seven of them by one score — with a point differential (+26) that suggests they were closer to good than lucky. Caleb Williams now has a full season as a starter under his belt and a supporting cast that added offensive talent through the draft. The defense, led by Montez Sweat and a secondary that ranked in the top half of the league in takeaways, returns its core. The NFC North runs through Chicago until proven otherwise.
5. Seattle Seahawks
The defending champions deserve respect. Sam Darnold performed like an above-average starter for a second consecutive season in 2025, and Seattle’s defense — the unit that carried them through the playoffs — returns intact under Mike Macdonald. Kenneth Walker III is expected to re-sign and lead a balanced offensive attack. The historical precedent for Super Bowl hangovers is real: only one defending champion (the 2004 Patriots) has repeated in the last 20 years. But Seattle’s core is young, well-coached, and built to sustain a multi-year window.
6. Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles feel like the high-variance pick. Jalen Hurts has three consecutive top-five fantasy finishes, but offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland’s departure and Sean Mannion’s installation as play-caller introduce real unknowns. A.J. Brown remains one of the five best receivers in football. The defense — anchored by Jalen Carter and a secondary that added talent — should keep games close. The question is whether the offense takes a step back. If it doesn’t, the Eagles remain a top-tier NFC contender.
7. New England Patriots
The Super Bowl runner-up enters 2026 in a fascinating position. Drake Maye is now firmly established as a top-10 NFL quarterback. The defense, coordinated by Jerod Mayo, lost pieces in free agency but retains its schematic identity. The biggest variable is the backfield: Rhamondre Stevenson carried a heavy workload during the playoff run, and rookie TreVeyon Henderson will push for a timeshare. The Super Bowl loser historically struggles the following season, but Maye’s trajectory gives New England a floor that most teams lack.
8–10: Jaguars, Chargers, Lions
Jacksonville closed 2025 as one of the hottest teams in football. Trevor Lawrence’s late-season surge (113.2 passer rating over the final six games) coincided with a defense that began forcing turnovers at a top-five rate. Travis Hunter’s potential full-time shift to cornerback could solve the team’s most glaring weakness.
Los Angeles Chargers: Justin Herbert played at an MVP level in 2025 when you adjust for his supporting cast. Adding offensive lineman Francis Mauigoa in the draft and getting a healthy receiving corps could unlock the version of Herbert that threw for 5,000 yards in 2021.
Detroit: The Lions’ offensive infrastructure — elite line, Jahmyr Gibbs, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Sam LaPorta — is the envy of most of the league. If Jared Goff stays protected by the retooled offensive line, Detroit should win double-digit games and contend in a tough NFC North. The question is whether the defense can get enough stops against the conference’s elite.