Although the New England Patriots got dismantled 29-13 in Super Bowl LX by the Seattle Seahawks, it can’t take away from their remarkable season. They went from 4-13 and last place in the AFC East in 2024, to 14-3 in 2025 to become division champions and conference champions.
The Chicago Bears also went from worst to first in the NFC North season, going from 5-12 a year ago to 11-6 this season.
The eight teams that finished at the bottom of their respective division are hoping to have similar success to what the Patriots and Bears achieved. Here’s our ranking of the teams with the best chances of going from worst to first in their respective divisions for next season.
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1. New York Giants (4-13)
The New York Giants have two things in common that propelled the Patriots and Bears from going from worst to first. They upgraded their head coaching position with the addition of John Harbaugh, and they have a talented quarterback entering his second year in Jaxson Dart.
Often, quarterbacks make their biggest jump from year one to year two, and with Malik Nabers coming back from a torn ACL, we should see a huge jump in production from Dart. In addition to Dart and Nabers, the Giants have a core of talented players such as Brian Burns, Abdul Carter, Dexter Lawrence, and Andrew Thomas.
The NFC East is winnable as both the Eagles and Cowboys take a step back this season, and the Commanders have a roster that is starting to show their age at some positions. Big Blue will add an impact player with the fifth overall pick in the draft, which gives them the best chance of going from worst to first.
2. New Orleans Saints (6-11)
Although they finished last in the NFC South with a 6-11 record, they finished the year strong, winning four out of their last five games, including victories over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the division winner, the Carolina Panthers. In his 11 starts, rookie quarterback Tyler Shough showed steady improvement as the season progressed and had three games with a passing rating of over 100.
Head coach Kellen Moore is entering his second year on the job, and he and Shough will have a better command of the team in 2026. The team will probably add an offensive playmaker with the eighth overall pick to help boost their offense, which was ranked 23rd.
What bodes best for the Saints’ chances of winning the division is that there are no dominant teams in the NFC South, as the other three teams all finished 8-9 this season.
3. Detroit Lions (9-8)
The Lions were perhaps the most disappointing team this year as they missed the playoffs after winning the NFC North the previous two seasons. Subpar offensive line play, losing safety Brian Branch to a torn Achilles tendon, and losing five out of their last eight games is what ultimately cost them a shot at making the playoffs.
The Lions have two of the best skill position players in the league in Jahmyr Gibbs and Amon-Ra St. Brown, but for whatever reason, the team falls short of expectations. It was apparent that losing both of their coordinators played a huge role in their regression.
If they tweak the offensive line and a couple of pieces on defense, they should be in contention for the division crown. However, they’re in the most competitive division in the NFL as every team in the division had a winning record.
4. Cleveland Brown (5-12)
The Browns are hopeful that new rookie head coach Todd Monken can help turn the team’s fortunes around. The biggest positive for the Browns is that they have one of the best defenses in the league, led by Defensive Player of the Year and single-season sack king Myles Garrett. The bad news is that they had the 30th-ranked offense and 31st-ranked passing offense.
The Browns do have two first-round picks (6 and 24th overall), which should result in two immediate impact players. What also bodes well for Cleveland is that the two teams that have dominated the division, the Steelers and Ravens, are going through coaching changes as Mike McCarthy is replacing Mike Tomlin, and Jesse Minter is replacing John Harbaugh.
If they can get better quarterback play from Shedeur Sanders or whoever will be under center, it would not be a shock to see them atop the AFC North.
5. Tennessee Titans (3-14)
New head coach Robert Saleh has the task of trying to rebuild a Titans team that has gone 6-28 in the last two seasons. This will be Saleh’s second stint as an NFL head coach, and one thing we know from his background is that the Titans’ defense will be much improved.
Saleh hired former New York Giants head coach Brian Daboll to be the team’s new offensive coordinator and turn around an offense that was ranked 31st in the league. Daboll’s top duty will be to help develop quarterback Cam Ward, the same way he helped develop Josh Allen when he was the offensive coordinator with the Bills.
Despite the experienced coaching staff, the Titans are void of talent compared to the rest of the division, which had two playoff teams in the Jaguars and Texans. No matter how much improved Ward might be in year two, it’s hard to see them leapfrog the rest of the AFC South next season.
6. New York Jets (3-14)
Year one of the Aaron Glenn regime was an epic disaster as the defense failed to record an interception for the entire season, and their quarterback position was as unstable as any team in the league, with Justin Fields and Tyrod Taylor. The Jets were dead last in passing offense (140.3 yards per game), and as of right now, it’s anyone’s guess on who will be under center in Week 1. In addition, the Jets’ minus-203-point differential was the worst in the league.
The Jets currently hold the second and 16th overall picks in the draft and have a plethora of options they can do with those picks. A positive for the Jets is that the other teams in the division have question marks of their own. Despite making it to Super Bowl LX, the New England Patriots will have a difficult first-place schedule ahead of them, after having one of the easiest schedules in the last quarter of a century. The Bills and Dolphins both have new first-time NFL head coaches in Joe Brady and Jeff Hafley.
With all that said, it’s highly unlikely the Jets will be able to compete with the Patriots and Bills.
7. Las Vegas Raiders (3-14)
The Raiders have the first overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft, where it’s expected they’ll take Heisman Trophy winner and National Champion Fernando Mendoza from Indiana. The Raiders do have arguably the best tight end in football in Brock Bowers, and rookie running back Ashton Jeanty showed promise despite running behind a poor offensive line.
But aside from Bowers and Jeanty, there’s not much positive going on with the silver and black. The offense finished 32nd in the league, and Pro Bowl defensive end has been the subject of trade rumors after the team put him on IR at the end of 2025.
The biggest reason why we won’t see the Raiders go from worst to first with rookie head coach Klint Kubiak is that the division is too talented. The Broncos were the number one seed in the playoffs, and if not for an injury to Bo Nix in their 33-30 Divisional Round victory over the Buffalo Bills, they may have been in the Super Bowl. The Chargers will be better with their starting tackles in Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt, and the Chiefs will rebound from missing the playoffs for the first time in the Patrick Mahomes era when he returns to action. The Raiders will be poised to once again finish in the basement of the AFC West.
8. Arizona Cardinals (3-14)
It would take a monumental miracle for the Cardinals to go from worst to first in the NFC West in 2026. Not only did the other three teams all make the playoffs, including the Super Bowl Champions Seattle Seahawks, and a case could be made that the Seahawks, Rams, and 49ers are the three best teams in the NFC.
Rookie head coach Mike LaFleur has a ton on his plate as he’s taking over a team that lost 14 of its last 15 games in 2025, and it’s been rumored the team might try to move on from quarterback Kyler Murray this offseason. Trey McBride is one of the best tight ends in the NFL, but the team is still waiting for Marvin Harrison Jr to show the promise he showed in college. It would be the longest of long shots for the Cardinals to win the NFC West next season and might go winless in the division for the second year in a row.
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