2026 NFL Power Rankings: Week 1 | JetNation

A new season is here. There is a prohibitive favorite for the ring, but how often have things gone according to plan in the NFL? Here are the JetNation  NFL Power Rankings, definitely worth checking out if  you are planning on betting on the NFL for week one.

NFL Power Rankings 1. Los Angeles Rams 0-0 (2025 Final Ranking: 2)

It is unusual for us to drop the champs from the top of the ranking in week one, but the changes the Rams have made cannot be ignored.

2. Seattle Seahawks 14-3 (2025 Final Ranking: 1)

The Seahawks still have as good a chance of repeating as any recent champion. Seattle’s defense will be among the best in the league.

3. Denver Broncos 14-3 (2025 Final Ranking: 5)

The Broncos would have been the AFC’s representative in the Super Bowl if not for an injury to their starting quarterback. Adding Jaylen Waddle was a major upgrade for an offense that needed additional firepower.

4. New England Patriots 14-3 (2025 Final Ranking: 3)

New England added AJ Brown and Romeo Doubs to an offense that got nothing done in the Super Bowl. Brown is talented, but his presence will inevitably be more of a subtraction than an addition.

5. Houston Texans 12-5 (2025 Final Ranking: 6)

The Texans cannot seem to stay healthy at the wide receiver position. There will be enough offense though given Houston’s elite defense.

6. Jacksonville Jaguars 13-4 (2025 Final Ranking: 7)

The Jaguars will be a problem this year. They enter the year overlooked, but by midseason, people will start to notice.

7. San Francisco 49ers 12-5 (2025 Final Ranking: 4)

The Niners might be the best team to ever finish third in their division. Age is catching up to San Francisco, and there was not enough change in the offseason to change the Niners fate in 2026.

8. Philadelphia Eagles 11-6 (2025 Final Ranking: 8)

The Eagles lost their most productive receiver, and they are hoping a change in scheme and a rookie wideout will improve what was an average attack. It will not be enough.

9. Chicago Bears 11-6 (2025 Final Ranking: 10)

The Bears need to be better in the first fifty-eight minutes of their games. The comebacks are exciting, but it cannot be a weekly thing. Chicago should compete for the top spot in the NFC North.

10. Buffalo Bills 12-5 (2025 Final Ranking: 9)

Josh Allen keeps the Bills on the edge of the top ten. The team does not seem to recognize that he needs help to keep Buffalo relevant in the AFC.

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23. New York Jets 3-14 (2025 Final Ranking: 32)

The Jets are rising, but many will point out that up is the only direction they can go from where they ended the 2025 season. Simply adding a quarterback that can make basic NFL throws should make the team better in 2026.

But which version of the now 35-year-old Geno Smith will this be? Last year Smith was awful, but his team was awful. The Raiders had a historically ineffective offensive line and very few options in the passing game. In the year before he joined Las Vegas, Smith completed over 70% of his passes for more than 4,000 yards. The Seahawks had professional-level players on their offensive line and at receiver. Those are things that the Las Vegas Raiders did not have.

The Jets now have a very solid offensive line, and they can threaten defenses on the edges finally. They have a home run threat at halfback and young, capable tight ends. This team will be able to score, and maybe more importantly, they will be able to possess the ball, so their defense does not spend the entire game on the field.

This Jets defense should also be better. The Jets upgraded the middle of the unit, which was where teams attacked them in 2025. New York added the number two overall pick, David Bailey, in the draft to bolster the pass rush. They also have a capable veteran presence in Minkah Fitzpatrick in the secondary. There are holes, but nothing quite so glaring as they had at this time in 2025.

The Jets should see something closer to 2024 than 2025 out of Geno Smith. Just average play at the quarterback position will make for a much more interesting season than the debacle that was the 2025 Jets. The ‘fans’ that are hoping for the Jets to tank in 2026 might be out of luck. The Jets are not a contender in the AFC, but they will compete, and that is so much more than what they have been doing in recent seasons.

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Source: https://www.jetnation.com/2026/09/07/2026-nfl-power-rankings-week-1-jetnation/