The 2026 NFL season is bringing more than just the usual weekly race for wins. A handful of streaks are hanging in the balance, and some of the league’s biggest names are carrying numbers that have become their own kind of storyline.
Start with the quarterback who keeps showing up. Jared Goff enters the season with the NFL’s longest active streak for consecutive games with a touchdown pass, having thrown one in 23 straight games dating back to Week 13 of the 2024 season, which was the Lions’ Thanksgiving game that year. Drew Brees owns the record at 54 straight, so Goff still has a long climb ahead, but the Lions’ easy schedule and strong offense give him a real chance to keep pushing that number forward.
Josh Allen is chasing a different kind of consistency. He has started 122 consecutive games and hasn’t missed one since his rookie season, making him the NFL’s current Iron Man at quarterback.
That run is the longest active streak at the position and tied for eighth all-time. Brett Favre’s mark of 297 straight quarterback starts remains way out in front, but Allen will try to keep his durability streak rolling through all 17 games again in 2026.
Among all players, Falcons tackle Jake Matthews owns the longest active consecutive start streak. He’s started 196 games in a row, a run that goes back to his rookie year in 2014.
The passing game streaks aren’t limited to quarterbacks. Mike Evans saw his streak of consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons end in 2025 because of injury, but his place in the record book is still secure.
He owns the mark for the most consecutive 1,000-yard seasons to begin a career, and he also tied Jerry Rice for the most straight 1,000-yard seasons at any point in a career. Right behind that level, Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson and Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase both have 1,000-yard seasons in every year of their careers so far - six for Jefferson and five for Chase.
Up front, Myles Garrett is trying to extend a sack streak that already sits among the best ever. He had his eighth straight double-digit sack season in 2025, and he also set the official single-season sack record that year.
Garrett owns the record for the most consecutive seasons with 12 or more sacks since sacks became an official stat in 1982, and he has hit that number in six straight seasons. Micah Parsons is in the same neighborhood, having started his career with five consecutive seasons of at least 12 sacks, though he is expected to miss the beginning of 2026 while recovering from a torn ACL.
On the team side, the Bills now carry the NFL’s longest active streak of consecutive playoff appearances after the Chiefs saw their seven-year run of AFC championship game trips end when they missed the playoffs last season. Buffalo has reached the postseason in seven straight years and has won at least one playoff game in each of its last six appearances. The Bills’ streak of consecutive division titles ended last season when the Patriots took the AFC East, but their playoff run is still alive.
The Eagles own the longest active playoff-appearance streak in the NFC. Philadelphia has made the postseason every year since 2021, and while that run has not included a playoff win every time, it does include their second Super Bowl championship in 2024.
At the other end of the spectrum, the Jets are trying to end a streak they’d rather erase. They have the NFL’s longest active playoff drought and have not reached the postseason since the 2010 season.
The Falcons are next on that list and are looking to get back to the playoffs for the first time since 2017. Every other NFL team has made the postseason this decade.
The Jets are also trying to stop another brutal run: an entire season without an interception. They failed to pick off a pass in 2025, a record no team wants, especially with Aaron Glenn - a former corner who had 41 career interceptions - now coaching them. Their last interception came in Week 18 of the 2024 season, when they picked off then-Dolphins quarterback Tyler Huntley twice in a 32-20 win.
There’s one more streak on the line in Pittsburgh, where the Steelers are trying to avoid finishing a season with a losing record for the first time since 2003. That run lasted through the Mike Tomlin era, with Pittsburgh ending every season at .500 or better, but Tomlin stepped down in January and Mike McCarthy is now in charge. Even so, Tomlin still has his own streak going, because he’ll spend the season on NBC’s broadcasting team.
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Josh Allen And Bills Face Pressure In A Closing Super Bowl Window
The Bills entered this season with a new voice on the sideline in Joe Brady, and the timing only adds to the sense that the pressure is building around a roster that has been close but not quite finished. With Josh Allen heading into his ninth season, Buffalo is no longer being judged on promise or potential. It is being measured by whether this group can finally turn years of contention into the title run it has been chasing.
Aaron Schatz of ESPN put the Bills in the category of teams with a shrinking championship window, and it is not hard to see why. The cap picture for 2027 is already a concern, which means the margin for keeping this core together may not stay open for long. For Buffalo, this feels like one of those seasons that can either reinforce the belief in the current group or raise even more questions about how much longer the window will stay cracked open. [Read more 🡒]
Bills Fans Are Getting A Pricey Reminder Of Buffalos New Era
The Bills rise as one of the leagues hottest tickets is showing up in the wallet, too. On the secondary market, Buffalo has the highest average ticket purchase price for the 2026 NFL season at $610, a steep marker of how far this franchise has come from the days when getting into Highmark Stadium was much more routine.
New stadium buzz and recent success have clearly pushed the market in Buffalos direction, with the Seahawks also seeing a notable jump as stadium and team factors reshape demand. What stands out even more is who is not near the top of the list, with the Chiefs and Cowboys absent from the 10 most expensive teams to watch in person, a reminder that brand power does not always match what fans are actually paying. [Read more 🡒]
Victor Wembanyama Is Leading A New Sports Collectibles Shift
The sports collectibles market is clearly moving into a new phase, and Bills quarterback Josh Allen is right in the middle of it. As longtime names in the hobby continue to hold value, the biggest buzz has started to follow a younger wave of stars across multiple sports, with Victor Wembanyama setting the pace and drawing fresh attention to what the next generation can mean both on the court and in the card market.
What makes the shift especially interesting from Buffalos perspective is that Allen is no longer part of a small group carrying the hobbys most recognizable football value by himself. He is now being discussed alongside emerging international names like Lamine Yamal and Erling Haaland, plus the ripple effects of high-profile moves such as Lewis Hamiltons switch from Mercedes to Ferrari. For collectors, it is a sign that the center of gravity is changing fast, and the next chase could look very different from the one that built the last decade. [Read more 🡒]