The NFC playoff picture for 2026 is already starting to take shape in the minds of BTB readers, and the first clue came from a different question entirely: which 2025 playoff teams are most likely to miss out next year?
That vote pointed to the Panthers as the clearest candidate to fall out, drawing 36.6% of the votes. The Eagles finished second at 17.8%, with the Packers close behind at 16.1% and the Bears at 15.1%. If you flip that logic around, you get an early look at how readers think the NFC field could line up in 2026.
Under that read, the Seahawks and 49ers would land the wild cards in a somewhat unlikely setup where the NFC West again claims two playoff spots, with one more wildcard team still to be determined.
But the bigger question is which new teams will break through and get into the NFC playoffs this season. In most years, about three teams in each conference reach the postseason after missing it the year before, and that leaves a fairly wide pool of contenders here.
The list starts with the Lions, who carry a DraftKings win projection of 10.5, the highest among the NFC teams on this board, after finishing 9-8 in 2025. The Cowboys are next at 9.5 projected wins after going 7-9-1. Then come the Buccaneers and Vikings, both at 8.5 projected wins; Tampa Bay finished 8-9, while Minnesota went 9-8.
After that, the projections drop into a tighter cluster. The Giants, Saints and Commanders are all at 7.5 projected wins, with New York coming off a 4-13 season, New Orleans at 6-11, and Washington at 5-12. The Falcons sit at 6.5 projected wins after an 8-9 season, and the Cardinals bring up the rear at 4.5 projected wins after going 3-14.
All nine teams are in the mix for the vote, even if some of them look like long shots. Recent seasons have shown that 10 wins usually gets a team into the playoffs, though the expanded field has changed the math a bit.
Nine wins was enough for Green Bay last year, and the Panthers got in with just eight. Still, for a lot of these NFC teams, the first hurdle is simply getting to nine wins before anyone starts talking about a playoff run.
In Other News...
Jerry Jones' Rare Splash Is Already Sparking Regret In Dallas
The Cowboys made one of their more notable moves of the 2026 free agency period by bringing in safety Jalen Thompson on a three-year, $33 million deal, a rare splash that was meant to add experience and versatility to the back end of the defense. Thompson is viewed as a player who can help in multiple spots, including nickel, box and deep safety, and Dallas is counting on him to fit quickly into Christian Parkers scheme.
Still, not everyone sees the signing as an immediate win for Jerry Jones and company. One Bleacher Report analyst flagged Thompson as a potential bust for Dallas, pointing to a stretch without an interception since the 2023 season and pass defense numbers that have left some skepticism around his impact, which is the kind of early second-guessing that tends to follow a big-money addition in Dallas. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys Fans Still Feel The Pain Of This Texas Stadium Night
Texas Stadium spent decades as one of the NFLs most recognizable homes, and the final chapter there came on Dec. 20, 2008, with the Cowboys facing the Ravens in a game that already carried the weight of history. Dallas fell 33-24, and the nights defining football moments came late, when Baltimore broke it open with a pair of long fourth-quarter touchdown runs that put the finish line beyond reach.
Even after the final whistle, the building still had one more rite to go through, with a farewell ceremony that brought out some of the franchises biggest names to honor what the old stadium had meant to the Cowboys and their fans. For everyone in attendance, it was a goodbye to a place that had hosted generations of memories, and one of those nights that still lingers because it felt like the end of an era before anyone quite wanted to say it out loud. [Read more 🡒]
Cowboys May Have Found A New Defensive Cornerstone In Donovan Ezeiruaku
Donovan Ezeiruaku arrived in Dallas as the 44th overall pick in the 2025 draft, and by the time his rookie season settled in, he had already carved out a real role on a defense in transition. With Micah Parsons gone, Ezeiruaku saw more snaps and made the most of them, finishing with 40 tackles, two sacks and a 73.1 PFF grade while showing enough edge juice to look like more than a depth piece.
PFFs breakout recognition only adds to the sense that the Cowboys may have something here, especially with a new defensive setup coming in 2026. Under Christian Parker, Dallas is expected to shift into a 3-4 front, and the plan is to move Ezeiruaku to outside linebacker, a change that could put his pass-rush traits to even better use if he keeps building on what he showed as a rookie. [Read more 🡒]