Oct 16, 2026 - 15:05
By espn.com

2026 NFL season: Ranking all eight divisions in NFC, AFC - ESPN

Every year around this time, we like to rank the NFL's divisions against each other. We have a tool that does that — ESPN's Football Power Index — but the powers that be also ask me to do it, which I take as license to disagree with FPI.

One of my quiet personal obsessions is the idea that, at some point, a division will send all four of its teams to the playoffs in a given year. This has been possible only since 2020, when the NFL expanded the playoff field to seven teams from each conference, and we are 0-for-6. We've had divisions in which every team finished with a winning record — most recently last season's NFC North. But it hasn't been enough to put all four teams in the postseason.

So far in 2026, we have two divisions in which all four teams have winning records. And if the season ended right now — after the Seahawks lost to the Broncos on Thursday night to kick off Week 6 — all four of the teams in the NFC North would hold playoff spots. So there's hope, even though at this point the other one of those divisions (AFC North) would have just one playoff team.

Because I'm mildly obsessed with this idea, I use it as a gauge for this exercise. It's not the only qualification, but I do tend to rate a division higher if it's close and I believe one has the better chance of pulling off the all-four. That's a bit of an explanation about the madness behind my method. Here are the rankings for you all to get upset about. Enjoy. (Note: FPI rankings are through Week 5.)

Combined FPI rating: 6.0 (No. 2 of eight)

Detroit Lions: 2.1 (10th in the NFL)

Chicago Bears: 1.7 (12th)

Minnesota Vikings: 1.5 (13th)

Green Bay Packers: 0.7 (16th)