The release of the 2026 NFL schedule is roughly two weeks in the rear view mirror. The predictions for the upcoming season continue to pour on during a time when teams are in the midst of OTAs.
Hence, Diante Lee of The Ringer chimed in with 2026 NFL Power Rankings. He has Sean McVay’s Los Angeles Rams atop the mountain, one spot ahead of the reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. He also has the New York Jets, owner of the league’s longest active playoff drought, bringing up the rear.
Latest power rankings have Panthers as best team in NFC South
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Let’s head down to the second half of the rankings. The first sighting for an NFC South team comes at No. 19 with Dave Canales’s Panthers. As for the rest of the division, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are at No. 20, followed directly by the Atlanta Falcons (21) and five notches later, the New Orleans Saints (26).
“Carolina’s 2025 campaign was an undoubted success,” explained Lee. “The Panthers surprised the NFL by winning the NFC South and pushing the Rams to the brink in the wild-card round. The Panthers followed that up with a better offseason than any other team in their division, signing edge rusher Jaelan Phillips, linebacker Devin Lloyd, and tackle Rasheed Walker and drafting tackle Monroe Freeling as a long-term answer at the position.”
The NFC South could be tightly contested once again
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Of course, like any other set of predictions, power rankings are highly subjective. And there’s no real debate here in terms of placement. Rather, it’s pretty interesting to note that Lee has put the four teams in the exact order of finish from 2025. Even more fascinating is that the writer has Carolina, Tampa Bay, and Atlanta back-to-back-to-back, respectively, with New Orleans a bit in the distance.
Now flashback to the final standings for this past season. The Panthers, Bucs, and Falcons all finished with 8-9 win-loss records in 2025, and Canales’s club won out because of its combined 3-1 record vs. those other two teams. Carolina swept Atlanta for the first time since 2013, and the club split with the Buccaneers—with each team winning at home.
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It’s also worth remembering that while the Saints managed a 6-11 record under head coach Kellen Moore, all four clubs finished with identical 3-3 marks within the division and the Saints swept the champion Panthers.
As Lee mentioned, he feels that the Panthers have enjoyed the best offseason of any team in the NFC South. And that could wind up being the difference in them winning consecutive division titles for the first time since Ron Rivera’s club captured the top spot in the NFC South three straight years from 2013-15. But wouldn’t it be very interesting to see if this division title is once again decided by a tiebreaker?
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