<\/p>\n
The NFL is set up for teams to rapidly turn things around from one season to the next, and it is not uncommon for a last-place team to bounce back with a playoff appearance just one year later.<\/p>\n
So let’s take a look at the eight last-place teams from 2025 and rank them in order of which one is most likely to be in the playoffs this season.<\/p>\n
An easy call.<\/p>\n
The Lions are not your typical last-place team. They finished with a winning record (9-8) in what was one of the toughest divisions in football, still have a great roster with a top-12 quarterback (Jared Goff), and it is very, very likely that the 2025 season was a massive fluke and outlier. It would honestly be a surprise if they are not<\/em> in the playoffs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Pencil them in.\u00a0<\/p>\n There are a couple of things working in the Giants’ favor here.<\/p>\n Look at it this way: No team in this division had a winning record in 2025. It was won with eight wins, and every team here has massive, massive flaws.<\/p>\n The Saints also played extremely well down the stretch, winning five of their final eight games with Tyler Shough at quarterback.<\/p>\n Is Shough the long-term guy? We don’t know. Will he be good this year? We don’t know that, either.\u00a0<\/p>\n But the division and everybody around them is going to keep the door open. The bar is low here in the NFC South.\u00a0<\/p>\n Much like the NFC East and NFC South, the AFC South can also be wildly unpredictable, and while the roster has its share of shortcomings, there is one big wild card that could change things dramatically, and that is quarterback Cam Ward.<\/p>\n His talent is real, and his upside is massive. If he puts it all together, this team could surprise, simply because quarterbacks change everything. He has that sort of ability.<\/p>\n The division is probably out of reach with the Buffalo Bills<\/a> and New England Patriots<\/a> likely to fight it out for the top spot, but a wild-card spot could at least be something you can dream about here.\u00a0<\/p>\n There is some talent on this roster, especially after having three first-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, but a lot of it is going to come down to what kind of season Geno Smith puts together.\u00a0<\/p>\n Of the teams on the bottom half of this list, the Raiders might have the best long-term outlook given the presence of Fernando Mendoza at quarterback. They might be building something long-term. But the question is not which of these teams has the best five-year outlook. It’s which team is most likely to make the playoffs this season<\/em>. Mendoza is going to play eventually, and there will likely be growing pains. Asking a rookie to take last year’s worst team in the NFL to the playoffs in one year is probably asking a lot.\u00a0<\/p>\n Especially in the AFC West.\u00a0<\/p>\n Have patience, Raiders fans.<\/p>\n The defense should still be good even without Myles Garrett, but you can’t take the NFL’s best defensive player off of that unit and expect it to get better. Or even stay the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n Even if it does, the quarterback situation here is as bleak as any team in the NFL right now.\u00a0<\/p>\n An early-season contender for the No. 1 overall pick.<\/p>\n The Cardinals play in the NFL’s toughest division, play a brutal schedule, have an equally grim quarterback situation as Cleveland, and have a roster that is even worse around it.<\/p>\n The Browns and Cardinals will likely be fighting it out for the top pick this season.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n