NFL Title Rankings Week 1, 2026 Season
This is an objective, unbiased ranking in the same vein as the NFL Title Belt. As such, the number 1 ranked team will always be the same as the current NFL Title Belt holder.
This is Week 1 of the NFL Title Rankings of the 2026 season. See here for last year's results.
10 of the 16 games ended with the lower ranked team winning. The largest jump were the Lions and Chiefs who both jumped 16 spots after they beat the Saints and Broncos, respectively. The Jets are the lowest ranked team to win their game.
The Steelers beat the Falcons to take first and the NFL Title Belt. The Patriots will have a chance to beat the Steelers and take first in Week 2. The Colts lost to the Ravens and will remain last. The Colts will have a chance to move out of last next week when they play The Chiefs.
Let me know if you’d like to see more of this, if you’re curious about how I came up with these rankings, or if you noticed any mistakes.
| Ranking | 2026 Wk1 | Δ | Notes | |
| 1 | Steelers | +14 | The Steelers are now first after beating the Falcons. | |
| 2 | Falcons | -1 | ||
| 3 | Lions | +16 | The Lions jumped 16 spots by beating the Saints. | |
| 4 | Saints | -2 | ||
| 5 | Seahawks | -2 | ||
| 6 | Bengals | +12 | The Bengals jumped 12 spots by beating the Bucs. | |
| 7 | Bucs | -3 | ||
| 8 | 49ers | +5 | The 49ers jumped 5 spots by beating the Rams. | |
| 9 | Rams | -4 | ||
| 10 | Bears | +10 | The Bears jumped 10 spots by beating the Panthers. | |
| 11 | Panthers | -5 | ||
| 12 | Patriots | -5 | ||
| 13 | Bills | -3 | The Bills fell 3 spots by beating and jumping the Texans. | |
| 14 | Texans | -6 | ||
| 15 | Chiefs | +16 | The Chiefs jumped 16 spots by beating the Broncos. | |
| 16 | Broncos | -7 | ||
| 17 | Jaguars | -6 | ||
| 18 | Eagles | -4 | The Eagles dropped 4 spots by beating and jumping the Commanders. | |
| 19 | Commanders | -7 | ||
| 20 | Ravens | -4 | ||
| 21 | Browns | -4 | ||
| 22 | Vikings | -1 | ||
| 23 | Packers | -1 | ||
| 24 | Cardinals | +4 | The Cardinals jumped 4 spots by beating the Chargers. | |
| 25 | Chargers | -2 | ||
| 26 | Giants | -2 | ||
| 27 | Cowboys | -2 | ||
| 28 | Raiders | +2 | The Raiders jumped 2 spots by beating the Dolphins. | |
| 29 | Dolphins | -3 | ||
| 30 | Jets | -3 | ||
| 31 | Titans | -2 | ||
| 32 | Colts | -- | The Colts will remain last after losing to the Ravens. |
This ranking assumes that there are never any fluke games and all teams are appropriately ranked. If you beat a team that is higher ranked than you, you move ahead of them and they move down one spot. However, other teams can jump in front of teams that are higher ranked than you, moving you further down the rankings.
1 reply
Bonus rankings! This one is more straightforward. Teams get points for wins. They get more points for beating good teams and fewer points for beating bad teams. (+32 for beating the best team, +1 for beating the worst). Teams lose points for losses. They lose more points for losing to bad teams and fewer points for losing to good teams. (-32 for losing to the worst team, -1 for losing to the best). The point total was reset with the first game of the season.