Who will win the 2026 Super Bowl after Kansas City Chiefs failure leaves NFL door wide open?

It has been described as the most unexpected Super Bowl race for seasons – but someone has to win it!

With no Kansas City in the playoffs for the first time in a decade, but the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles still in the mix, it promises to be a dramatic next few weeks.

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The NFL playoffs get underway with six matchups that are hugely difficult to call.

That’s a fact that just underlines how difficult it has been to make a prediction this year.

Hands up if you predicted the Seattle Seahawks and the Denver Broncos would be the No. 1 seeds and have themselves a weekend off?

Who thought the Chicago Bears and Carolina Panthers would make it to the postseason? And did anyone see the Jacksonville Jaguars surging to the finishing post to come up as serious contenders?

As NFL fans, this is exactly what we want, a postseason where we could feasibly see any of the remaining 14 teams winning the Vince Lombardi Trophy in San Francisco on February 9.

talkSPORT will be at Levi’s Stadium for the big game, and we’ll be on Radio Row to hear from the biggest names in the game.

But until then it’s time to put September’s (terrible) predictions behind us, and predict the playoffs……

Josh’s time to shine

Josh Allen deserves the Super Bowl.

The same for Sam Darnold, the Houston Texans‘ defense, Liam Coen as a rookie head coach, Caleb Williams in Year Two and Sean Payton‘s remake of the Denver Broncos.

The best thing that happened to the NFL this year was change — the Kansas City Chiefs were trashed, while the New England Patriots were revived (with a former All-Pro linebacker).

It’s impossible to feel confident in accurately predicting these playoffs, and the best path for the NFL is for the postseason to be all over the place … as long as we don’t end up with the Carolina Panthers vs the Jacksonville Jaguars for a world title.

Sean McVay‘s Los Angeles Rams are the smart pick.

But we might as well embrace the crazy in 2026 in the USA.

Buffalo Bills 34, Seattle Seahawks 33 in sunny but polarized California for the Lombardi Trophy. Enjoy the chaos. Brian T. Smith, Senior US Sports Reporter 

Trust the season, the Rams are the real deal

Unexpected teams are running hot, and I would expect the them to continue – but the Los Angles Rams have been amongst the best teams all season, and that continues through the postseason.

I am putting a slightly concerning end to the season down to the uber competitive NFC West and the Rams will have to overcome the Seattle Seahawks to win the Conference.

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In the AFC a new era has dawned with no Chiefs, no Ravens and no Bengals. I’m taking the Texans to come through a conference anyone could win, edging out the Jacksonville Jaguars in the championship game.

The Jags might be the better balanced team but there’s an argument that the defense might be the best unit on either side of the ball in football.

Combine that with CJ Stroud doing a Jalen Hurts and getting hot on a playoff run and you have the Rams over the Texans in Santa Clara. Paul Prenderville, US Sports Editor

2026 is the year of the Broncos

Denver clinched the AFC’s top seed and should be a shoo-in for Super Bowl LX, yet remain criminally under-rated by plenty of fans.

Behind second-year quarterback Bo Nix, and one of the league’s best defenses, the Broncos have become the kings of the close game and finished the regular-season 11-2 in one-score affairs.

Now, they have a first-round bye and home advantage throughout the playoffs.

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The Chicago Bears, meanwhile, are my pick to come through the NFC. First-year head coach Ben Johnson has done wonders in the Windy City and has taken QB Caleb Williams — the former No. 1 draft pick — to historic franchise levels.

Don’t let the fact that Chicago has lost their last two games fool you, because Soldier Field will be bouncing by the time it hosts a playoff game for the first time since 2019 in the Wild Card round on Saturday night.

But when it comes to the Super Bowl itself, I’m still backing the Broncos over the Bears… but only just. Oliver Browning, US Sports Writer

Big two to progress to Santa Clara showdown

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I predicted a Bills vs Eagles Super Bowl before the season started.

Needless to say I’m feeling pretty good about myself that that prediction’s still in play with both teams still alive heading into Wild Card Weekend.

I’ve come this far, so I’ll stick to my guns and say get ready for a Josh Allen-Josh Hurts shootout at Levi’s Stadium next month.

But don’t start calling me Nostradamus just yet.

Neither team is anywhere near as good as what I thought they were back in August, but with no Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes to annually thwart Allen and the Bills, it’s finally time for Buffalo to get over the hump.

Over in the NFC, a Sam Darnold-led Seahawks, an injury-riddled 49ers, a Micah Parsons-less Packers and very-much-in-uncharted-waters Panthers and Bears are failing to stir me, so a Bills vs Eagles Super Bowl showdown would feel like a refreshingly predictable conclusion to a wildly unpredictable season.

Bills 21, Eagles 17, Allen to win Super Bowl MVP and cement himself as an all-time great. Joshua Rogers, US Sports News Editor

New era dawns as Brady’s heir rises

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Jalen Hurts and the reigning champion Philadelphia Eagles have a tough wild-card draw against the San Francisco 49ers.

Get through that and the path may get easier.

Sam Darnold’s ghosts will return to haunt the Seattle Seahawks just in time for the NFC Championship Game, leaving Gang Green free to make it back to the big stage.

The Denver Broncos rode their luck in one-score games to put themselves in pole position in the AFC race, but I’m not convinced.

Drake Maye is on fire and will lead the New England Patriots all the way to Santa Clara to reveal himself as Tom Brady‘s heir apparent by avenging the GOAT’s defeat by the Eagles in Super Bowl LII. Jamie Gordon, US Sports Writer

It’s 2014 all over again as Pats win thriller

There is a history of second-year quarterbacks not just reaching the Super Bowl, but actually winning the whole thing.

Tom Brady, Kurt Warner, Russell Wilson, and Ben Roethlisberger form an exclusive group who didn’t just reach the mountaintop in Year 2, but hoisted the Lombardi Trophy and cemented their status as instant legends.

Dan Marino, Colin Kaepernick, Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts, and Brock Purdy also reached the Super Bowl in their second seasons but fell just short. Drake Maye is going to join the former group.

The New England Patriots have looked like one of the NFL’s best teams all season; weak schedule be damned. Can a Mike Vrabel-led group go on the road and beat the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship at Mile High if needed? You bet they can.

The good news for Seahawks fans, they will ride the No. 1 seed all the way to the Super Bowl. The bad news? 2014 is repeating itself, with the Patriots waiting to rip your heart out once more.

At least Malcolm Butler can’t hurt you anymore. Jack Savage US Sports Writer

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Debut delight for Ben Johnson and the Bears

In a playoff field with no out-right favorite contender, I believe the postseason will very much follow that of the regular season – unpredictable in every way.

With that in mind, whilst the Super Bowl in the NFC will run through Lumen Field, that will stop at the NFC Championship Game, when Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears will ensure that home advantage comes to Soldier Field for the first time since 2010.

In a close encounter between the Bears and MVP-favorite Matthew Stafford and the Rams, it is Ben Johnson’s men – in his first season as an NFL head coach – who will be heading from the Midwest to Santa Clara.

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Their AFC opponent is harder to decipher, with the Patriots finally being tested – and overcome – and the Broncos somehow unable to get over the hump of taking a one-possession lead in the fourth quarter.

Could this be the year that the Jacksonville Jaguars with Trevor Lawrence‘s best campaign of his pro career do what the Buffalo Bills can’t? Quite possibly.

But it is the hottest team in the NFL right now in the Houston Texans who will reign supreme in the AFC over the Jags, with their No. 1 ranked defense finally running out of steam against Williams and the Bears, who will hoist the Vince Lombardi trophy for the first time since 1985. Kerrie Jacobs-Bryant, US Sports Writer