{"id":252577,"date":"2025-10-28T08:00:51","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T12:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=252577"},"modified":"2025-10-27T20:02:31","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T00:02:31","slug":"super-bowl-rankings-the-top-10-contenders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2025\/10\/28\/super-bowl-rankings-the-top-10-contenders\/","title":{"rendered":"Super Bowl Rankings: The Top 10 Contenders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Week 8 of the NFL saw some contenders make statements, while others didn\u2019t meet expectations, and because of it, they move down these rankings. Here are the top 10 2026 Super Bowl contenders after Week 8.<\/p>\n

2026 Super Bowl Rankings<\/h2>\n

1. Philadelphia Eagles<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Say what you want about the defending champs, but despite not playing their best football through the first 8 weeks, they are 6-2 and lead the NFC East. Jalen Hurts and the pass game finally got going after dealing with tons of criticism, and then that helped get the struggling run game going. Once this team is firing on all cylinders, they will be very tough to beat. The Eagles<\/a> also have a playoff pedigree, too, so they know how to win big games.<\/p>\n

2. Kansas City Chiefs<\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Corey Perrine\/Florida Times-Union<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Watch out, AFC, because here come the Chiefs<\/a>. Patrick Mahomes has gone from having no weapons offensively early in the season to now having arguably the most weapons he has had in the past five seasons. With Rashee Rice back, everyone else becomes better, and there may not be a defense in the entire league that has the personnel to slow down all four wide receivers and Kelce.<\/p>\n

3. Los Angeles Rams<\/h3>\n
\"\"
Photo Credit: Mitch Stringer-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Rams<\/a> defense continues to impress, and they are becoming a championship-caliber unit. When you couple that with a Super Bowl-winning QB in Matthew Stafford and a Super Bowl-winning coach in Sean McVay, you suddenly have yourselves a true contender. They won a huge game in Week 7 overseas and did it without their best offensive player and one of the best players in the league, Puka Nacua. They were able to rest in Week 8 with their bye.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

4. Indianapolis Colts<\/h3>\n

\"Daniel<\/p>\n

The Colts<\/a> are now 7-1 after their huge road win over the Chargers in Week 7 and their easy win over the Titans in Week 8. They have the best record in the NFL right now, and the offense is one of the most explosive in the league, thanks to Daniel Jones\u2019 resurrection and RB Jonathan Taylor being a touchdown machine. The defense does give up too many points, but they also get after the quarterback and force plenty of turnovers, which is a winning recipe.<\/p>\n

5. Detroit Lions<\/h3>\n

\"wide<\/p>\n

The defense has been dealing with injuries, and they have been getting lit up in the passing game because of it. Still, when this team is healthy, they are very tough to beat, especially because of how well-balanced the offense is with Goff slinging it around and the tremendous ground game with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. The biggest issue for the Lions<\/a> is that they play in a highly competitive division that has four teams that are capable of making the playoffs.<\/p>\n

6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/h3>\n

\"Bold<\/p>\n

Are they lucky and good, or just really darn good? The Buccaneers<\/a> have been winning close games, led by Baker Mayfield, who has a flair for the dramatic in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter. He has played most of the season with his best offensive weapons injured, and still, the Bucs have one of the best records in the league. Although there is no team that they can\u2019t beat, there are teams that are better on paper.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

7. Denver Broncos<\/h3>\n
\"Bo
Photo Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Being able to battle back with a no-quit attitude and win a games like the Broncos<\/a> have this season is exactly why this team is scary. They may be down, but they are never out. Bo Nix is incredibly dynamic, and although they have struggled at times defensively, overall, they still are one of the top units in football. They lead the league in sacks, and that seems to be a factor for them every week.<\/p>\n

8. Buffalo Bills<\/h3>\n

\"Josh<\/p>\n

The Bills<\/a> limped into their bye week with two straight losses in games they were expected to win. The defense couldn\u2019t stop the run, and therefore couldn\u2019t get off the field, which meant MVP Josh Allen was stuck on the sidelines. They fixed that issue in Week 8 against one of the best running teams in the league, and of course, having Josh Allen gives them a chance to win any game, which is why, regardless of them being in second place in their division, they are ranked ahead of the team that leads the division. What do you think? Do the Bills have to toughen up on offense<\/a>?<\/p>\n

9. Green Bay Packers<\/h3>\n
\"Sunday
Photo Credit: Wm. Glasheen USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Packers<\/a> are a team that hasn\u2019t played its best football since the first couple of weeks of the season, yet they are finding ways to win games that they have no business winning. Micah Parsons has finally started showing just how dangerous he can make this defense when he is healthy.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

10. New England Patriots<\/h3>\n

\"Drake<\/p>\n

Drake Maye and the Patriots<\/a> are playing some of the best football of any team in the NFL right now. The defense has improved; they finally got a run game going in Weeks 7 and 8, and they currently sit in first place in the AFC East, which no one saw coming when the season began. Head coach Mike Vrabel has this team believing, and they have a very easy schedule that they can take advantage of on their way to a playoff berth.<\/p>\n

For more great sports analysis, please check out DrRoto.com<\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Week 8 of the NFL saw some contenders make statements, while others didn\u2019t meet expectations, and because of it, they move down these rankings. Here are the top 10 2026 Super Bowl contenders after Week 8. 2026 Super Bowl Rankings 1. Philadelphia Eagles Say what you want about the defending champs, but despite not playing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5634,"featured_media":252581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[54,3,15,24,25,12,16,34,5,6431,21,29],"tags":[2320,1010],"class_list":["post-252577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-editorials","category-bills","category-broncos","category-lions","category-packers","category-colts","category-chiefs","category-rams","category-patriots","category-nfl-teams","category-eagles","category-buccaneers","tag-nfl-schedule","tag-super-bowl"],"modified_by":"Doug Henderson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5634"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252577"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252577\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":252583,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252577\/revisions\/252583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}