Windy City Gridiron
Just like that, the 2025 NFL regular season is heading into its final week. It feels like every year, most fans go through the same emotions of feeling like the season just started, and yet, in the blink of an eye, the 18-week regular season closes out. For some teams, the start of the playoffs is around the corner. For others, it’s the start of a new beginning as the coaching and general manager hiring cycles will heat up. No matter how you view it, the final game of 2025 is in the books. In this week’s installment of our WCG Power Rankings, we’ll take a look at each team’s biggest strength for 2026 as we turn the page to a new year.
1. Seattle Seahawks (13-3) Previous Week: 1
There’s an argument to be made for Seattle having the most well-rounded team in football. Not only did they knock off the Rams to become the NFC’s top seed in Week 16, but they’ve been one of the more consistent teams in football all season. To help matters along, their combination of cap flexibility ($71 million according to Over The Cap), and their first three rounds worth of selections in April’s draft. This is a classic case of a good team having more than enough resources to get better next season.
Biggest Strength For 2026: Resource Flexibility
2. Denver Broncos (13-3) Previous Week: 3
Overall, the Broncos have an incredible roster, but their margin for error has been much larger than most teams’ due to their defense. Not only do they lead the league in sacks, but they’ve got stars all over the depth chart. Considering their floor on the offensive side of the ball, Denver is set up for plenty of future success, especially if the Chiefs take a year or two to retool.
Biggest Strength For 2026: The Defense
3. New England Patriots (13-3) Previous Week: 4
The thing about teams that arrive a year too early: They’ve usually got plenty of unused resources to spend the following year. In a way, we saw it with the Commanders, although that has gone up in flames due to their roster construction and overall age. It’s hard to see that being the case in New England, but they need to continue building out the trenches while giving Drake Maye more weapons. Any time you have a quarterback playing at a sustainable level with that type of ceiling, the sky is going to be the limit.
Biggest Strength For 2026: An MVP-Level Quarterback And Plenty Of Cap Flexibility
4. San Francisco 49ers (12-4) Previous Week: 6
2025 was supposed to be somewhat of a “reset” year for the 49ers, and yet they have clinched a playoff spot and look like a team that could make some noise in January. All of this despite losing multiple key players to injuries. San Francisco is clearly a good team, but it’s hard to imagine that many coaching staffs can get what Kyle Shanahan and...
