The 2026 NFL season is now underway, with a low-scoring Super Bowl LX rematch kicking things off. A close, two-touchdown game is probably not the kind of extravaganza that the league will have wanted to see, but it did show that Drake Maye is quite good until he met a real defense, and that back-to-back titles may still be on.
It is those kinds of knee-jerk reactions that NFL fans love to proclaim, as football provides us with the most baseless opinions of all sports. There is a very good reason why all NFL prop betting websites are so popular. We just cannot get enough of showing off our supposed infinite knowledge when it comes to the nation’s favorite sport.
With that in mind, we thought we would get in on the action and make a few bold predictions of our own. The season has only just started, so all of these are still viable and obviously well-thought through. Here are our six bold predictions for the 2026 NFL season.
Rams Won’t Win Super Bowl
All we have heard about throughout the seemingly never-ending offseason is that the Rams are definitely going to win Super Bowl LXI. At this stage, it seems like they just need to turn up at their own stadium next February to be officially crowned champions. The addition of Myles Garrett only confirmed this way of thinking for many.
But our first prediction flies in the face of that collective perceived wisdom. The Rams may well win the division and go deep into the playoffs, possibly even claiming the NFC Conference Championship on the way to the big game. But it will be an AFC team that upsets the odds this year. If we’re pushed on the identity of that team, we’ll go with the Broncos.
Kyler Murray Will Be a Star QB
The Vikings allowed Sam Darnold to join the Seahawks last year, banking on J.J. McCarthy to bring winning ways back to the North. That wasn’t the best idea ever hatched in Minnesota, and some pundits have looked at the latest QB choice as curious, to say the least. But Kyler Murray might just be ready to surprise us all.
Murray’s career can, frankly, only get better. He even had clauses in his contract in Arizona forcing him to study the playbook. But he does have a lethal right arm when he wants to use it, and can scramble as well as anyone on his day. He won’t be the best in the league, but he might win the comeback award and get the Vikes back to the playoffs.
America’s Team Wins NFC East
How quickly things change in professional sports. Only a few years ago, everyone was talking about a potential dynasty in Philadelphia, and then the Eagles barely squeezed into the playoffs after winning a below-par division, and promptly lost to the 49ers at the first available opportunity.
Some are predicting good things from the Eagles again this year, and most have the Birds to win the NFC East. But this team is not as strong as it once was. The much-heralded return to power for the division’s teams has not appeared. So, we think it will be Dallas that comes through to claim the crown, losing a bunch of games on the way, before falling at the Wild Card round.
Dolphins Win Zero Games
At least Dallas could make it to the postseason. The 1972 Miami Dolphins are held up as one of the greatest of all time. This is a collection of players who won all 14 regular season games before winning three more and claiming Super Bowl VII. We are about to see the exact opposite play out in South Florida.
Predicting the Dolphins to do badly is the easy part. This is an organization that hasn’t won a postseason game this century. But this season will bring a new low. The Dolphins have brought in a whole load of new players – at very short notice – who have never played together before, into a roster that was no good in the first place. The Dolphins will lose all 17 games this year.
Jayden Daniels Will Be Most Sacked QB
This prediction is hugely unfair to a quarterback we actually really like. Jayden Daniels came into the league in 2024 as the second overall pick of that year’s draft, and a genuine dual-threat quarterback. He completely transformed Washington’s chances, even leading his team to an NFC Championship game in his rookie season.
Daniels rightly won the Offensive Rookie of the Year award for his exploits, and huge things were expected of him and the Commanders last year. But a series of injuries interrupted his second year in the league, and the sheen the Commanders had acquired soon faded. He now has an inefficient pass protection unit and could end up finding his third year as a pro to be just as difficult as the last.
Orange Gatorade Dump
Now for the NFL prediction that you have all been waiting for. We may have gone out on a limb to say that the Rams will not be sizing up for Super Bowl rings next February, but there is a much more important aspect of the biggest game in sports that we can also weigh in on,
Winning coaches traditionally get Gatorade dumped on them at the end of the game, and this year the color of the drink will be orange. Fact fans will be keen to learn that we haven’t seen orange Gatorade in this capacity since Andy Reid was drenched after the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LIV triumph. The reason why we think it will make a return this season? The Broncos victory providing a perfectly color-coded end to Super Bowl LXI.
