The Seahawks won it all back in February. They took a 29-13 hammer to New England at Super Bowl LX, a game that wasn’t nearly as competitive as the scoreline suggests — Sam Darnold didn’t turn the ball over once, and Mike Macdonald’s defense picked off Drake Maye twice down the stretch to slam the door.
And yet, one look at the betting odds ahead of the 2026 season would suggest that Seattle remain the hunters as opposed to the hunted defending champions.
The latest NFL odds ahead of the 2026 season getting underway list the Seahawks as a +1100 shot to repeat as champions, sitting behind the Rams, Bills, and Ravens on every major board. And considering the fact that they just lost Super Bowl MVP Kenneth Walker III to Kansas City in free agency, along with Boye Mafe, Coby Bryant, and Riq Woolen — three significant pieces off a ruthless ‘Dark Side’ defense that allowed the fewest points in football last season — perhaps we shouldn’t be surprised.
The Rams (more on them shortly) being considered more likely Lombardi hoisters is perhaps somewhat understandable. But the Bills and the Ravens? The same conversation follows their two superstar quarterbacks every time a new NFL season rolls around.
Josh Allen has an MVP on his mantle and more signature wins than almost anyone at the position, and yet he still doesn’t have a ring. Lamar Jackson has two MVPs and just watched a Baltimore roster collapse around him during a season that was supposed to finally deliver silverware.
But it’s not the Bills, nor the Ravens, not even the defending champion Seahawks that are being discussed the most heading into the 2026 NFL season. No. Instead, it’s these three teams. And for one of them, they would much rather find themselves anywhere than under the spotlight right now.
Los Angeles Rams
Somewhere in Los Angeles in late May, Sean McVay had to sit with a phone call that would define the Rams’ entire year. Cleveland was offering Myles Garrett, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year and newly minted single-season sack record holder, and all it would cost the Rams was Jared Verse — a talented young pass rusher they’d just started building around — plus three future draft picks. McVay said yes, almost immediately.
Weeks prior, GM Les Snead sent a first-rounder to Kansas City for cornerback Trent McDuffie and immediately signed him to a four-year, $124 million deal.
And if that wasn’t enough, on the eve of the new campaign, Aaron Donald walked back into the building after two and a half years away and decided he still had something left. Put those three moves next to each other, and you’re looking at a franchise that just spent almost everything it had on one shot.
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It’s worth asking what that actually feels like inside the building — the sense that every rookie contract, every future pick, every ounce of patience has been converted into this specific season. The Rams reached the NFC Championship last year and lost 31-27 to the Seattle Seahawks, despite Matthew Stafford throwing for 374 yards and three touchdowns in defeat.
He won the MVP award anyway, but the loss radicalized the Rams, and now they enter the new season as the incredibly short-priced +500 favorite to lift the Lombardi on home turf at SoFi Stadium in February, just as they did the last time the Big Game was held there back in 2022.
Houston Texans
C.J. Stroud spent part of his February the way you’d imagine — alone with the tape, watching himself throw four interceptions in the first half of a 28-16 divisional-round loss to New England, a game that came one week after he’d already turned the ball over three times against Pittsburgh.
Seven turnovers in two playoff games, on a team whose defense — Will Anderson Jr., Derek Stingley Jr., Danielle Hunter — was good enough to post a 12-5 record and reach the postseason for a third straight year.
That’s the part that stings. This wasn’t a bad team losing to a better one. This was one of the league’s best defenses getting let down by its own quarterback, twice, in the most visible way possible. The first time around, the defense bailed Stroud out of trouble. The second time, he wasn’t so lucky, and that’s the entire conundrum surrounding the Texans heading into 2026: Pretenders or genuine threat?
GM Nick Caserio didn’t bench anybody or blow up the offense. He rebuilt the pocket instead, signing Wyatt Teller and Braden Smith, re-signing Trent Brown, extending Ed Ingram, and trading for running back David Montgomery. It’s a vote of confidence dressed up as an offensive line overhaul. Whether Stroud repays the show of faith will determine the whole season.
Miami Dolphins
Miami’s version of this story is blunter. They went 7-10 last term, undone by a 2-7 start that got Mike McDaniel fired and cleared the way for new general manager Jon-Eric Sullivan and first-time head coach Jeff Hafley to gut the roster down to studs.
Tua Tagovailoa, the face of the franchise for six years, was released to a record-setting dead cap hit and signed with Atlanta. Tyreek Hill and Bradley Chubb were both let go. Jaylen Waddle, one of the last true stars left on the roster, was shipped to Denver. What’s left is Malik Willis at quarterback and De’Von Achane as the lone proven offensive weapon, on a roster analysts have pegged with one of the league’s worst skill-position groups and a win total sitting around 4.5.
This isn’t a step back. This is a full-blown demolition, and the only real debate in Miami is whether the Dolphins can win any games at all in 2026 and just how long it will take them to return to contention once again.
