The 2026 NFL season is just one week old, and while it’s far too early to draw any firm conclusions about who will be playing in January, the opening slate of games has already started shaping storylines across the AFC. From a dominant divisional debut in Baltimore to a rough start in Cleveland, here’s where things stand in the AFC playoff picture heading into Week 2.
A Reminder About Early-Season Standings
Before diving into the numbers, it’s worth stating the obvious: a single week of football tells you very little about how a 17-game season will play out. Records of 1-0 and 0-1 can flip dramatically over the coming months, and division standings this early are more useful as a snapshot of who played well in Week 1 than as any kind of reliable forecast. With that caveat in mind, here’s how the conference looks so far.
AFC East
The AFC East opened with a surprising split at the top, as the New York Jets and Buffalo Bills both won their season openers while the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins dropped theirs. The Jets held their opponent to just 10 points in a 23-10 win, an encouraging defensive showing to start the year. Buffalo also picked up a win, while New England fell 13-10 and Miami was blown out 27-13, an early sign of trouble for a Dolphins team that will be looking to bounce back quickly in Week 2.
AFC South
Jacksonville made the loudest statement of Week 1 among AFC South teams, throttling the Cleveland Browns 34-10 behind a big performance from quarterback Trevor Lawrence, who posted a strong early-season passer rating. That win puts the Jaguars firmly atop the division after Week 1. The rest of the AFC South had a rougher opening weekend, with the Houston Texans, Tennessee Titans, and Indianapolis Colts all dropping their season openers, leaving Jacksonville as the lone team in the division with a win to start the year.
AFC West
The AFC West split down the middle in Week 1, with the Kansas City Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders both picking up wins while the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos fell short. Kansas City opened with a 31-10 win, while the Raiders topped the Chargers in a divisional matchup. Denver’s loss was particularly lopsided, a rough start for a team that finished atop the AFC a year ago.
AFC North
The AFC North, widely viewed entering the season as a division that could send three teams to the playoffs, backed up that reputation in Week 1, with the Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, and Pittsburgh Steelers all winning their openers, leaving the Cleveland Browns as the division’s clear outlier at 0-1.
Baltimore’s win was especially emphatic, a 41-23 road victory over the Colts in new head coach Jesse Minter’s coaching debut, with receiver Zay Flowers turning in a huge performance. Pittsburgh opened the Mike McCarthy era with a hard-fought 20-13 win, powered by a standout defensive effort from outside linebackers T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith, including a pick-six that helped seal the game. Cincinnati held on for a 33-27 win over Tampa Bay behind a strong defensive showing against quarterback Baker Mayfield. Cleveland, opening the Todd Monken era, struggled badly in the loss to Jacksonville, with quarterback Deshaun Watson turning the ball over early and the offense never finding its footing.
With three teams sitting at 1-0 after Week 1, the Ravens currently hold the tiebreaker edge atop the division based on point differential, but with Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Pittsburgh all playing well out of the gate, the AFC North looks like it could be one of the most competitive divisions in the conference this season.
The Overall AFC Playoff Picture
Putting it all together after Week 1, the AFC’s four division leaders are Baltimore (AFC North), Buffalo (AFC East), Jacksonville (AFC South), and Kansas City (AFC West), with the Raiders, Jets, Bengals, and Steelers currently rounding out the wild card picture among teams that also opened 1-0. Teams like the Chargers, Broncos, Texans, Titans, Colts, and Browns will all be looking to right the ship in Week 2 after opening losses.
It’s worth remembering that with every team in the conference having played only one game, seeding at this stage is driven almost entirely by point differential and tiebreaker rules rather than any meaningful body of work. A single Week 2 result can reorder several of these positions.
What to Watch in Week 2
A few storylines stand out heading into the second week of the season. The Browns will be looking to avoid an 0-2 start after their lopsided Week 1 loss, while the Broncos face a similar must-win mentality after their own blowout defeat. In the AFC North, Cincinnati travels to Houston, a chance to build early separation in a division that looks unusually deep this year. Meanwhile, teams like New England and Miami in the AFC East will be under early pressure to respond after Week 1 losses, given how competitive their division looks after just one week of play.
Final Thoughts
One week into the 2026 NFL season, the AFC playoff picture is still very much wide open, with several early storylines worth following as the season develops. The AFC North’s strong collective start, Jacksonville’s dominant divisional debut, and rough openers for both the Broncos and Browns stand out as the most notable early plot points. As always this early in the season, the real shape of the playoff race will take several more weeks to come into focus, but Week 1 has already given fans plenty to watch heading into the rest of September.
