We asked Google Gemini to predict what the 2026 NFL playoff picture will look like come the end of the regular season, including seeds, wild card matchups, and byes
Brock Purdy #13 of the San Francisco 49ers celebrates
The San Francisco 49ers are among the leading contenders to win Super Bowl LXI(Image: Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)
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The 2026 NFL regular season is approaching its midway point, and each conference’s playoff picture is beginning to take shape.
As things stand, plenty of familiar teams, like the Buffalo Bills and San Francisco 49ers, find themselves in the playoff picture going into NFL Week 9, while newcomers such as the Cleveland Browns and New York Giants are trying to crash the party. With so much still to play out over the final 10 weeks of the regular season, it is anyone’s guess as to how both the AFC and NFC playoffs will look come January 2027.
Here, we asked Google Gemini’s AI model to predict which 14 NFL teams will make the playoffs, including seeds, wild card matchups, and first-round byes.
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AI predicts the 2026 NFL playoff picture
AFC playoff seeds: No. 1 Buffalo Bills, No. 2 Kansas City Chiefs, No. 3 Pittsburgh Steelers, No. 4 Jacksonville Jaguars, No. 5 Denver Broncos, No. 6 Cincinnati Bengals, No. 7 New England Patriots
AFC playoff wild card matchups: Patriots at Chiefs, Bengals at Steelers, Broncos at Jaguars
Gemini predicts that the Bills will finish with the best record in the AFC and earn a bye into the divisional round. In the wild card round, two AFC North rivals will face off in the Bengals and Steelers, while the Broncos, Jaguars, and Patriots each make the postseason for the second straight year.
Josh Allen #17 of the Buffalo Bills reacts as he looks to pass
Gemini predicts the Buffalo Bills will finish as the top seed in the AFC(Image: Photo by Michael Owens/Getty Images)
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After missing the playoffs a season ago, the Chiefs are back on the big stage and will host last year’s Super Bowl runners-up in the wild card round.
Gemini also predicts that the first AFC teams to miss out on the playoffs will be the Cleveland Browns, Baltimore Ravens, and Houston Texans.
NFC playoff seeds: No. 1 San Francisco 49ers, No. 2 Detroit Lions, No. 3 New York Giants, No. 4 Carolina Panthers, No. 5 Minnesota Vikings, No. 6 Chicago Bears, No. 7 Los Angeles Rams
NFC playoff wild card matchups: Rams at Lions, Bears at Giants, Vikings at Panthers
Gemini predicts three teams that were not in the playoffs last year will make it in 2026 as the Lions, Giants, and Vikings join the party.
The 49ers will finish with the NFC’s best record and earn a bye into the divisional round, while the Rams, Bears, and Panthers all reach the postseason for a second consecutive season.
Perhaps the juiciest of the three wild card games will see Matthew Stafford face his former team for the second time in his Rams postseason career after Los Angeles came up short at Ford Field in the 2023 playoffs.
Gemini predicts the first NFC teams outside the top-seven will be the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, Green Bay Packers, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.