2 NFL Teams Under Pressure To Succeed In 2026

The Cincinnati Bengals are one of two NFL teams under pressure. They have not had a playoff appearance since the 2022-2023 season. Joe Burrow has been viewed as a consensus top-five quarterback since he entered his prime, and a failed season jeopardizes that. 

The Bengals must avoid going down the 2010s Detroit Lions path, resulting in a star quarterback with mediocre results. In Matthew Stafford’s 12 seasons with Detroit, he only made the postseason three times. With the Los Angeles Rams, he has made it four times out of five seasons. 

Right now, Burrow has made two postseasons in six seasons. If another year is added to the non-appearances, it will begin to look like Stafford’s Lions career. Late in the 2025 season, Burrow made some comments that raised eyebrows. The veteran stated, “If I want to keep doing this, I have to have fun doing it. I have been through a lot. If it’s not fun, then what am I doing it for?”

The losing has taken a toll on the star quarterback. One more losing season could either spring Burrow towards retirement consideration like Andrew Luck or lead him to another team. Either scenario would be a nightmare for Bengals fans. 

It’s paramount that Cincinnati has team success in 2026. 

Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens are the second of the two NFL teams under pressure. The Ravens’ history is more favorable than the Bengals’, but their 2025 struggles put pressure on them for the upcoming season. A missed playoff appearance in back-to-back seasons would flash some major red lights for this franchise. 

The first one would be the health and play of Lamar Jackson. The quarterback played in 13 games in the 2025 season and had 2,549 passing yards with 21 passing touchdowns and seven interceptions. The issue is that most of those touchdowns came before his injuries. In the opening four games before his hamstring injury, he threw for 10 touchdowns. In the nine games after his return, he had 11.

The numbers look better than the production. Jackson threw four touchdowns in his first game back from his four-game absence from injury. That means he had seven passing touchdowns in his last eight games, and in that stretch he had three straight games with no touchdowns. 

The main question is: was that a result of dealing with injury, or are the injuries finally catching up to the two-time MVP? Jackson is no stranger to missing time. Jackson missed games to end the 2021 and 2022 NFL seasons. The star then had healthy 2023 and 2024 seasons and was exceptional, winning MVP for one of the years and totaling 40+ touchdowns the other. 

What makes the 2025 season a little trickier is the lack of rushing. Jackson had just 349 yards on the ground with two touchdowns. That is significantly less than any other season. The lowest yards before that was in 2022 with 764. That year, he missed five games. 

That, coupled with the firing of John Harbaugh and the hiring of Jesse Minter, puts a lot of pressure on this franchise in 2026. Are the golden days of the Ravens over, or was 2025 just a bad year?

End Of My NFL Teams Under Pressure Rant

The Bengals and Ravens are my two NFL teams under pressure in 2026. One franchise needs to keep their QB happy by winning some meaningful games so he doesn’t leave.

The other franchise needs to figure out if the previous year was a blip on the radar or the beginning of a dangerous trend. It’s make-or-break for both teams. 

How do you think this season plays out for each team?