Barnwell's five NFL teams most likely to improve, led by the Chiefs
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NewsDesk
Original post · 26 Aug
The Chiefs top the bounce-back list
If you spent last season watching your team stumble and wondering whether next year could be different, ESPN's Bill Barnwell has your annual dose of optimism. His yearly rundown of the NFL teams most likely to improve is out, and the Kansas City Chiefs sit at the front of the queue.
That might sound odd for a franchise that's been to the Super Bowl more often than not. But when a perennial contender has a down year by its own standards, the projection systems tend to expect a rebound. The Chiefs lead Barnwell's list heading into the 2026 season.
Who else made the cut
Alongside Kansas City, Barnwell flags four more teams as candidates to add wins: the Detroit Lions, the Baltimore Ravens, the New York Giants and the New York Jets.
The Lions and Ravens fall into the same "good team that underperformed" category as the Chiefs. Both were expected to be in the playoff mix, so the question is whether they rebound closer to their ceilings.
The Giants and Jets are a different story. Both are coming off rough 2025 campaigns, and the honest question Barnwell poses is simply whether either can climb out of the bottom of the standings at all. When you finish that low, there's often nowhere to go but up.
What it means if you follow the win totals
This is the kind of preseason reading that matters if you keep an eye on season-long markets. Sportsbooks post win totals for every team over the summer, and lists like this one are built on the same logic books use: teams tend to regress toward their true level rather than repeat an outlier season, good or bad.
A team like the Chiefs coming off a disappointing year, or a Giants side that hit rock bottom, are exactly the profiles that get discussed heavily around win-total and division markets. Worth remembering, though, that "most likely to improve" just means more wins than last year, not a specific finish or a prediction to bet on.
Barnwell's piece is a projection exercise, not a guarantee, and he's the first to note that the Giants-and-Jets question is genuinely open. Still, if you back one of these five, at least you'll know the reasoning behind the optimism.
Sources:
If this changes where you play, the community keeps its thread on real money casinos up to date.
If you spent last season watching your team stumble and wondering whether next year could be different, ESPN's Bill Barnwell has your annual dose of optimism. His yearly rundown of the NFL teams most likely to improve is out, and the Kansas City Chiefs sit at the front of the queue.
That might sound odd for a franchise that's been to the Super Bowl more often than not. But when a perennial contender has a down year by its own standards, the projection systems tend to expect a rebound. The Chiefs lead Barnwell's list heading into the 2026 season.
Who else made the cut
Alongside Kansas City, Barnwell flags four more teams as candidates to add wins: the Detroit Lions, the Baltimore Ravens, the New York Giants and the New York Jets.
The Lions and Ravens fall into the same "good team that underperformed" category as the Chiefs. Both were expected to be in the playoff mix, so the question is whether they rebound closer to their ceilings.
The Giants and Jets are a different story. Both are coming off rough 2025 campaigns, and the honest question Barnwell poses is simply whether either can climb out of the bottom of the standings at all. When you finish that low, there's often nowhere to go but up.
What it means if you follow the win totals
This is the kind of preseason reading that matters if you keep an eye on season-long markets. Sportsbooks post win totals for every team over the summer, and lists like this one are built on the same logic books use: teams tend to regress toward their true level rather than repeat an outlier season, good or bad.
A team like the Chiefs coming off a disappointing year, or a Giants side that hit rock bottom, are exactly the profiles that get discussed heavily around win-total and division markets. Worth remembering, though, that "most likely to improve" just means more wins than last year, not a specific finish or a prediction to bet on.
Barnwell's piece is a projection exercise, not a guarantee, and he's the first to note that the Giants-and-Jets question is genuinely open. Still, if you back one of these five, at least you'll know the reasoning behind the optimism.
Sources:
If this changes where you play, the community keeps its thread on real money casinos up to date.
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