Cowboys, Chiefs And Bengals Are Each At A Crossroads, But The Path Forward Is Clear — And Promising

The NFL playoffs will be without the Kansas City Chiefs for the first time since the 2014 season. The Cincinnati Bengals will miss them for the third straight year. And barring a miracle, the Dallas Cowboys won’t be in them, either.

That’s three big teams with some big-name players missing out. Let’s look at what’s next for each.

Cowboys have set the stage for a big 2026

Jerry Jones has had a strange season, but he’s put the Cowboys in position to take a major leap back to the top of the NFC in 2026. Trading Micah Parsons away for draft capital was certainly unconventional, but the acquisition of All-Pro talent Quinnen Williams has given the Cowboys a new elite difference-maker on their defensive line.

That unit is in good shape, and the offense can score in bunches, but the rest of the defense … phew. That’s where there is still a lot of work to be done.

Williams’ presence has given Dallas the chance to at least add some variance and disruption up front, which can help the porous secondary. His presence alone hasn’t been enough. The Cowboys are still one of the worst defenses in the league and just made the hapless Vikings offense look like a top unit on Sunday. Their group of corners and safeties need to get better or else it won’t matter how much pressure Williams and the rest of the defensive line get. They’re still allowing too many chunk plays that make it difficult even for one of the best offenses in the league (which needs to re-sign George Pickens; Jones has given every indication he plans on it) to keep pace with what they’re giving up on the other side.

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At the very least, Jones has left the Cowboys in a flexible spot to upgrade significantly in the offseason, given he still has an extra 2026 first-round draft pick in his back pocket from the Parsons trade. Whether or not the Cowboys package their extra first into something else remains to be seen, but they have the draft assets to stay flexible. They currently have major salary cap issues, ranking 32nd in projected cap space for 2026, according to Spotrac, with a figure of -$36 million. But they have some easy decisions, like moving on from Trevon Diggs and Terence Steele, that can immediately give them cap relief.

Jerry Jones stumbled into a solid plan. Time to see if he can keep making moves to take advantage of a very good offense.

Chiefs almost had a blessing in disguise

A reset is not the worst thing in the world for the Kansas City Chiefs after running on fumes for the past two seasons, but it came with a huge cost when superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes went down with a torn ACL in the fourth quarter of their loss against the Chargers, which officially eliminated them from the playoff hunt.

Mahomes had surgery to repair his ACL, and reportedly his LCL too, so he should be able to make a clean comeback, but the Chiefs clearly have major issues to address outside of him. Their offense improved, but their luck in one-score games took a major downturn, resulting in them sitting out most of January football. Even though the offense was better, it was clear that was mostly a product of having one of the greatest quarterbacks ever, and they need to restock this roster with premium talent.

Health on the offensive line was a killer for the Chiefs this year, but the talent can’t be just in the same position next year. Xavier Worthy hasn’t lived up to his first-round billing, Rashee Rice has been inconsistent and the running back room has needed a legitimate investment for several years now. It’s been said ad nauseam, but offense should not be played on this level of difficulty with a first-ballot Hall of Fame quarterback in his prime. 

KC’s defense needs a blast of talent on the back end, with a shaky group of defensive backs that hasn’t panned out like the Chiefs thought they would since the first Super Bowl against the Eagles a few years ago. Steve Spagnuolo is still a great defensive coordinator, but they’re really feeling the talent strain on this unit.

This is a lot to accomplish in one offseason, but as long as they get better at just a handful of spots they’ll be back in the Super Bowl hunt next year. Mahomes should be fine. If he’s fine, the Chiefs will be fine.

Bengals still need the same things they always have

The Bengals are going to run it back with the same offensive core in an attempt to go on another Super Bowl run before this window closes. This season was filled with familiar struggles, including injuries to Joe Burrow and Tee Higgins, inconsistent play from the offensive supporting cast, and another putrid performance from the defense. Cincinnati hasn’t made the playoffs since the 2022 season and that streak will extend to another year following their official elimination at the hands of the Ravens.

It’s undoubtedly frustrating for them to keep finding themselves in this spot, but figuring out what to do next is puzzling because they’ve attempted the plan most people would suggest.

Cincinnati has paid out big contract money for its big-time players on offense and supplemented that effort by pouring high-value draft picks into its defense. Ultimately, the Bengals have missed so many times. Their defense is littered with recent top-100 picks, including multiple first- and second-rounders, but they haven’t gotten these selections right. It’s not like they haven’t tried to take a responsible approach to stocking the defense considering where their cap allocation is going, they just haven’t picked the right players. 

Fortunately, for the upcoming season, the Bengals will have a chance to really be aggressive in the offseason to upgrade their defense. According to Spotrac, they’re projected to have more than $110 million in cap space to spend. NFL free agency isn’t as robust as it used to be with big-name players hitting the open market, but the Bengals can easily find upgrades for what is arguably the least talented defense in the league.

Spend on defense, pray for health on offense. That’s really all they can do unless they’re ready to break up their plan on offense and change things around. That probably isn’t necessary given the production they had on offense a year ago — a stroke of good fortune is really the most important thing here.