Super Bowl 61 watch: Beyond the Chiefs and 49ers, the NFL’s second tier is taking shape

Five weeks into the 2026 NFL season, the league’s Super Bowl picture is starting to sort itself into tiers, and the separation is not as clean as preseason narratives suggested. CBS Sports frames San Francisco and Seattle as still “pretty good,” while Kansas City is presented as having refreshed itself offensively. But the article’s central point is that the most dangerous contenders may be hiding just outside the heavy-hitter group.

In that first tier, CBS Sports highlights two teams that have stayed on the radar: the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks. The broader message is simple. Even early in the season, teams that continue to look coherent on both sides of the ball and do not unravel in games tend to remain playoff threats, and San Francisco and Seattle are being treated that way in the current conversation.

Kansas City is the other name that CBS Sports treats as an anchor, but with a specific storyline. The Chiefs are described as having “re-invented” their offense, tied in part to Kenneth Walker III. That emphasis matters because it suggests the top-tier label is not only about reputation, it is about how teams are adapting operationally as the season progresses.

From there, the focus shifts to what CBS Sports calls the “dangerous second tier.” The Jaguars and Bengals are named among the teams that could make runs despite not being universally viewed as the most obvious championship paths. The logic is that playoff football compresses time and magnifies matchup advantages, so teams that are close to the upper group can become especially difficult once the postseason begins.

CBS Sports also uses the season’s early timeframe as a caution. Over one-fourth of the way through the schedule, it is still early enough for major swings in evaluation, but late enough that patterns can emerge. The article’s implicit warning is that the NFL often punishes premature certainty. Teams can improve quickly, and equally, teams can lose momentum just as fast.

For fans, the most practical takeaway is that the Super Bowl debate is not only about who looks best right now, but who has the equipment to survive the volatility of playoff rounds. A “second tier” team does not need to be perfect, it needs to be resilient, especially against the kind of pressure that accumulates in December and January.

What to watch next is how quickly these contenders close any gaps that remain in their overall game plans. If teams like the Jaguars and Bengals continue to demonstrate the ability to win in different ways, they will move from plausible to credible as championship candidates. Meanwhile, the top-tier conversation around San Francisco, Seattle, and Kansas City will hinge on whether the early indicators persist, particularly Kansas City’s offensive identity built around its evolving personnel.