Grades for all 32 teams a month into 2026 NFL season: Raiders, Chiefs, 49ers and Jags tops in league. Meanwhile, an F- for the Chargers?

One month into the 2026 NFL season, sports analysts have begun issuing performance grades for all 32 teams across the league. According to reports from Yahoo Sports, four teams have emerged as the top performers in the league after the first four weeks of play: the Raiders, the Chiefs, the 49ers, and the Jaguars. Conversely, the coverage highlights a significant struggle for the Chargers, who have been assigned a grade of F-. This evaluation comes as the league reaches a quarter-term milestone, providing a snapshot of which franchises are exceeding expectations and which are failing early in the campaign. Detailed coverage from multiple outlets emphasizes the stark contrast in team trajectories. CBS Sports focused specifically on the NFC, noting that the 49ers are currently the top of their class through the first four games.

However, that same reporting indicates that other NFC contenders, specifically the Rams and the Eagles, have seen their standing slip to middling marks. Meanwhile, Yahoo Sports is centering the narrative on the biggest surprises and disappointments of the month, including the identification of an early season MVP. The New York Times has supplemented this analysis by organizing the league into quarter-term tiers. To understand why these grades matter now, the coverage from SB Nation suggests there are already seven established truths about the 2026 season after only four weeks of action. This early assessment is critical because it defines the current hierarchy of the league before the mid-season stretch. The wide variance in grades, ranging from the top-tier success of teams like the Jaguars and Chiefs to the failure of the Chargers, suggests a season defined by extreme volatility.

The inclusion of an "impossible pass" in The New York Times coverage further highlights the specific athletic feats that are shaping these early evaluations. Looking ahead, observers will monitor whether the teams currently graded at the top can maintain their momentum or if the middling marks of the Rams and Eagles will trend further downward. The focus remains on the 32-team landscape as the league moves past the first four weeks. Future coverage will likely track if the Chargers can recover from their F- grade or if the current tier rankings established by the New York Times and Yahoo Sports hold steady as the 2026 season progresses into the second month of play.