Broncos, Giants, Browns among teams proving that winning ugly might be good enough this season

Everyone wants to be the mid-1980s 49ers or 1999 Rams, blowing teams out and making their seasons into beautiful highlight reels.

In the NFL in 2026, that might not be possible. Just grinding out wins is good enough.

There are four teams this season who have a winning record despite a point differential of +12 or worse: Broncos, Giants, Patriots, Browns. The Browns are 5-4 despite a point differential of -35. The Broncos have won seven games and six of them came by one score. They barely beat the 0-7 Chargers in Week 5 after trailing with less than 10 minutes remaining.

But they're winning. All of those teams would be in the playoffs if they started today other than the Browns, who are one spot out of an AFC wild-card spot. Other teams like the Steelers and Packers haven't been impressive from Week 1 on, but they're in the playoff field too.

"We found a way to win," has been uttered more than a few times by head coaches of winning teams this season. Winning ugly might end up being the theme of this season.

Head coach John Harbaugh of the New York Giants and Tyrone Tracy Jr. embrace after an overtime win over the Texans in Week 5. (Photo by Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images)Kenneth Richmond via Getty Images'Not perfect football'

The Giants' 19-11 win over the Eagles in Week 9 sums up how a handful of teams are succeeding this season. The Giants got four field goals and their only touchdown came when Jameis Winston came in off the bench for a drive. From an outside perspective, it was an unwatchable game. But it was pretty good for the Giants.

"We did play winning football, not perfect football, but winning football and found a way to win the game in all three phases, especially starting with the defense," Giants coach John Harbaugh said, via Athlon Sports.

The Giants beat the Titans, who are 1-7, when they intercepted a pass in their own end zone in the final seconds. They beat the Cardinals, who are 3-6, when they intercepted a pass backed up in their own end zone on the final play. The Giants rank 24th in DVOA but are currently the No. 3 seed in the NFC with a 5-2-1 record. For old-school football fans who abhor analytics and only care about a team's record, there's satisfaction in teams winning in intangible ways.

"They have it. They have what it takes," Harbaugh said of his team. "I don't know how to describe it other than that. I think they've had it all along and they found it in these games. Sometimes it's one thing to have it and another thing to find it, and they've been able to find it in the way they play."

The Browns are one spot below the Giants in DVOA, ranking 25th. But they've won more than they've lost. In multiple games this season they've discovered the right answer to the test in the final minutes. In four of five wins they've trailed or been tied in the final two minutes, and in the other win they trailed with four minutes remaining. They're 3-2 in games in which they gain 272 yards or less.

"We don't do anything, and then all of a sudden we get stops," Monken said after a 13-10 win over Baltimore, via the Ravens' site. "All of a sudden we figure it out."

These teams are chasing playoff berths, not trying to hear arguments about regression.

Broncos keep winning close games

Since the start of the 2025 season, the Broncos are on one of the strangest runs in recent NFL history.

The Broncos are 22-6, counting postseason, and 18 of the wins have come by one score. For those who understand probablility, and one-score games in the NFL being practically a coin flip, that record makes no sense.

The Broncos are 7-2 with a point differential of +12. That might be unsustainable, but they did it last season too. The Broncos have won 16 one-score games in a row, setting an NFL record. That can't continue, but the Broncos truly believe it can.

"Well, when it keeps happening, I think our league is what it is," Broncos coach Sean Payton said after a 26-21 win over the Panthers. "When those things keep falling your way, that's not by accident."

Other teams looked terrible in September and have emerged as contenders for division titles. Packers fans had Matt LaFleur on the hot seat after a bad Thursday night loss to the Falcons dropped them to 1-2. The Steelers were 2-2 after four games and didn't look anything like a playoff contender, but haven't lost since. The Patriots were in trouble at 1-2 and while a blowout loss to the Packers last week was a setback, they're above .500 despite a win differential of just +4.

There might not be a more oft-used quote in the NFL than Bill Parcells' famous line, "You are what your record says you are." And, in truth, the win-loss record is all NFL coaches and players are judged upon. So nobody with a winning record now is making apologies, even if all those victories haven't been pretty.