NFL Playoff Scenarios

2024 Season Summary

Jan 5, 2025 | Week 18, 2024 | NFL Playoff Scenarios

Playoff Bracket
Final Standings
First Round Draft Order
Syndication and Free Use
Acknowledgements
Contact us

Playoff Bracket

Wildcard Weekend
Jan 13-15

Divisional Round
Jan 20-21

Conference Championships
Jan 28

Super Bowl
Feb 11

Super Bowl Champion

PHI

Jan 12 4:30pm ET

WAS

Jan 12 8:00pm ET

LAR

MIN

Jan 13 8:00pm ET
AFC

BUF

DEN

Jan 12 1:00pm ET

BAL

PIT

Jan 11 8:00pm ET

HOU

LAC

Jan 11 4:30pm ET

DET

Worst Remaining NFC Seed

Best NFC Seed from Wildcard Round

2nd Worst Remaining NFC Seed

Worst Remaining AFC Seed

Best AFC Seed from Wildcard Round

2nd Worst Remaining AFC Seed


	NFC	Record	Conf. Rec.	Explanation
1	DET^xyz	15-2	11-1
2	PHI^xy	14-3	9-3
3	TB^xy	10-7	8-4	LAR wins the tiebreak over SEA on Strength of Victory (75-95 vs 72-98). TB wins the tiebreak over LAR on Conference Record (8-4 vs 6-6).
4	LAR^xy	10-7	6-6	LAR wins the tiebreak over SEA on Strength of Victory (75-95 vs 72-98).
5	MIN^kx	14-3	9-3
6	WAS^kx	12-5	9-3
7	GB^kx	11-6	6-6
8	SEA^ke	10-7	6-6
9	ATL^ke	8-9	7-5	ATL wins the tiebreak over ARI on Conference Record (7-5 vs 4-8).
10	ARI^ke	8-9	4-8
11	DAL^ke	7-10	5-7
12	SF^ke	6-11	4-8
13	CHI^ke	5-12	3-9	CAR wins the tiebreak over NO on Strength of Victory (28-57 vs 26-59). CHI wins the tiebreak over CAR on Head-to-Head.
14	CAR^ke	5-12	4-8	CAR wins the tiebreak over NO on Strength of Victory (28-57 vs 26-59).
15	NO^ke	5-12	4-8
16	NYG^ke	3-14	1-11

	AFC	Record	Conf. Rec.	Explanation
1	KC^xyz	15-2	10-2
2	BUF^xy	13-4	9-3
3	BAL^xy	12-5	8-4
4	HOU^xy	10-7	8-4
5	LAC^kx	11-6	8-4
6	PIT^kx	10-7	7-5	PIT wins the tiebreak over DEN on Head-to-Head.
7	DEN^kx	10-7	6-6
8	CIN^ke	9-8	6-6
9	IND^ke	8-9	7-5	IND wins the tiebreak over MIA on Head-to-Head.
10	MIA^ke	8-9	6-6
11	NYJ^ke	5-12	5-7
12	JAX^ke	4-13	4-8	JAX wins the tiebreak over NE/LV on Conference Record (4-8 vs 3-9/3-9).
13	NE^ke	4-13	3-9	NE wins the tiebreak over LV on Strength of Victory (32-36 vs 24-44).
14	LV^ke	4-13	3-9
15	CLE^ke	3-14	3-9	CLE wins the tiebreak over TEN on Strength of Victory (26-25 vs 22-29).
16	TEN^ke	3-14	3-9


NFC	East	Record	Div. Rec.	Explanation
1	PHI^xy	14-3	5-1
2	WAS^kx	12-5	4-2
3	DAL^ke	7-10	3-3
4	NYG^ke	3-14	0-6

NFC	North	Record	Div. Rec.	Explanation
1	DET^xyz	15-2	6-0
2	MIN^kx	14-3	4-2
3	GB^kx	11-6	1-5
4	CHI^ke	5-12	1-5

NFC	South	Record	Div. Rec.	Explanation
1	TB^xy	10-7	4-2
2	ATL^ke	8-9	4-2
3	CAR^ke	5-12	2-4	CAR wins the tiebreak over NO on Strength of Victory (28-57 vs 26-59).
4	NO^ke	5-12	2-4

NFC	West	Record	Div. Rec.	Explanation
1	LAR^xy	10-7	4-2	LAR wins the tiebreak over SEA on Strength of Victory (75-95 vs 72-98).
2	SEA^ke	10-7	4-2
3	ARI^ke	8-9	3-3
4	SF^ke	6-11	1-5

AFC	East	Record	Div. Rec.	Explanation
1	BUF^xy	13-4	5-1
2	MIA^ke	8-9	3-3
3	NYJ^ke	5-12	2-4
4	NE^ke	4-13	2-4

AFC	North	Record	Div. Rec.	Explanation
1	BAL^xy	12-5	4-2
2	PIT^kx	10-7	3-3
3	CIN^ke	9-8	3-3
4	CLE^ke	3-14	2-4

AFC	South	Record	Div. Rec.	Explanation
1	HOU^xy	10-7	5-1
2	IND^ke	8-9	3-3
3	JAX^ke	4-13	3-3
4	TEN^ke	3-14	1-5

AFC	West	Record	Div. Rec.	Explanation
1	KC^xyz	15-2	5-1
2	LAC^kx	11-6	4-2
3	DEN^kx	10-7	3-3
4	LV^ke	4-13	0-6

^x Team has clinched a playoff berth.
^y Team has clinched their division title.
^z Team has clinched a first-round bye and home-field advantage.
^e Team has been eliminated from playoff contention.
^k Team has been knocked out of division title contention.

First Round Draft Order

No 2025 first round draft picks were traded prior to the end of the 2024 season. Any trades that happen after the conclusion of the season will not be reflected here since this is the 2024 season summary.


Pick	Team	Record	Strength Of Schedule	Explanation
1	TEN	3-14	151-138 (.522)
2	CLE	3-14	155-134 (.536)
3	NYG	3-14	160-129 (.554)
4	NE	4-13	136-153 (.471)
5	JAX	4-13	138-151 (.478)
6	LV	4-13	156-133 (.540)
7	NYJ	5-12	143-146 (.495)
8	CAR	5-12	144-145 (.498)
9	NO	5-12	146-143 (.505)
10	CHI	5-12	160-129 (.554)
11	SF	6-11	163-126 (.564)
12	DAL	7-10	151-138 (.522)
13	MIA	8-9	121-168 (.419)
14	IND	8-9	132-157 (.457)
15	ATL	8-9	150-139 (.519)
16	ARI	8-9	155-134 (.536)
17	CIN	9-8	138-151 (.478)
18	SEA	10-7	144-145 (.498)

The following teams are still active in the playoffs. Teams in the playoffs are added to the bottom of the draft order upon playoff exit. The teams that exit in the same round will have any necessary draft tiebreakers applied among them. The table below is only for reference for the relative order of these teams should they exit the playoffs in the same round.


Pick	Team	Record	Strength Of Schedule	Explanation
19	HOU	10-7	139-150 (.481)
20	TB	10-7	145-144 (.502)	DEN wins the tiebreak over PIT on head-to-head loss. TB wins the tiebreak over DEN on head-to-head loss
21	DEN	10-7	145-144 (.502)	DEN wins the tiebreak over PIT on head-to-head loss
22	PIT	10-7	145-144 (.502)
23	LAR	10-7	146-143 (.505)
24	LAC	11-6	135-154 (.467)
25	GB	11-6	154-135 (.533)
26	WAS	12-5	126-163 (.436)
27	BAL	12-5	153-136 (.529)
28	BUF	13-4	135-154 (.467)
29	PHI	14-3	131-158 (.453)
30	MIN	14-3	137-152 (.474)
31	KC	15-2	141-148 (.488)
32	DET	15-2	149-140 (.516)

Note that if TB & PIT exit in the same round but DEN doesn’t, TB will win the tiebreak over PIT on common games.

Syndication and Free Use

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Acknowledgements

This site would not be what it is without the support of many people.

First and foremost, thank you to everyone who interacts with me on social media. Whether it be to ask a question, to offer feedback on the site, or just to offer a kind word - you are what keeps me doing this year after year. I do what I do because I love scenarios, and I love teaching people.

My family has put up with my addiction to scenarios even when I was writing blogs with 0 readers. Without their support and willingness to entertain my hobby, none of this would have been possible. This is not a small time investment, and they put up with this every season. Anyone who enjoys my work owes them accolades.

Jeff Murray offers me endless support, motivation, and feedback. He makes the whole season more fun.

Justin Mader is responsible for all the cool pictures on social media. You’ve all seen my site and know that graphic design is not my talent, so I can’t thank him enough for making my pictures look good.

Kyle Standerfer & Ivan Urena have endless troves of historical knowledge and are always willing to look something up and share. The most interesting things I post in a season usually come from them. Ivan has a book on the history of pro football schedules, which you can order here!

Thomas Donovan & Jordan Anstey are the reason this site isn’t constantly error-riddled. They are my de facto editors, finding every mistake and helping refine scenarios day after day. When you see changes happen after the initial post, you can wager one of them is behind the fix.

Ray Lehnhoff is basically the entire reason this site exists. Without his technical expertise and support, I could never have made an operational site. Please support him by visiting his Playoff Predictors website. It is the only NFL playoff machine that I can completely endorse as accurate.

Joe Ferreira has been my friend and mentor since 2007, and has taught me everything I know about scenarios. He’s basically responsible for this entire community existing, as I don’t think we would have ever found each other if it weren’t for his old CBS message boards. I cannot express enough how much I and the entire scenario community appreciate his generosity with his time and skills.

Contact us

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