NFL Playoff Scenarios

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2025 Season Summary

Jan 4, 2026 | Week 18, 2025 | NFL Playoff Scenarios

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

Playoff Bracket

Wildcard Weekend
Jan 10-12

Divisional Round
Jan 17-18

Conference Championships
Jan 25

Super Bowl
Feb 8

Super Bowl Champion

CHI

Jan 10 8:00pm ET

PHI

Jan 11 4:30pm ET

CAR

LAR

Jan 10 4:30pm ET
AFC

LAC

Jan 11 8:00pm ET

JAX

BUF

Jan 11 1:00pm ET

PIT

HOU

Jan 12 8:00pm ET

SEA

Worst Remaining NFC Seed

Best NFC Seed from Wildcard Round

2nd Worst Remaining NFC Seed

DEN

Worst Remaining AFC Seed

Best AFC Seed from Wildcard Round

2nd Worst Remaining AFC Seed


	NFC	Record	Conf. Rec.	Explanation
1	SEA^xyz	14-3	9-3
2	CHI^xy	11-6	7-5	CHI wins the tiebreak over PHI on Head-to-Head.
3	PHI^xy	11-6	8-4
4	CAR^xy	8-9	6-6	CAR wins the tiebreak over TB/ATL on Head-to-Head (3-1 vs 2-2/1-3).
5	LAR^kx	12-5	7-5	LAR wins the tiebreak over SF on Common Games (9-3 vs 8-4).
6	SF^kx	12-5	9-3
7	GB^kx	9-7-1	7-4-1
8	MIN^ke	9-8	7-5	MIN wins the tiebreak over DET on Head-to-Head (2-0).
9	DET^ke	9-8	6-6
10	TB^ke	8-9	6-6	TB wins the tiebreak over ATL on Common Games (6-6 vs 5-7).
11	ATL^ke	8-9	7-5
12	DAL^ke	7-9-1	4-7-1
13	NO^ke	6-11	4-8
14	WAS^ke	5-12	3-9
15	NYG^ke	4-13	2-10
16	ARI^ke	3-14	3-9

	AFC	Record	Conf. Rec.	Explanation
1	DEN^xyz	14-3	9-3	DEN wins the tiebreak over NE on Common Games (6-0 vs 5-1).
2	NE^xy	14-3	9-3
3	JAX^xy	13-4	10-2
4	PIT^xy	10-7	8-4
5	HOU^kx	12-5	10-2	HOU wins the tiebreak over BUF on Head-to-Head.
6	BUF^kx	12-5	9-3
7	LAC^kx	11-6	8-4
8	IND^ke	8-9	6-6	IND wins the tiebreak over BAL on Conference Record (6-6 vs 5-7).
9	BAL^ke	8-9	5-7
10	MIA^ke	7-10	3-9
11	CIN^ke	6-11	5-7	CIN wins the tiebreak over KC on Conference Record (5-7 vs 3-9).
12	KC^ke	6-11	3-9
13	CLE^ke	5-12	4-8
14	LV^ke	3-14	3-9	LV wins the tiebreak over NYJ/TEN on Conference Record (3-9 vs 2-10/2-10).
15	NYJ^ke	3-14	2-10	NYJ wins the tiebreak over TEN on Strength of Victory (19-32 vs 14-37).
16	TEN^ke	3-14	2-10


NFC	East	Record	Div. Rec.	Explanation
1	PHI^xy	11-6	3-3
2	DAL^ke	7-9-1	4-2
3	WAS^ke	5-12	3-3
4	NYG^ke	4-13	2-4

NFC	North	Record	Div. Rec.	Explanation
1	CHI^xy	11-6	2-4
2	GB^kx	9-7-1	4-2
3	MIN^ke	9-8	4-2	MIN wins the tiebreak over DET on Head-to-Head (2-0).
4	DET^ke	9-8	2-4

NFC	South	Record	Div. Rec.	Explanation
1	CAR^xy	8-9	3-3	CAR wins the tiebreak over TB/ATL on Head-to-Head (3-1 vs 2-2/1-3).
2	TB^ke	8-9	3-3	TB wins the tiebreak over ATL on Common Games (6-6 vs 5-7).
3	ATL^ke	8-9	3-3
4	NO^ke	6-11	3-3

NFC	West	Record	Div. Rec.	Explanation
1	SEA^xyz	14-3	4-2
2	LAR^kx	12-5	4-2	LAR wins the tiebreak over SF on Common Games (9-3 vs 8-4).
3	SF^kx	12-5	4-2
4	ARI^ke	3-14	0-6

AFC	East	Record	Div. Rec.	Explanation
1	NE^xy	14-3	5-1
2	BUF^kx	12-5	4-2
3	MIA^ke	7-10	3-3
4	NYJ^ke	3-14	0-6

AFC	North	Record	Div. Rec.	Explanation
1	PIT^xy	10-7	4-2
2	BAL^ke	8-9	3-3
3	CIN^ke	6-11	3-3
4	CLE^ke	5-12	2-4

AFC	South	Record	Div. Rec.	Explanation
1	JAX^xy	13-4	5-1
2	HOU^kx	12-5	5-1
3	IND^ke	8-9	2-4
4	TEN^ke	3-14	0-6

AFC	West	Record	Div. Rec.	Explanation
1	DEN^xyz	14-3	5-1
2	LAC^kx	11-6	5-1
3	KC^ke	6-11	1-5
4	LV^ke	3-14	1-5

^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

Any 2026 first round picks that were traded prior to the end of the 2025 season are reflected in the Explanation column. Any trades that happen after the conclusion of the season will not be reflected here since this is the 2025 season summary.


Pick	Team	Record	Strength Of Schedule	Explanation
1	LV	3-14	155-133-1 (.538)
2	NYJ	3-14	159-129-1 (.552)
3	ARI	3-14	164-123-2 (.571)
4	TEN	3-14	166-123 (.574)
5	NYG	4-13	150-136-3 (.524)
6	CLE	5-12	140-148-1 (.486)
7	WAS	5-12	145-141-3 (.507)
8	NO	6-11	143-146 (.495)
9	KC	6-11	148-140-1 (.514)
10	CIN	6-11	150-138-1 (.521)
11	MIA	7-10	141-148 (.488)
12	DAL	7-9-1	126-162-1 (.438)
13	ATL	8-9	143-146 (.495)	Traded to LAR
14	BAL	8-9	146-142-1 (.507)
15	TB	8-9	153-136 (.529)
16	IND	8-9	156-133 (.540)	Traded to NYJ
17	DET	9-8	140-146-3 (.490)
18	MIN	9-8	147-139-3 (.514)

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	CAR	8-9	150-137-2 (.522)
20	GB	9-7-1	139-149-1 (.483)	Traded to DAL
21	PIT	10-7	145-143-1 (.503)
22	CHI	11-6	131-155-3 (.458)
23	LAC	11-6	135-153-1 (.469)
24	PHI	11-6	136-150-3 (.476)
25	BUF	12-5	136-153 (.471)
26	SF	12-5	144-145 (.498)
27	HOU	12-5	151-138 (.522)
28	LAR	12-5	152-137 (.526)
29	JAX	13-4	138-151 (.478)	Traded to CLE
30	NE	14-3	113-176 (.391)
31	DEN	14-3	121-166-2 (.422)
32	SEA	14-3	144-145 (.498)

Syndication and Free Use

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Acknowledgements

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

Thank you to everyone who visits the site. Even without doing anything else but visiting, you help the site to be more visible which allows others to find it.

Thank you to everyone who reaches out 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.

Thank you so much to all of our Patreon subscribers! We were able to keep the site ad-free for everyone all season thanks to your generosity. A special thanks to our generous Patreon Division Title Holders - Mersich Family, Sophie Hutchenson, osman ip, and Michael

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 our new logo and all the fancy pictures on our social media. You’ve all seen my site and know that graphic design is not my talent, so his skills have been invaluable.

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.

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