Standings entering week 15

Bold indicates a clinched playoff berth. Italics indicate elimination from playoffs.

      NFC                                 AFC
1 SF (11-2) 1 BAL (11-2)x
2 GB (10-3)1 2 NE (10-3)
3 NO (10-3)y 3 KC (9-4)y
4 DAL (6-7)2 4 HOU (8-5)5
5 SEA (10-3) 5 BUF (9-4)
6 MIN (9-4) 6 PIT (8-5)6
7 LAR (8-5) 7 TEN (8-5)
8 CHI (7-6) 8 CLE (6-7)k 7
9 PHI (6-7)3 9 OAK (6-7)k 8
10 TB (6-7)ke 10 IND (6-7)
11 CAR (5-8)ke 11 DEN (5-8)k 9
12 ATL (4-9)ke 12 LAC (5-8)ke 10
13 DET (3-9-1)ke 4 13 NYJ (5-8)ke
14 ARI (3-9-1)ke 14 JAX (4-9)ke
15 WAS (3-10)ke 15 MIA (3-10)ke
16 NYG (2-11)ke 16 CIN (1-12)ke

x Team has clinched a playoff berth
y Team has clinched division title
e Team is eliminated from playoff contention
k Team is knocked out of division title contention

1 GB wins the tiebreak over NO on conference record (7-2 vs 8-3).
2 DAL wins the tiebreak over PHI on head-to-head (1-0).
3 PHI wins the tiebreak over TB on conference record (4-5 vs 4-6).
4 DET wins the tiebreak over ARI on strength of victory (13-26 vs 7-32).
5 HOU wins the tiebreak over TEN on division record (3-1 vs 2-2).
6 PIT wins the tiebreak over TEN on conference record (6-3 vs 6-4).
7 CLE wins the tiebreak over OAK/IND on conference record (6-4 vs 4-5/5-6).
8 OAK wins the tiebreak over IND on head-to-head.
9 DEN wins the tiebreak over LAC on head-to-head (2-0). DEN wins the tiebreak over NYJ on conference record (5-5 vs 2-7)
10 LAC wins the tiebreak over NYJ on conference record (3-7 vs 2-7).

Clinching Scenarios

NFC

GB clinches a playoff berth with:
         1) GB win + LAR loss/tie
OR 2) GB tie + LAR loss

 

SF clinches a playoff berth with:
         1) SF win/tie
OR 2) LAR loss/tie
OR 3) GB loss + MIN loss

 

SEA clinches a playoff berth with:
         1) SEA win + LAR loss/tie
OR 2) SEA win + MIN loss
OR 3) SEA win + MIN tie + GB loss
OR 4) SEA tie + LAR loss

 

AFC

NE clinches a playoff berth with:
         1) NE win/tie

 

BUF clinches a playoff berth with:
         1) BUF win

 

BAL clinches the AFC North division title with:
         1) BAL win/tie
OR 2) PIT loss/tie

BAL clinches a first-round bye with:
         1) BAL win + NE loss
OR 2) BAL win + KC loss/tie
OR 3) BAL tie + KC loss

BAL clinches home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with:
         1) BAL win + NE loss + KC loss/tie

Elimination Scenarios

NFC

CHI is knocked out of NFC North title contention with:
         1) CHI loss/tie
OR 2) MIN win/tie

CHI is eliminated from playoff contention with:
         1) CHI loss + MIN win/tie
OR 2) CHI loss + LAR win
OR 3) CHI tie + MIN win

 

AFC

PIT is knocked out of AFC North title contention with:
         1) PIT loss/tie
OR 2) BAL win/tie

 

CLE is eliminated from playoff contention with:
         1) CLE loss + PIT win/tie
OR 2) CLE loss + TEN/ HOU tie
OR 3) CLE tie + PIT win

 

IND is knocked out of AFC South title contention with:
         1) IND loss/tie

IND is eliminated from playoff contention with:
         1) IND loss
OR 2) IND tie + PIT win/tie

 

OAK is eliminated from playoff contention with:
         1) OAK loss + PIT win/tie
OR 2) OAK loss + TEN/ HOU tie
OR 3) OAK tie + PIT win
OR 4) OAK tie + TEN/ HOU tie + IND loss + TEN clinches at least a tie in Strength of Victory over OAK*

*TEN clinches at least a tie in SoV with a win or tie by any of the following: KC, TB, GB, MIN, NE, CLE, ATL

DEN is eliminated from playoff contention with:
         1) DEN loss/tie
OR 2) PIT win/tie
OR 3) TEN/ HOU tie

 

Possible Seeds

E simply means the team could still miss the playoffs

DAL:       4     E   (knocked out of wildcard contention)
PHI:       4     E   (knocked out of wildcard contention)
WAS:             E   (eliminated from playoff contention)
NYG:             E   (eliminated from playoff contention)
                   
GB: 1 2 3   5 6 E    
MIN: 1 2 3   5 6 E    
CHI:     3   5 6 E    
DET:             E   (eliminated from playoff contention)
                   
NO: 1 2 3           (clinched division title)
TB:             E   (eliminated from playoff contention)
CAR:             E   (eliminated from playoff contention)
ATL:             E   (eliminated from playoff contention)
                   
SF: 1 2 3   5 6 E    
SEA: 1 2 3   5 6 E    
LAR:         5 6 E   (knocked out of division title contention)
ARI:             E   (eliminated from playoff contention)
                   
NE: 1 2 3 4 5 6 E    
BUF: 1 2 3 4 5 6 E    
NYJ:             E   (eliminated from playoff contention)
MIA:             E   (eliminated from playoff contention)
                   
BAL: 1 2 3 4 5       (clinched playoff berth)
PIT: 1 2 3 4 5 6 E    
CLE:         5 6 E   (knocked out of division title contention)
CIN:             E   (eliminated from playoff contention)
                   
HOU: 1 2 3 4 5 6 E    
TEN: 1 2 3 4 5 6 E    
IND:     3 4   6 E    
JAX:             E   (eliminated from playoff contention)
                   
KC: 1 2 3 4         (clinched division title)
OAK:         5 6 E   (knocked out of division title contention)
DEN:           6 E   (knocked out of division title contention)
LAC:             E   (eliminated from playoff contention)

Team Control

The seed that a team controls is the worst seed that team could get if they win out. These are often mutually exclusive because it is impossible for teams that play each other in future weeks to both win out. If a team changed controlled seed from last week, last week’s seed is noted in parentheses

Teams that control the 1 seed:
SF BAL

Teams that control the 2 seed:
GB(3) SEA NE

Teams that control the 3 seed:
NO(1) KC(4)

Teams that control the 4 seed:
DAL PHI HOU(3) TEN

Teams that control the 5 seed:
BUF

Teams that control the 6 seed:
MIN PIT

Teams that could win out and still miss the playoffs:
WAS NYG CHI DET TB CAR ATL LAR ARI
NYJ MIA CLE CIN IND JAX OAK DEN LAC

Want to discuss the playoff picture? Head to the corresponding reddit posts:
NFC Picture
AFC Picture
Tie-Free Scenarios