Standings entering week 16

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

      NFC                                 AFC
1 SEA (11-3)x 1 1 BAL (12-2)y
2 GB (11-3)x 2 2 NE (11-3)x
3 NO (11-3)y 3 KC (10-4)y
4 DAL (7-7)3 4 HOU (9-5)
5 SF (11-3)x 5 BUF (10-4)x
6 MIN (10-4) 6 PIT (8-6)k 8
7 LAR (8-6)k 7 TEN (8-6)
8 CHI (7-7)ke 4 8 CLE (6-8)k 9
9 PHI (7-7)5 9 OAK (6-8)k 10
10 TB (7-7)ke 10 IND (6-8)ke
11 ATL (5-9)ke 6 11 JAX (5-9)ke 11
12 CAR (5-9)ke 12 DEN (5-9)ke 12
13 ARI (4-9-1)ke 13 LAC (5-9)ke 13
14 DET (3-10-1)ke 14 NYJ (5-9)ke
15 NYG (3-11)ke 7 15 MIA (3-11)ke
16 WAS (3-11)ke 16 CIN (1-13)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 SEA wins the tiebreak over SF on head-to-head (1-0). NO drops out of the tiebreak with SEA/GB on conference record (8-3 vs 8-2/8-2). SEA wins the tiebreak over GB on common games (4-0 vs 2-2).
2 GB wins the tiebreak over NO on conference record (8-2 vs 8-3).
3 DAL wins the tiebreak over PHI on head-to-head (1-0).
4 CHI wins the tiebreak over PHI/TB on conference record (6-5 vs 5-5/5-6).
5 PHI wins the tiebreak over TB on conference record (5-5 vs 5-6).
6 ATL wins the tibreak over CAR on head-to-head (2-0).
7 NYG wins the tiebreak over WAS on head-to-head (1-0).
8 PIT wins the tiebreak over TEN on conference record (6-4 vs 6-5).
9 CLE wins the tiebreak over IND/OAK on conference record (6-4 vs 4-6/5-6).
10 OAK wins the tiebreak over IND on head-to-head.
11 DEN wins the tiebreak over LAC on head-to-head (2-0). JAX wins the tiebreak with DEN/NYJ on head-to-head sweep.
12 DEN wins the tiebreak over LAC on head-to-head (2-0). DEN wins the tiebreak over NYJ on conference record (5-6 vs 2-8).
13 LAC wins the tiebreak over NYJ on conference record (3-7 vs 2-8).

Clinching Scenarios

NFC

DAL clinches the NFC East division title with:
         1) DAL win

 

GB clinches the NFC North division title with:
         1) GB win/tie

 

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

 

AFC

NE clinches the AFC East division title with:
         1) NE win/tie

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

 

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

BAL clinches home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with:
         1) BAL win
OR 2) BAL tie + NE loss/tie
OR 3) NE loss + KC loss/tie

 

HOU clinches the AFC South division title with:
         1) HOU win
OR 2) HOU tie + TEN tie
OR 3) TEN loss

HOU clinches a playoff berth with:
         1) HOU tie + PIT tie
OR 2) PIT loss

Elimination Scenarios

NFC

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

 

PHI is eliminated from NFC East title contention AND playoff contention with:
         1) PHI loss

 

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

 

AFC

BUF is knocked out of AFC East title contention with:
         1) BUF loss/tie

 

TEN is knocked out of AFC South title contention with:
         1) TEN loss
OR 2) TEN tie + HOU tie
OR 3) HOU win

 

CLE is eliminated from playoff contention with:
         1) CLE loss/tie
OR 2) PIT win/tie
OR 3) TEN win/tie
OR 4) IND loss/tie

 

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

Teams that control the 3 seed:
NO KC

Teams that control the 4 seed:
DAL PHI HOU

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:
NYG WAS CHI DET TB ATL CAR LAR ARI
NYJ MIA CLE CIN TEN(4) IND JAX OAK DEN LAC

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