• The Ravens control the No. 3 seed: Baltimore just needs to win (or tie) against the Cleveland Browns. If the Ravens lose, they must hope the Pittsburgh Steelers lose against the Cincinnati Bengals.
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers — No. 3, No. 4 or out: The Buccaneers would claim the No. 4 seed with a win against the New Orleans Saints. If they lose, they need to hope the Falcons lose against the Carolina Panthers because Atlanta holds the head-to-head tiebreaker.
• Unlock your edge with a PFF+ subscription: Get full access to all our in-season fantasy tools, including weekly rankings, WR/CB matchup charts, weekly projections, the Start-Sit Optimizer and more. Sign up now!
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
The final dominoes of the regular season are set to fall this weekend, with playoff spots, seeding and even the first overall pick still up for grabs. Here's everything you need to know about what your team needs to clinch a favorable position heading into the postseason.
AFC
Kansas City Chiefs: No. 1
The Chiefs are locked into the No. 1 seed.
Buffalo Bills: No. 2
The Bills are locked into the No. 2 seed.
Baltimore Ravens: No. 3 or No. 5
The Ravens control the No. 3 seed; they just need to win (or tie) against the Cleveland Browns.
If they lose, they must hope that the Pittsburgh Steelers lose against the Cincinnati Bengals. If the Ravens lose and the Steelers win, the Ravens are locked into the No. 5 seed, as they own the tiebreaker against the Los Angeles Chargers because of their head-to-head win.
Houston Texans: No. 4
The Texans are locked into the No. 4 seed.
Pittsburgh Steelers: No. 3, No. 5 or No. 6
The Steelers need the Ravens to lose. If that happens, Pittsburgh can win the AFC North and the No. 3 seed with a win against the Cincinnati Bengals. In that case, the Steelers would win the division via the division-record tiebreaker.
But even if the Ravens win and put the division out of reach, the Steelers should try to win against the Bengals to secure the No. 5 seed, which they would win over the Los Angeles Chargers via the head-to-head tiebreaker.
If the Steelers lose and the Chargers win, the Steelers will fall to No. 6 seed.
Los Angeles Chargers: No. 5 or No. 6
The Chargers are guaranteed to get the No. 6 seed, at least, since they own the tiebreaker over the Denver Broncos via a head-to-head sweep. They can get the No. 5 seed if they win and the Steelers lose (or tie).
Denver Broncos: No. 7 or out
The Denver Broncos control the No. 7 seed with a win. Any higher seed is out of range. If they lose, they would need to hope that both the Dolphins and Bengals lose, as the Broncos would lose any tie with those teams either due to their worse conference record or via the head-to-head loss against the Broncos.
Miami Dolphins: No. 7 or out
The Miami Dolphins would win any tie for the No. 7 seed because of their better conference record. That’s why they “only” need to win and hope the Broncos lose.
They don’t have to worry about the Cincinnati Bengals.
Cincinnati Bengals: No. 7 or out
The Bengals need both the Dolphins and Broncos to lose and also take care of business against the Steelers on Saturday. In that case, they would end up in a two-way tie with the Broncos, which they would win because of their head-to-head win from last week.
NFC
Detroit Lions/Minnesota Vikings: No. 1 or No. 5
The winner of Sunday Night Football earns the No. 1 seed. The loser is locked into the No. 5 seed. If the two teams tie, the Lions would get the No. 1 seed, as they won the first head-to-head matchup.
Philadelphia Eagles: No. 2
The Eagles are locked into the No. 2 seed.
Los Angeles Rams: No. 3 or No. 4
The Rams would control the No. 3 seed with a win against the Seattle Seahawks. If they lose and the Buccaneers win, the Rams would fall back to the No. 4 seed, as Tampa Bay owns the better conference record.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers: No. 3, No. 4 or out
The Buccaneers would claim the No. 4 seed with a win against the New Orleans Saints. If they lose, they need to hope the Falcons lose against the Carolina Panthers because Atlanta holds the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Washington Commanders: No. 6 or No. 7
The Commanders would claim the No. 6 seed with a win against the Dallas Cowboys, as they would have a better conference record than the Green Bay Packers. Should the Commanders lose, they would fall back to the No. 7 seed if the Packers win (or tie).
Green Bay Packers: No. 6 or No. 7
The Packers have already clinched the playoffs and are currently at the No. 7 seed. They could get the No. 6 seed with a win against the Chicago Bears if the Commanders lose.
Atlanta Falcons: No. 4 or out
The Falcons are out of wild-card contention, but they could win the NFC South with a win against the Carolina Panthers if the Buccaneers lose. In that case, they would win the tiebreaker because of the head-to-head sweep.
The race for the First overall pick
The New England Patriots, Tennessee Titans, Cleveland Browns and New York Giants can still get the first overall pick.
If the Patriots lose, they clinch the first overall pick.
If the Patriots win, the Titans would be next in line and get the first overall pick with a loss.
If both of these teams win, the Browns would get the first overall pick with a loss.
If all of these three teams win, the Giants could get the first overall pick with a loss.
The Patriots would get the first overall pick if all four teams win.
© 2025 PFF - all rights reserved.