Week 17 Playoff Scenarios

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Photo Cred: USA Today
NEW YORK — Dec. 23, 2025

AFC

CLINCHED:

Buffalo Bills (11-4) – playoff berth

Denver Broncos (12-3) – playoff berth

Jacksonville Jaguars (11-4) – playoff berth

Los Angeles Chargers (11-4) – playoff berth

New England Patriots (12-3) – playoff berth

Denver Broncos (12-3) at Kansas City (6-9); Thursday night, 8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video

Denver clinches AFC West division title and the AFC’s No. 1 seed, lone first-round bye and home-field advantage with:

  1. DEN win + LAC loss or tie + NE loss + BUF loss or tie + JAX loss or tie

Denver clinches AFC West division title with:

  1. DEN win + LAC loss or tie OR
  2. DEN tie + LAC loss

Jacksonville Jaguars (11-4) at Indianapolis (8-7); Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, FOX

Jacksonville clinches AFC South division title with:

  1. JAX win + HOU loss or tie OR
  2. JAX tie + HOU loss

New England Patriots (12-3) at New York Jets (3-12); Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, FOX

New England clinches AFC East division title with:

  1. NE win + BUF loss or tie OR
  2. NE tie + BUF loss

Pittsburgh Steelers (9-6) at Cleveland (3-12); Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS

Pittsburgh clinches AFC North division title with:

  1. PIT win or tie OR
  2. BAL loss or tie

Houston Texans (10-5) at Los Angeles Chargers (11-4); Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET, NFL Network

Houston clinches playoff berth with:

  1. HOU win or tie OR
  2. IND loss or tie OR
  3. HOU clinches at least a tie in strength of victory tiebreaker over IND

*Note: HOU needs the following to happen to clinch a tie in strength of victory with IND:

BAL win + BUF win + KC win + SF win + ATL loss + MIA loss

NFC

 

CLINCHED:

Philadelphia Eagles (10-5) – NFC East

Chicago Bears (11-4) – playoff berth

Los Angeles Rams (11-4) – playoff berth

San Francisco 49ers (11-4) – playoff berth

Seattle Seahawks (12-3) – playoff berth

Seattle Seahawks (12-3) at Carolina (8-7); Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS

Seattle clinches NFC West division title and the NFC’s No. 1 seed, lone first-round bye and home-field advantage with:

  1. SEA win + LAR loss or tie + SF-CHI tie

Seattle clinches NFC West division title with:

  1. SEA win + LAR loss or tie + SF loss or tie OR
  2. SEA tie + LAR loss + SF loss

Carolina Panthers (8-7) vs. Seattle (12-3); Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS

Carolina clinches NFC South division title with:

  1. CAR win + TB loss or tie OR
  2. CAR tie + TB loss

 

Chicago Bears (11-4) at San Francisco (11-4); Sunday night, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC

Chicago clinches NFC North division title with:

  1. CHI win OR
  2. GB loss OR
  3. CHI tie + GB tie

Green Bay Packers (9-5-1) vs. Baltimore (7-8); Saturday night, 8 p.m. ET, Peacock

Green Bay clinches playoff berth with:

  1. GB win or tie OR
  2. DET loss or tie

Media Contact: Sam Drexler, NFL; Sam.Drexler@NFL.com

For more from NFL Communications, visit  media.nfl.com

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