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- The AFC North and AFC South now have outright leaders in first place.
- The New England Patriots and Chicago Bears currently hold the top seeds in the AFC and NFC, respectively.
- Several teams, including the Houston Texans and Detroit Lions, remain in the hunt for a postseason berth.
Every week for the duration of the 2025 regular season, USA TODAY Sports will provide timely updates to the NFL’s ever-evolving playoff picture − typically starting Sunday afternoon and then moving forward for the remainder of the week (through Monday’s and Thursday’s games or Saturday’s, if applicable. And, when the holidays roll around, we’ll be watching then, too).
What just happened? What does it mean? What are the pertinent factors (and, perhaps, tiebreakers) prominently in play as each conference’s seven-team bracket begins to crystallize? All will be explained and analyzed up to the point when the postseason field is finalized on Sunday, Jan. 4.
Here’s where things stand with Week 14 underway:
1. New England Patriots (11-2), AFC East leaders: The first team in the league to 11 wins thanks to Monday night’s rollover of the Giants, the Pats are in a very tight race with Denver, the teams’ airtight tiebreakers set to take effect once the Broncos play their 13th game Sunday. Remaining schedule: BYE, vs. Bills, at Ravens, at Jets, vs. Dolphins
2. Denver Broncos (10-2), AFC West leaders: Beat Las Vegas on Sunday, and the Broncos will overtake the Patriots by virtue of a conference record (7-2) that would be a half-game better. Remaining schedule: at Raiders, vs. Packers, vs. Jaguars, at Chiefs, vs. Chargers
3. Jacksonville Jaguars (9-4), AFC South leaders: They claimed first place outright by smashing the depleted Colts on Sunday in Duval County. Slide back later, and victories over the Chiefs and Chargers could serve them well when it’s time to sort out tiebreakers. Remaining schedule: vs. Jets, at Broncos, vs. Colts, at Titans
4. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-6), AFC North leaders: They jumped up nine spots, from out of the field, back into the division lead by winning at Baltimore on Sunday. Remaining schedule: vs. Dolphins, at Lions, at Browns, vs. Ravens
5. Buffalo Bills (9-4), wild card No. 1: Massive win over Cincinnati solidifies their playoff standing heading into a notable showdown at Foxborough in Week 15 to face the AFC East-leading Pats. Remaining schedule: at Patriots, at Browns, vs. Eagles, vs. Jets
6. Los Angeles Chargers (8-4), wild card No. 2: Facing the NFC’s Eagles on Monday night basically won’t serve them well in tiebreaker department even if Bolts win. Remaining schedule: vs. Eagles, at Chiefs, at Cowboys, vs. Texans, at Broncos
7. Indianapolis Colts (8-5), wild card No. 3: They’ve dropped four of their past five and lost QB Daniel Jones to an Achilles injury Sunday in Jacksonville. A Houston win Sunday night drops Indy from the projected field entirely. And the schedule doesn’t let up the rest of the way. Remaining schedule: at Seahawks, vs. 49ers, vs. Jaguars, at Texans
8. Houston Texans (7-5), in the hunt: They’ve won five of six, including four in a row. Win in Kansas City on Sunday night, and Houston moves into a wild-card slot. Remaining schedule: at Chiefs, vs. Cardinals, vs. Raiders, at Chargers, vs. Colts
9. Kansas City Chiefs (6-6), in the hunt: Not only will they almost certainly not win the AFC West for the first time since 2015, they could miss the postseason for the first time since 2014 − Andy Reid’s second year in K.C. And don’t forget they’ve lost to the Broncos, Chargers, Bills and Jags, who are all ahead of them. If the Texans also secure a head-to-head win, K.C. is virtually cooked. Remaining schedule: vs. Texans, vs. Chargers, at Titans, vs. Broncos, at Raiders
10. Baltimore Ravens (6-7), in the hunt: Consecutive losses − and to AFC North foes (Bengals, Steelers) − has them on the outside looking in. A win at Miami keeps them out of 11th place. Remaining schedule: at Bengals, vs. Patriots, at Packers, at Steelers
11. Miami Dolphins (6-7), in the hunt: They probably need to win the remainder of their games to even have a shot at postseason qualification but notched another one Sunday in New York. Remaining schedule: at Steelers, vs. Bengals, vs. Buccaneers, at Patriots
12. Cincinnati Bengals (4-9), in the hunt: They basically need to win the remainder of their games to even have a shot at postseason qualification … though they probably have a better one than Miami by virtue of living in this year’s surprisingly subpar AFC North. Remaining schedule: vs. Ravens, at Dolphins, vs. Cardinals, vs. Browns
1. Seattle Seahawks (10-3), NFC West leaders: Sunday’s rout of Falcons moves them atop the conference … for now. A Rams win at Arizona will push Seattle back to the wild-card echelon. All three of the ‘Hawks’ losses are against NFC opponents, including two in the division − defeats that won’t serve them well in the tiebreaker department. Remaining schedule: vs. Colts, vs. Rams, at Panthers, at 49ers
2. Chicago Bears (9-3), NFC North leaders: With back-to-back victories over winning adversaries, the Bears have now rocketed near the top of the conference. But first place in the division and perhaps conference will be on the line Sunday at Lambeau Field. Remaining schedule: at Packers, vs. Browns, vs. Packers, at 49ers, vs. Lions
3. Philadelphia Eagles (8-4), NFC East leaders: Two losses in a row not only mean a lot more scrutiny but − beware − a team that could still fall into the Cowboys’ clutches in the division if it’s not careful. Remaining schedule: at Chargers, vs. Raiders, at Commanders, at Bills, vs. Commanders
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-6), NFC South leaders: They remain in first place despite a damaging loss to New Orleans. The Bucs currently have a one-game lead over Carolina in the common-games tiebreaker department. Remaining schedule: vs. Falcons, at Panthers, at Dolphins, vs. Panthers
5. Los Angeles Rams (9-3), wild card No. 1: The Panthers snapped their NFC-high six-game winning streak in rainy Charlotte a week ago, a loss that dropped LA out of the conference’s top spot. But the Rams can reclaim it this weekend with a win at Arizona and some help. Remaining schedule: at Cardinals, vs. Lions, at Seahawks, at Falcons, vs. Cardinals
6. Green Bay Packers (8-3-1), wild card No. 2: They merely maintained their standing (for now) with their Thanksgiving win at Detroit. A thin margin for the Pack to be sure … yet they remain just a half-game off the NFC North lead, too − and can rise to the top by beating Chicago on Sunday. Remaining schedule: vs. Bears, at Broncos, at Bears, vs. Ravens, at Vikings
7. San Francisco 49ers (9-4), wild card No. 3: They still have a one-game lead on Detroit, yet are just behind the Rams and Seahawks for the NFC West lead. Off this weekend, the Niners are in no danger of vacating the field. Remaining schedule: BYE, vs. Titans, at Colts, vs. Bears, vs. Seahawks
8. Detroit Lions (8-5), in the hunt: Huge win over Dallas on Thursday night. It brought the Lions within a game of the NFC’s final wild card and should help them in the division standings given either the Packers or Bears will lose Sunday. Remaining schedule: at Rams, vs. Steelers, at Vikings, at Bears
9. Carolina Panthers (7-6), in the hunt: Though Carolina is off this week, the Panthers basically pulled even atop the NFC South. Remaining schedule: BYE, at Saints, vs. Buccaneers, vs. Seahawks, at Buccaneers
10. Dallas Cowboys (6-6-1), in the hunt: Crippling loss Thursday in Motown. Dallas’ best bet now is probably to hope the Eagles continue to struggle and leave the NFC East in play. Remaining schedule: vs. Vikings, vs. Chargers, at Commanders, at Giants
▶ New York Giants
▶ Arizona Cardinals
▶ New Orleans Saints
▶ Tennessee Titans
▶ Las Vegas Raiders
▶ Washington Commanders
▶ Atlanta Falcons
▶ New York Jets
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