Week 18 NFL playoff picture: A visual guide to every possible seed and scenario
Detailed diagrams mapping every possible postseason outcome for every possible 2025 NFL playoff team.
The final week of the 2025 NFL season is here and the playoff picture is mostly settled. Twelve of 14 spots are already claimed. We’re only waiting to see whether the Bucs or Panthers win the NFC South and whether the Steelers or Ravens win the AFC North.
But uncertainty abounds for the rest of the playoff field. Four division titles, both first-round byes and all the first-round matchups will be decided this weekend.
Some scenarios are quite simple. If the Seahawks beat the 49ers, for example, they will be the NFC’s No. 1 seed; if they lose, they will be the No. 5 seed.
But most teams have a much more complicated picture, with their playoff seed depending not just on the outcome of their game but on those of other matchups, too. Particularly in the AFC, the right combination of outcomes could result in rarely used tiebreakers deciding several postseason seeds.
The diagrams below illustrate essentially every possible way the season might end for all potential playoff teams. (We’ve also printed detailed lists for the most complicated scenarios.) As always, if you want to dig deeper, our interactive playoff simulator is live and at your service.
AFC East
Buffalo Bills Bills (11-5)
The Bills are locked into a wild-card berth, but their seeding will depend on their game with the Jets and the outcomes of the Texans, Jaguars and Chargers games.
If the Bills, Texans and Chargers win and the Jaguars lose, all four teams would finish 12-5. The Texans would win the AFC South (and the No. 3 seed), while the three AFC wild-card seeds would be decided by tiebreakers determined on Sunday. Start exploring that possibility here.

Houston Texans Texans (11-5)
Los Angeles Chargers Chargers (11-5)
Chicago Bears Bears (11-5)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers Buccaneers (7-9)
Seattle Seahawks Seahawks (13-3)
Los Angeles Rams Rams (11-5)