The topsy-turvy 2025 NFL regular season comes to an end Sunday and will do so in dramatic fashion.
Divisional crowns remain up for grabs. The top seed of the AFC, which comes along with a highly coveted first-round bye and home-field advantage, also comes down to today’s contests.
This weekend also could represent the final opportunities for the leading MVP and coach-of-the-year candidates to make an argument for their worthiness of these honors.
The action kicked off Saturday in Tampa, Fla., where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Carolina Panthers, which means the NFC South winner will be determined by the result of a game between the Atlanta Falcons and New Orleans Saints. Saturday night, the Seattle Seahawks beat the San Francisco 49ers 13-3, giving the Seahawks the NFC West title and the conference’s No. 1 seed. Sunday’s slate features 14 games, including a grand finale between the Baltimore Ravens at the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Here are five of the most compelling storylines to follow in Week 18.
The AFC top seed
It’s only fitting that the season that saw the perennial AFC power Kansas City Chiefs experience their fall also features the AFC’s most wide-open race for first place that we have seen in the last decade. Week 18 kicks off with three teams in contention for the top seed. None of those three are the Buffalo Bills or Baltimore Ravens — the two teams that have most consistently challenged the Chiefs for supremacy the last seven years.
The Denver Broncos, New England Patriots and Jacksonville Jaguars instead lead the way and hope that fortunes unfold in their favor. The Broncos (13-3) have the clearest path to the top seed. Defeat a short-handed Los Angeles Chargers team (coach Jim Harbaugh has decided to rest key veterans, including quarterback Justin Herbert, for the playoffs), and the top seed is theirs. New England (also 13-3 and winner of the AFC East) needs a win over the Miami Dolphins and a Denver loss to clinch the top spot. Jacksonville (12-4) will take the conference’s No. 1 seed with a victory over the Tennessee Titans and with losses by Denver and New England.
The Broncos are not resting their starters, so chances seem extremely high that Sunday concludes with Denver earning the AFC’s top seed for the first time since 2015.
Titans at Jaguars, 1 p.m. (ET), Sunday, Fox; Chargers at Broncos, 4:25 p.m. (ET), Sunday, CBS; Dolphins at Patriots, 4:25 p.m. (ET), Sunday, Fox
AFC South title
The Jaguars enter Sunday with multiple goals. In addition to an outside shot at the AFC’s top seed, they have a very strong chance of winning their first AFC South title in three seasons. Dispatching the three-win Titans would translate into a 5-1 record in the division and a clinching of first place. Pulling off this feat would represent a massive accomplishment for the Jaguars, who, after going 4-13 last season, underwent a franchise overhaul. First-year coach Liam Coen and rookie general manager James Gladstone have infused the franchise with life, leading the Jaguars to a win total that matches their highest since a 14-2 campaign in 1999.
But the Jaguars (winners of seven straight) can’t afford to take the Titans lightly. On Jacksonville’s heels are the Houston Texans, who have won eight straight and could take the AFC South with a win over the Indianapolis Colts and a Jacksonville loss to Tennessee. The Texans, who have won the division the last two seasons, overcame an 0-3 start, haven’t lost since Nov. 2 and already clinched a playoff spot for the third consecutive season — the longest streak in franchise history.
Titans at Jaguars, 1 p.m. (ET), Sunday, Fox; Colts at Texans, 1 p.m. (ET), Sunday, CBS
Liam Coen and the Jaguars can win the AFC South on Sunday. (Rich Storry / Getty Images)
No. 1 pick/draft order
The Las Vegas Raiders took a big step toward securing the No. 1 pick in the draft when they got blown out by the New York Giants in last week’s meeting between two-win teams. Now, the Raiders can seal the deal with a loss to the Chiefs. And so will end a sorely disappointing season, which began with Pete Carroll and his new team posting a 20-13 win over the New England Patriots before the Raiders lost 14 of their next 15 and posted their 15th double-digit loss season in the last 23 years.
Four other teams — the Giants, Arizona Cardinals, New York Jets and Titans — all enter this weekend with 3-13 records, so the outcomes of their games will go a long way toward determining the initial order of the 2026 draft. But because of strength-of-schedule tiebreakers, only the Raiders and Giants remain in the hunt for the No. 1 pick.
Cowboys at Giants 1 p.m. (ET), Sunday, Fox; Chiefs at Raiders, 4:25 p.m. (ET), Sunday, CBS
Final showcase opportunities
In addition to bringing clarity to playoff seeding, Sunday’s heroics could help certain players cement their cases for some of the most prestigious individual awards of the season. The MVP race has seemed like a neck-and-neck contest between Drake Maye and Matthew Stafford for much of the second half of the season. But the Patriots’ young quarterback may have pulled ahead of the Los Angeles Rams’ Stafford with his comeback performance against Baltimore in Week 16, the division-clinching, five-touchdown day against the Jets in Week 17 AND Stafford and the Rams’ fizzle against the Atlanta Falcons last week.
San Francisco’s do-everything running back Christian McCaffrey probably should be in the MVP discussion with the way that he has racked up 2,126 all-purpose yards (1,202 rushing, 924 receiving) and 17 touchdowns (10 rushing, seven receiving) to keep San Francisco’s offense afloat despite the various stretches in which Brock Purdy missed time with injury, Brandon Aiyuk sidelined all season and other weapons also hobbled off and on. But the voters rarely allow themselves to think outside of the quarterback box. So, McCaffrey likely is lining himself up for Offensive Player of the Year.
Coach of the Year is another tough call with New England’s Mike Vrabel deserving strong consideration given his franchise’s dramatic turnaround in his first season. But San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan also has done a remarkable job despite a rash of injuries that would have crushed most teams. Perhaps we’ll come away from this weekend with a better feel for this honor, as well as the Defensive Player of the Year — with the Cleveland Browns’ Myles Garrett the heavy favorite as he pursues the NFL’s sack record — and Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year.
Black Monday
One of the most dreaded days of the NFL calendar looms large. Soon after the completion of this weekend’s contests, owners of some teams that have endured disappointing campaigns will spring into action and cut ties with shortcoming coaches and/or general managers.
The Giants and Titans must make decisions on interim coaches Mike Kafka and Mike McCoy after the in-season firings of Brian Daboll and Brian Callahan. (Wild that a pair of Mikes replaced a pair of Brians.) Other teams are certain to join the Titans and Giants this offseason.
Will Carroll get a second chance with the Raiders posted the worst record in the league? Will Todd Bowles return to Tampa Bay despite a stunning second-half collapse? Will the Browns move on from Kevin Stefanski after another double-digit loss season? Will Arizona move on from Jonathan Gannon after a third straight playoff miss? Will the loser of the Baltimore-Pittsburgh showdown (John Harbaugh or Mike Tomlin) wind up parting ways with his team despite immense respect around the league and lengthy tenures that include a Super Bowl victory?
