NFL Playoff Picture
If the 2026 season ended today, after Week 7: the 7 seeds in each conference, the Wild Card round matchups, and every team still in the hunt.
AFC playoff picture
AFC seeds
- 1 Kansas City Chiefs AFC West leader, first-round bye 5-0
- 2 Buffalo Bills AFC East leader 5-1
- 3 Jacksonville Jaguars AFC South leader 4-2
- 4 Cleveland Browns AFC North leader 4-2
- 5 Baltimore Ravens Wild card 4-2
- 6 Denver Broncos Wild card 4-2
- 7 Pittsburgh Steelers Wild card 4-2
AFC Wild Card round, if it ended today
- (7) Steelers at (2) Bills
- (6) Broncos at (3) Jaguars
- (5) Ravens at (4) Browns
- The Chiefs (1) get the bye and host the lowest seed left in the Divisional round.
In the hunt
- Cincinnati Bengals 0.5 games back 3-2
- New England Patriots 0.5 games back 4-3
- Las Vegas Raiders 1 game back 3-3
- Indianapolis Colts 2 games back 2-4
- New York Jets 2 games back 2-4
- Houston Texans 2 games back 2-4
- Tennessee Titans 3 games back 1-5
- Los Angeles Chargers 4 games back 0-6
- Miami Dolphins 3.5 games back 0-5
NFC playoff picture
NFC seeds
- 1 San Francisco 49ers NFC West leader, first-round bye 6-0
- 2 Minnesota Vikings NFC North leader 5-0
- 3 Carolina Panthers NFC South leader 3-2
- 4 New York Giants NFC East leader 3-2-1
- 5 Chicago Bears Wild card 5-2
- 6 Green Bay Packers Wild card 4-2
- 7 Detroit Lions Wild card 3-2
NFC Wild Card round, if it ended today
- (7) Lions at (2) Vikings
- (6) Packers at (3) Panthers
- (5) Bears at (4) Giants
- The 49ers (1) get the bye and host the lowest seed left in the Divisional round.
In the hunt
- Seattle Seahawks 0.5 games back 3-3
- Atlanta Falcons 1.5 games back 2-4
- Arizona Cardinals 1.5 games back 2-4
- Los Angeles Rams 1.5 games back 2-4
- Dallas Cowboys 1.5 games back 2-4
- New Orleans Saints 1.5 games back 2-4
- Philadelphia Eagles 1.5 games back 2-4
- Washington Commanders 2 games back 1-4-1
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers 2.5 games back 1-5
How the NFL playoffs work
Fourteen teams make the playoffs, 7 from the AFC and 7 from the NFC. The 4 division winners in each conference are seeds 1 through 4, by record. The 3 best teams left are the wild cards, seeds 5 through 7. Only the 1 seed gets a bye. In the Wild Card round, 2 hosts 7, 3 hosts 6, and 4 hosts 5. Division winners always host, even with a worse record than the wild card they play.
Teams with the same record are separated by their games against each other, then division record (inside a division), then conference record, then point differential. The NFL's full tiebreaker list goes further than that, so a close tie can come out differently on the NFL's site.
A mark means it's settled for good: x clinched a playoff spot, y clinched the division, z clinched the 1 seed, e eliminated. Marks only show once no result left can change them.
More: full NFL standings, NFL Week 7 predictions, Week 7 picks, Buck's power rankings.
How past seasons finished: 2025 final standings, 2024 final standings, 2023 final standings, 2022 final standings, 2021 final standings.
Schedule and scores: nflverse. Picks: the Sim, Hizzle's own model. Power rankings: Buck Kincaid. Times are Central. Not affiliated with the NFL.