What 14 teams are positioned to make the NFL playoffs in the 2025 regular season, from the eight division winners to six total wild cards? What would the seeding look like in the race for Super Bowl 60?
Here are those answers in Sporting News’ latest look at how the postseason field is coming together in both conferences after Week 11
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1. Denver Broncos 9-2 (first place, AFC West)
The Broncos, in the division, are now up two games on the losing Chargers and three games up on the losing Chiefs after beating the Chiefs in Denver on Sunday. They also got this spot over the winning Patriots with a better conference record (6-2 vs. 5-2).
2. New England Patriots 9-2 (first place, AFC East)
The Patriots won their eighth straight game, beating the division rival Jets at home on Thursday night. They kept their division lead at two games over the winning Bills and kept pace with the Broncos.
3. Indianapolis Colts 8-2 (first place, AFC South)
The Colts, on a Week 11 bye before playing the Chiefs in Kansas City next Sunday, dropped here with the Patriots and Broncos winning to jump them by a half-game each. They have a 6-1 conference record and have also beaten the Broncos to help their chances for the top seed in Week 12 and beyond.
4. Pittsburgh Steelers 6-4 (first place, AFC North)
The Steelers still lead their division by a game over the winning Ravens and three games over the Bengals. Pittsburgh beat Cincinnati in Week 11 and kept this spot with a win.
5. Buffalo Bills 7-3 (second place, AFC East)
The Bills remain two games behind the Patriots, who beat the Jets on Thursday night, after answering with a big home win over the Buccaneers at home on Sunday. But they jumped the losing Chargers for this top wild-card spot by a half-game.
6. Los Angeles Chargers 7-4 (second place, AFC West)
The Chargers suffered a difficult defeat on the road in Jacksonville, keeping them from moving up in the division to keep pace with the winning Broncos, falling two games behind. They also dropped behind the Bills with the loss to the Jaguars.
7. Jacksonville Jaguars 6-4 (second place, AFC South)
The Jaguars are in this spot because they hold a one-game lead plus a head-to-head tiebreaker over the Chiefs, as they beat them at home in Week 4. They beat the Chargers to stay ahead of the Chiefs and should be less worried about the Texans and Ravens, now right behind them, too.
8. Houston Texans (5-5)
9. Kansas City Chiefs (5-5)
10. Baltimore Ravens (4-5)
11. Miami Dolphins (4-7)
12. Cincinnati Bengals (3-7)
The Chiefs fell three games out of first place and a full game out of a wild-card spot by losing at Denver. They also for now lose the conference-record tiebreaker to the Texans (4-2 vs. 2-4). They did, however, beat the Ravens earlier. The wild-card is looking more like the only playoff outlet for Kansas City and that path isn’t easy.
13. Las Vegas Raiders (2-8)
14. New York Jets (2-8)
15. Cleveland Browns (2-8)
16. Tennessee Titans (1-9)
The Raiders, Jets and Browns all lost in Week 11, but the Titans also lost to maintain the AFC cellar by themselves.
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1. Philadelphia Eagles 8-2 (first place, NFC East)
The Eagles came through to beat the Lions with dominant defense on Sunday night to jump back into this spot over the same-record winning Rams, thanks to beating that team at home in Week 3.
2. Los Angeles Rams 8-2 (first place, NFC West)
The Rams, after outlasting the Seahawks at home on Sunday afternoon, lead the division by a full game and head-to-head tiebreaker. They are only a tiebreaker behind the Eagles for No. 1 and a game ahead of the new NFC North leaders.
3. Chicago Bears 7-3 (first place, NFC North)
The Bears jumped the Lions into this spot going into Week 12 by beating the division rival Vikings in Minnesota on Sunday in late comeback fashion while the Lions lost. The Bears lead the new second-place Packers by a half-game.
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers 6-4 (first place, NFC South)
The Buccaneers lead the .500 Panthers by only a half-game now as they work to win their fifth consecutive division title. They failed a tough test to put them in more precarious position in the quest for a fifth consecutive division title, losing to the Bills in Buffalo.
5. Seattle Seahawks 7-3 (second place, NFC West)
The Seahawks fell here after not being able to finish off the Rams with field goals in Los Angeles. They are a full game out plus that tiebreaker. They also lost ground to the winning 49ers, now only a half-game behind them.
6. Green Bay Packers 6-3-1 (second place, NFC North)
The Packers ended their two-game losing streak with Jordan Love rallying the offense to a late victory over the Giants despite losing running back Josh Jacobs to a knee injury. That kept them in a solid playoff position ahead of the Lions, 49ers and other wild-card hopefuls behind them.
7. San Francisco 49ers 7-4 (third place, NFC West)
The 49ers got a huge boost to their offense with Brock Purdy returning for his hometown game at Arizona and the reward was jumping back into playoff position with the Lions losing on Sunday night. Now they’re looking at jumping the Seahawks next.
8. Detroit Lions 6-4
9. Carolina Panthers 6-5
10. Dallas Cowboys 4-5-1
11. Minnesota Vikings 4-6
12. Arizona Cardinals 3-7
13. Atlanta Falcons 3-7
14. Washington Commanders 3-8
The Lions dropped from first place and No. 3 and all the way down here with the Bears, Packers and 49ers all winning. The Panthers have a real shot of stealing the NFC South from the Buccaneers. The Vikings keep hurting their chances to make a late playoff run in the loaded NFC North. The Cowboys are still a long shot for a wild card. The Cardinals, Falcons and Commanders are just about done after their latest losses.
15. New Orleans Saints 2-8
16. New York Giants 2-9
The Saints and Giants are right there in the running for the No. 1 overall draft pick in 2026 with the Jets and Titans.
Vinnie Iyer has been with The Sporting News since 1999, not long after graduating from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. He has produced NFL content for more than 20 years, turning his attention to full-time writing in 2007. Vinnie covers every aspect of the NFL for TSN including draft prospects analysis, gambling and fantasy football. He also represents TSN as host of the “Locked On Fantasy Football” podcast on the Locked On network.