Five teams in the AFC have secured playoff berths ahead of Week 17: the Buffalo Bills, Denver Broncos, Jacksonville Jaguars, Los Angeles Chargers, and New England Patriots. The Patriots, with a record of 12-3, will play the New York Jets (3-12) on Sunday at 1 p.m. ET on FOX.
The Patriots can clinch the AFC East division title with either a win and a Buffalo Bills loss or tie, or a tie and a Buffalo loss. The Denver Broncos can secure the AFC West division title and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with several results aligning: a Denver win plus losses or ties by the Chargers, Patriots, Bills, and Jaguars. Alternatively, Denver secures their division with either a win and Chargers loss or tie, or a tie combined with a Chargers loss.
In other AFC matchups, the Jacksonville Jaguars face Indianapolis. Jacksonville can claim the AFC South title with a win and Houston Texans loss or tie, or by tying if Houston loses. Pittsburgh Steelers can clinch the AFC North division by winning or tying against Cleveland, or if Baltimore loses or ties. The Houston Texans will qualify for the playoffs with a win or tie against the Chargers; they also advance if Indianapolis loses or ties. There is an additional scenario involving strength of victory tiebreakers that could allow Houston to clinch.
On the NFC side, five teams have already secured playoff spots: Philadelphia Eagles (who have clinched the NFC East), Chicago Bears, Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, and Seattle Seahawks. Seattle faces Carolina on Sunday and can secure both their division and home-field advantage if they win while both Los Angeles loses or ties and San Francisco-Chicago ends in a tie.
Carolina Panthers could claim their division with a win over Seattle paired with Tampa Bay losing or tying; they also clinch with a tie if Tampa Bay loses. The Chicago Bears face San Francisco Sunday night on NBC; Chicago secures their division title with either a win themselves, Green Bay losing, or both teams tying.
Green Bay Packers play Baltimore Saturday night on Peacock; Green Bay reaches the postseason with either a win/tie themselves or Detroit losing/tieing.
For more details on current playoff standings and scenarios visit the full playoff picture here.
