NFL Playoff Scenarios 2018: Week 17 AFC, NFC Postseason Picture

The NFL playoff-scenario list can sometimes be a mile long, but thankfully, it's fairly straightforward for the 2017 season.

We'll take a look at the postseason picture in each conference—with some help from this handy guide via NFL senior director of communications Randall Liu—breaking it down team by team.

AFC Standings

Division Leaders

1. New England Patriots: 12-3

2. Pittsburgh Steelers: 12-3

3. Jacksonville Jaguars: 10-5

4. Kansas City Chiefs: 9-6

Wild Card

5. Baltimore Ravens: 9-6

6. Tennessee Titans: 8-7

In the Hunt

7. Los Angeles Chargers: 8-7

8. Buffalo Bills: 8-7

AFC Team-by-Team Postseason Picture

New England Patriots and Pittsburgh Steelers

The New England Patriots will be the AFC's No. 1 seed with a win over the New York Jets or a Pittsburgh Steelers loss to the Cleveland Browns. If the Pats lose and the Steelers win, then Pittsburgh would leapfrog New England into the No. 1 spot.

Considering OddsShark lists the Pats and Steelers as 15.5-point and 10.5-point favorites, respectively, it seems like the Pats will be No. 1 and the Steelers No. 2 with matching 13-3 records heading into the postseason. New England gets the edge over Pittsburgh thanks to its 27-24 Week 15 victory.

Jacksonville Jaguars and Kansas City Chiefs

The Jacksonville Jaguars and Kansas City Chiefs are locked into the AFC's respective No. 3 and No. 4 seeds and will host wild-card games either on January 6 or 7.

Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens will clinch the fifth seed with a win over the Cincinnati Bengals Sunday. If that is the case, they will travel to play the Kansas City Chiefs in the Wild Card Round.

The only way they can miss the playoffs is if they lose, the Tennessee Titans beat the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Buffalo Bills defeat the Miami Dolphins.

Baltimore will be the sixth seed if it loses, the Titans win and the Bills lose. In that scenario, the Ravens would head south to face the Jaguars.

Tennessee Titans

The Titans will make the playoffs with a win over the Jaguars. They can still make the postseason with a loss but would need the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers to fall as well. If the Titans win and the Ravens lose, they'll be the fifth seed and play Kansas City. A No. 6 seed means a rematch with Jacksonville.

If they lose and either the Chargers or Bills win, then the Titans would miss the playoffs.

Los Angeles Chargers and Buffalo Bills

Both teams need a win and some help to make the playoffs.

Los Angeles is in with a win, a Ravens win and a Titans loss. They cannot go higher than a sixth seed, so if the Chargers make the playoffs, they would go to Jacksonville in the Wild Card Round.

If the Bills defeat the Miami Dolphins, they need the Titans and Chargers to lose to the Jaguars and Oakland Raiders, respectively. Buffalo would lose a conference record tiebreaker with Tennessee and the head-to-head tiebreaker with Los Angeles.

NFC Standings

Division Leaders

1. Philadelphia Eagles: 13-2

2. Minnesota Vikings: 12-3

3. Los Angeles Rams: 11-4

4. New Orleans Saints: 11-4

Wild Card

5. Carolina Panthers: 11-4

6. Atlanta Falcons: 9-6

In the Hunt

7. Seattle Seahawks: 9-6

NFC Team-by-Team Postseason Picture

Philadelphia Eagles

The Philadelphia Eagles clinched the No. 1 seed after beating the Oakland Raiders Monday night. They will have home-field advantage throughout the NFC postseason.

Minnesota Vikings

The only team that can prevent the Minnesota Vikings from grabbing the No. 2 seed is the Carolina Panthers.

If the Vikings lose to the Chicago Bears, Carolina defeats the Atlanta Falcons, the Los Angeles Rams lose to the San Francisco 49ers and the New Orleans Saints down the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, then Carolina and Minnesota will finish with matching 12-4 records to tie for second place in the NFC.

However, Carolina would jump over Minnesota and into the No. 2 seed by virtue of the head-to-head tiebreaker (the Panthers beat the Vikings 31-24 earlier this season).

If any of those things don't happen, then Minnesota would finish second in the NFC and earn a wild-card bye and home-field advantage in the divisional round.

Los Angeles Rams

The Los Angeles Rams are locked into a wild-card home game, so it's just a matter of whether they finish with a No. 3 or No. 4 seed. If Los Angeles beats the San Francisco 49ers or the Saints lose to the Bucs, then the Rams would lock themselves into the third seed.

If neither of those things happen, then L.A. wiould fall to No. 4.

New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints would clinch the NFC South with a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers or a Carolina Panthers loss to the Atlanta Falcons. If neither result occurs, the Panthers would jump the Saints and win the NFC South. In that scenario, the Saints would be the NFC's fifth seed and travel for the Wild Card Round.

New Orleans can't finish higher than third in the NFC because of a season-opening loss to the current No. 2 Minnesota Vikings. A win would mean a third or fourth seed depending on how the scenario explained in the Rams section plays out.

Carolina Panthers

The Panthers could still earn a No. 2 seed, wild-card bye and divisional-round home game in the scenario explained in the Minnesota Vikings section.

They would win the NFC South with a victory over the Falcons and a Saints loss to the Buccaneers. If the Panthers win the NFC South and the Vikings win, then Carolina would be the No. 3 seed (if the Rams lose to the 49ers) or No. 4 seed (if the Rams beat the 49ers).

Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks

If the Atlanta Falcons beat the Panthers, they would be the No. 6 seed and travel to the No. 3 seed in the Wild Card Round. If the Falcons lose and the Seahawks fall to the Arizona Cardinals, then the same scenario applies.

If the Seahawks win and the Falcons lose, however, then Seattle would jump Atlanta into the No. 6 seed.

Neither team can move higher than sixth in the postseason, which means that either team would be on the road for the entirety of the playoffs.