NFL Playoff Picture 2025-26, Week 17 Standings, AFC and NFC Wild Card Bracket Hunt

The 2025 NFL regular season is drawing to a close, with just two weeks left for teams to earn the wins necessary to ensure their place in the playoffs and a shot at hoisting the Lombardi Trophy at the conclusion of Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara, California on February 8.

The Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos currently sit atop the NFC and AFC, respectively, but neither is a lock to be the No. 1 overall seed by the time the last whistle is blown.

What does the rest of the playoff picture look like entering the second-to-last week of the regular season and which teams bear watching from each conference?

Find out with this look at the current playoff situation, including Super Bowl odds from the teams still in the hunt.

NFC Playoff Picture

AP Photo

Division Leaders

1. x-Seattle Seahawks (12-3, NFC West; +500 odds to win the Super Bowl)

2. x-Chicago Bears (11-4, NFC North; +2000)'

3. z-Philadelphia Eagles (10-5, NFC East; +950)

4. Carolina Panthers (8-7, NFC South; +13000)

The Seattle Seahawks overcame a sizable deficit late in their match-up against the Los Angeles Rams Thursday to take the lead in the NFC West and the conference as a whole, and could be the team best equipped with winning a Super Bowl.

The Seahawks play all three facets of the game well and Sam Darnold has shown a toughness to overcome his own mistakes and make big throws when needed. There are questions about the team's ability to withstand the pass rush and how the quarterback will react when pressured, but in a year where parity has run wild, Seattle looks like the team best suited to hoist the Lombardi in February.

Wild Card Teams

5. x-Los Angeles Rams (11-4; +400)

6. San Francisco 49ers (10-4; +2000)

7. Green Bay Packers (9-5-1; +1600)

The San Francisco 49ers may be the most underrated, undervalued, and disrespected team in this year's playoffs. They have weathered the storm of losing Nick Bosa and Fred Warner for the season on defense, had Mac Jones step in and play some superb quarterback during Brock Purdy's absence due to injury, and still find themselves with a shot at obtaining the No. 1 seed if they can win out.

The Green Bay Packers have not been so lucky, losing their last two while facing key injuries, including a torn ACL for pass rusher and key offseason addition, Micah Parsons. Luckily for them, the Detroit Lions cannot get out of their own way because a strong team in the hunt for a playoff berth would be a real threat to the Packers missing the postseason entirely.

In the Hunt

8. Detroit Lions (8-7; +13000)

9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-8; +8000)

The Lions and Buccaneers' defensive liabilities have them staring down the possibility that they will not return to the postseason in 2025. Detroit has played exceptionally well offensively considering they lost their innovative coordinator to the Bears, but the defense has been suspect, giving up big yardage and plenty of points.

The Buccaneers, conversely, cannot stop the aerial assault and as a result, have lost six of their last seven. They can still win the NFC South by winning out, though their Super Bowl chances once they would get to the postseason would have to be sub-zero, even with a gunslinger like Baker Mayfield under center.

Eliminated

10. Minnesota Vikings (7-8)

11. Dallas Cowboys (6-8-1)

12. Atlanta Falcons (6-9)

13. New Orleans Saints (5-10)

14. Washington Commanders (4-11)

15. Arizona Cardinals (3-12)

16. New York Giants (2-13)

x - denotes clinched playoffs

z - denoted clinched division

AFC Playoff Picture

AP Photo

Division Leaders

1. x-Denver Broncos (12-3, AFC West; +900)

2. x-New England Patriots (12-3, AFC East; +900)

3. Jacksonville Jaguars (11-4, AFC South; +1400)

4. Pittsburgh Steelers (9-6, AFC North; +3500)

The Jacksonville Jaguars have been playing the "disrespect" card for weeks now, hellbent on showing the league that they are a real contender to win the Super Bowl in head coach Liam Cohen's first season with the team.

It worked Sunday as the cardiac cats left no doubt who the better team was when they steamrolled the Broncos for a two-touchdown victory. The win over the No. 1 seed was an emphatic statement and, perhaps more importantly, Trevor Lawrence's four-touchdown performance continued a hot streak that saw him account for five scores the week before.

Another team with the ability to play good football in all three phases, do not be surprised to see them start getting a groundswell of love as the playoffs, and a potential AFC South title, approach.

Wild Card Teams

5. Los Angeles Chargers (11-4; +2000)

6. Buffalo Bills (11-4; +850)

7. Houston Texans (10-5; +1600)

Like the Jaguars, the Chargers are a team that feels like it is flying under the radar.

Head coach Jim Harbaugh has his team playing with confidence entering the final two weeks of the season, as they should be. Since a devastating loss to Jacksonville, 35-6, Los Angeles has won four straight, including a 22-19 victory over the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles.

Remaining games against the playoff-hopeful Houston Texans and division-leading Denver will be the true test for the Chargers and determine whether they are legitimate contenders or pretenders.

In The Hunt

8. Indianapolis Colts (8-6; +80000)

9. Baltimore Ravens (7-8; +10000)

The Colts once looked like the best story in football, an underdog team poised to make the playoffs and compete for a world title. Then, they lost starting quarterback Daniel Jones to a torn Achilles. From there, backup Riley Leonard was sidelined, leaving the organization to turn to the retired, 44-year-old, future Hall of Famer, Philip Rivers.

The team needs a miracle to make the postseason at this point and unfortunately, as great as Rivers is, he likely is not that miracle.

Despite hanging in there against a great Seahawks team, the Colts have to win out and get help to even be in the discussion. With the teams ahead of them unlikely to falter enough to catapult the Colts back into the Wild Card, it looks like the 2025 campaign will be one of "what ifs" instead of actual championships.