NFL Playoff Standings 2016: Full Review of Each Conference and Division

The NFL playoff picture is mostly set heading into Week 17. All six of the NFC slots are filled, with Carolina and Arizona holding onto the top two seeds while Washington lingers at No. 4. 

Still, that doesn't mean seeding is necessarily set. Far from it. Eleven of the 12 seeds—OK, 10 if we're really being realistic, Indianapolis—are still yet to be decided. Washington and Houston should slide into their respective No. 4 seeds without a problem, but home-field advantage is still up for grabs in both conferences. 

Meanwhile, a team like Denver could ascend as high as the AFC's top overall seed or as low as No. 5. Here is a look at the NFL's entire playoff picture, along with a division-by-division breakdown of the playoff implications this Sunday.  

NFL Playoff Picture

NFC East

Washington clinched a division championship and the NFC's No. 4 seed with a win last week over the Philadelphia Eagles. The team has nothing to play for in its season finale against the Dallas Cowboys. Second place will be decided in East Rutherford when the Eagles play the Giants without recently deposed coach Chip Kelly.

NFC North

Pretty simple here. The Packers host the Vikings on Sunday. The winner of that game will win the division and clinch the NFC's third seed. In the case of a loss, Green Bay would be locked into the fifth seed because of its win over the Seattle Seahawks. Minnesota would have to hope for a Seattle loss or risk traveling to Green Bay for a second straight week.

Luckily, this will all be decided before the Packers and Vikings reach their 8:30 p.m. ET kickoff. 

The Lions and Bears will likewise decide which team finishes third and fourth in their season finale, which gets underway at 1 p.m. ET in Chicago.

David Goldman/Associated Press

NFC South

Nothing to see here. The Panthers have long clinched the division. Their lone remaining task will be locking up home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, which can happen with a win over the Buccaneers or Cardinals loss to Seattle. 

Atlanta will try to give Dan Quinn a winning season in his first year as a head coach when it takes on New Orleans. The game is notable only because it may be Sean Payton's last as the Saints coach, something that's been speculated about for months.

NFC West

The Seahawks and Cardinals go head-to-head in a matchup that may determine seeding for both teams. Seattle can move up to No. 5 in the conference with a win and Vikings loss. Arizona can take the top overall seed in the NFC with a win and Carolina loss. The Cardinals have already clinched a first-round bye, but winning may wind up helping them avoid Seattle in a potential divisional round matchup.

The Rams will attempt to complete Jeff Fisher's quest for perpetual mediocrity by reaching .500 in their matchup with the cellar-dwelling 49ers. There's really nothing San Francisco can save here by winning, but it could move up on the draft board if things bounce right Sunday.

AFC East

New England once again will have a chance to lock up home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with a win over last-place Miami. The Patriots will also clinch the first seed with any Denver loss and won't drop any lower than No. 2. 

The Jets can clinch a wild-card spot with a win over the Bills. They would fall out of the playoffs with a loss and a Steelers win over Cleveland—something that seems like a foregone conclusion at this point. Buffalo would probably just like to get a troll win over Rex Ryan's old team and move itself to .500 overall. 

Smart money is always on Rex getting his trolly ways.

Gail Burton/Associated Press

AFC North

The Bengals already have the division wrapped up, and they squandered a chance at winning the No. 1 seed with last week's loss to Denver. Now, at best, they're going to be the second seed, but more likely the No. 3. Cincinnati's lost two of three overall and will play a Ravens team that came within four points during their first matchup.

The Steelers have the most on the line this week. Their surprise loss to Baltimore last week puts them in a must-win situation against Cleveland. They can only get back into the playoffs with a win and Jets loss. The Chiefs hold a head-to-head tiebreaker over Pittsburgh.

AFC South

The Texans are almost certainly going to win this division and be the No. 4 seed regardless of what happens Sunday. They are a game ahead of Indianapolis and hold nearly every conceivable tiebreak at the moment. However, as SportsCenter noted, a certain combination of nine results would allow Indianapolis to earn a miraculous division win:

So, yeah. That's likely not happening. The Texans should probably just make it easy on everyone and beat the Jaguars to avoid the confusion. Houston put together its second-highest scoring output of the season during the teams' first matchup.

AFC West

The Broncos will clinch the AFC West if they can pull off a win over the Chargers on Sunday. They would also lock up a first-round bye and potentially move all the way to the No. 1 seed if New England loses to Miami. However, a loss could drop Denver all the way to the conference's fifth seed.

The Chiefs would take the division with a win over Oakland and a Denver loss. They hold both the division and conference tiebreakers, which would come into play because the teams split their regular-season series. Oakland will be looking to spoil Kansas City's party by locking up its third .500 season since 2002.