NFL Playoff Picture Week 15: Latest AFC, NFC Standings and Bracket Scenarios

We've reached the point in the NFL season when we come up with all sorts of potential playoff scenarios, especially if you are a fan of a team on the outside looking in entering Week 15.

There are only a few certainties when it comes to the hunt for the playoffs in the AFC and NFC, and there's a chance the picture won't get any clearer if certain results arrive during the forthcoming gameweek.

All eyes will be on the NFC West, AFC West and both wild-card races Saturday and Sunday, as teams jockey for position in a competition for playoff berths that could swing many different ways if one domino doesn't fall the way it should.

AFC Standings

Division Leaders

1. Pittsburgh (11-2)

2. New England (10-3)

3. Jacksonville (9-4)

4. Kansas City (7-6)

Wild-Card Race

5. Tennessee (8-5)

6. Buffalo (7-6) 

7. Baltimore (7-6)

8. Los Angeles Chargers (7-6) 

9. Oakland (6-7) 

10. Miami (6-7) 

11. New York Jets (5-8)

12. Cincinnati (5-8)

Officially Eliminated

13. Houston (4-9) 

14. Denver (4-9) 

15. Indianapolis (3-10)

16. Cleveland (0-13)

There are two games to focus on when it comes to determining the AFC playoff picture in Week 15. 

The obvious one is the clash between the Pittsburgh Steelers and New England Patriots, which has home-field advantage on the line for the Steelers. A Patriots win would vault them into the No. 1 seed and give the Jacksonville Jaguars an outside chance of clinching a first-round bye with an additional Steelers defeat in Week 16 or 17.

Further down the top four, the Kansas City Chiefs are in must-win mode Saturday night against the Los Angeles Chargers, who have developed into one of the hottest teams in the NFL.

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

The winner of the clash in Kansas City will be a game up on the contenders in the AFC West and be in a good position to host a playoff game in the wild-card round.

If you are a fan of the Tennessee Titans or Baltimore Ravens, you will be rooting for the Miami Dolphins to beat the Buffalo Bills Sunday.

Wins by the Titans over the San Francisco 49ers and Ravens versus the Cleveland Browns, combined with a victory by the Dolphins would create separation in the AFC wild-card picture with two regular-season gameweeks left.

Norm Hall/Getty Images

If that scenario occurs, the Titans would still be a game ahead of the Ravens. John Harbaugh's team would have an advantage over the Bills, Dolphins, the loser of the Chargers-Chiefs contest and the Oakland Raiders if they beat the Dallas Cowboys Sunday.

However, if the opposite happens and the Bills beat the Dolphins and the Raiders fall to Dallas, the wild-card race will be trimmed to four contenders in the Titans, Ravens, Bills and the second-place team in the AFC West. Buffalo's game against New England in Week 16 and the AFC South showdown in Week 17 between the Titans and Jaguars would then carry more importance.

NFC Standings

Division Leaders 

1. Philadelphia (11-2)

2. Minnesota (10-3)

3. Los Angeles Rams (9-4)

4. New Orleans (9-4)

Wild-Card Race

5. Carolina (9-4)

6. Atlanta (8-5)

7. Seattle (8-5)

8. Detroit (7-6)

9. Green Bay (7-6)

10. Dallas (7-6)

11. Arizona (6-7)

Officially Eliminated 

12. Washington (5-8)

13. Tampa Bay (4-9)

14. Chicago (4-9)

15. San Francisco (3-10)

16. New York Giants (2-11)

Fans of the teams involved in the NFC playoff picture are going to have a lot of fun with hypotheticals from now until New Year's Eve.

Only the Philadelphia Eagles have clinched a playoff berth, by way of the NFC East championship. Each of the nine other teams realistically within reach of the playoffs has some work to do. The Minnesota Vikings having the easiest path of those, as a Week 15 win over the Cincinnati Bengals would get them in with the NFC North title.

Grant Halverson/Getty Images

The balance of power in the NFC West could shift in Week 15, as the Los Angeles Rams visit the Seattle Seahawks, while the contest between the Carolina Panthers and Green Bay Packers has the potential to shift the NFC wild-card race.

Before you have a chance to look ahead to the Week 16 and 17 matchups that will decide who's in and who's out, the focus has to remain on Sunday's action, especially the game in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The one thing everyone was afraid of in the NFC has happened, as Aaron Rodgers is returning to the field, which the Packers' official Twitter account noted Tuesday:

However, the threat of Rodgers could be quashed immediately if the Panthers knock them off at Bank of America Stadium Sunday. Even if Seattle beats the Rams and all hell breaks loose in the NFC South, the Packers would still face a steep task to qualify for the postseason from 7-7.

A Seattle win would send the most shock waves through the NFC after Week 15, as it would boost the Seahawks into the top four and could drop the Rams out of the wild-card picture since the Panthers and Falcons would both have a superior conference records if they win Sunday.

Harry How/Getty Images

If the Rams come out of CenturyLink Field victorious, they would make the path to the postseason easier for the Falcons as long as Matt Ryan and Co. take care of business on Monday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

In order for the ultimate chaotic scenario to occur, the Detroit Lions, Packers and Cowboys would all have to win in Week 15, as well as the Seahawks.

On top of all that, an upset by the Buccaneers over the Falcons would add all sorts of complexities to the NFC wild-card race and make the Week 16 clash between the New Orleans Saints and Falcons even more important than it already is in terms of the NFC South championship and the playoff picture as a whole.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90.