The 2020 NFL season has entered the final stretch of the regular season and while Covid-19 has created some issues, the league continues chugging along. We’ve had postponements, but no games have been canceled and the team has avoided creating a Week 18 for the time being.
The league expanded the playoff pool this year, adding a wild card team to each conference to bring the total to 14 teams. The No. 1 seed in each conference will get a first round bye. The opening round will feature the three division winners facing the three wild card winners (2/7, 3/6, 4/5). During the season, the NFL and NFLPA negotiated for if any significant games are canceled or postponed due to Covid-19. If that happens, the playoff field will expand to 16 teams with four wild card winners.
Teams have begun clinching playoff spots and division titles. Soon, we’ll have a full playoff bracket. We’ll be breaking down the playoff picture week-in and week-out and tracking news as teams clinch playoff berths or are mathematically eliminated from contention.
Clinched division title: Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills, New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers
Clinched wild card berth: Seattle Seahawks
Eliminated from playoff contention: New York Jets, Jacksonville Jaguars, Cincinnati Bengals, Los Angeles Chargers, Houston Texans, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, San Francisco 49ers, Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos, New England Patriots, Minnesota Vikings, Las Vegas Raiders
^: clinched playoff berth
^^: clinched division
^^^: clinched first round bye
Current playoff picture (coming out of Week 17)
AFC
1. Kansas City Chiefs, 14-2^^^
2. Buffalo Bills, 13-3^^
3. Pittsburgh Steelers, 12-4^^
4. Tennessee Titans, 11-5^^ (Division record over Colts)
5. Baltimore Ravens, 11-5 (H2H over Browns)^
6. Cleveland Browns, 11-5 (H2H over Colts)^
7. Indianapolis Colts, 11-5^
Bills 56, Dolphins 26
Ravens 38, Bengals 3
Browns 24, Steelers 22
Colts 28, Jaguars 14
Chargers 38, Chiefs 21
Titans 41, Texans 38
NFC
1. Green Bay Packers, 13-3^^^
2. New Orleans Saints, 12-4^^ (Conference record tiebreaker)
3. Seattle Seahawks, 12-4^^
4. Washington Football Team, 7-9^^
5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 11-5^
6. Los Angeles Rams, 10-6^
7. Chicago Bears, 8-8^ (Common games over Cardinals)
Giants 23, Cowboys 19
Bucs 44, Falcons 27
Packers 35, Bears 16
Rams 18, Cardinals 7
Seahawks 26, 49ers 23
Saints 33, Panthers 7
Washington 20, Eagles 14