This is the seeding as the season stands,
not a forecast. Each conference's four division leaders are seeded
first, then the three best clubs behind them. Nobody is projected forward: a club
listed here is here because of games already played.
“In” and
“out” are claims about arithmetic, not about the rulebook. A club
is in when nobody left in its division can reach it even if it loses
every game it has left — it has won the division — or when at
most 2 clubs in the conference can finish above it at all, which
is a wild card at worst. It is out only when BOTH halves are gone: someone
in its own division is beyond its best possible finish, and so are
7 clubs in the conference. Seven clubs ahead of it is not on its
own enough — a division winner is seeded above every wild card whatever
the records say, so a club can be behind seven and still win its own
division. Anything a tie could still decide is left open, because the
tiebreakers are not run here.
American Football Conference seeds 1–7
| Club | Rec | Conf | Seeded as | On record alone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1  Kansas City Chiefs bye | 5-0 | 5-0 | AFC West leader | |
2  Buffalo Bills | 5-1 | 3-1 | AFC East leader | |
3  Cleveland Browns | 5-2 | 3-2 | AFC North leader | |
4  Jacksonville Jaguars | 4-2 | 3-2 | AFC South leader | |
5  Pittsburgh Steelers | 5-2 | 2-2 | wild card | |
6  Cincinnati Bengals | 4-2 | 3-2 | wild card | |
7  Denver Broncos | 4-2 | 2-1 | wild card |
Still live (9): Ravens (4-3), Patriots (4-3), Raiders (3-3), Texans (2-5), Colts (2-5), Jets (2-5), Dolphins (1-5), Titans (1-6), Chargers (0-6)
National Football Conference seeds 1–7
| Club | Rec | Conf | Seeded as | On record alone |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1  Minnesota Vikings bye | 6-0 | 4-0 | NFC North leader | |
2  San Francisco 49ers | 6-1 | 4-1 | NFC West leader | |
3  New York Giants | 4-2-1 | 2-2-1 | NFC East leader | |
4  Carolina Panthers | 3-3 | 3-2 | NFC South leader | |
5  Chicago Bears | 5-2 | 3-2 | wild card | |
6  Green Bay Packers | 4-2 | 3-2 | wild card | |
7  Detroit Lions | 3-2 | 2-1 | wild card |
Still live (9): Seahawks (3-3), Falcons (3-4), Cardinals (2-4), Cowboys (2-4), Rams (2-4), Eagles (2-4), Saints (2-5), Buccaneers (2-5), Commanders (1-4-1)
How the 14 are decided
- The four division winners in each conference are seeded 1 to 4 by record. Winning a division outranks any wild-card record.
- The three best clubs left in the conference take seeds 5, 6 and 7.
- The 1 seed rests through Wild Card weekend. It is the only bye.
- Every round before the Super Bowl is hosted by the higher remaining seed, and the bracket reseeds each round — see the bracket.
Ties are not broken on this page.
Two clubs level on record are shown level. Separating them takes the league's
published procedure — head-to-head, then division record, then common
games, then conference record, then strength of victory — and the last steps
of it need points scored and points allowed. The full list is on
the predictor pages, where it is also run against a pick
sheet as far as picks can carry it.