Eagles win but concerns grow
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Week 18 of the 2025 NFL season is putting an exclamation point on what has been an exciting campaign.
Entering the season’s final day, just two teams had guaranteed their playoff seedings. The Seattle Seahawks earned the NFC’s No. 1 seed while the Green Bay Packers were locked into the conference’s No. 7 seed.
Every other playoff team playing as part of the NFL’s Sunday slate was playing for something. And nothing was more important than the AFC North and NFC South titles, which were set to be determined by the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Baltimore Ravens and Atlanta Falcons vs. New Orleans Saints matchups respectively.
Soon, the dust will settle and the NFL’s playoff bracket will be firmly set. Here’s a look at the current playoff picture and everything we know about the postseason landscape.
All 14 playoff berths have been clinched. Below is a look at the teams to wrap up postseason berths with the specific seeds listed in parentheses:
AFC:
NFC:
The final playoff berth was determined by the Steelers vs. Ravens “Sunday Night Football” game.
AFC:
Denver Broncos (14-3, AFC West winners)*New England Patriots (14-3, AFC East winners)*Jacksonville Jaguars (13-4, AFC South winners)*Pittsburgh Steelers (10-7, AFC North winners)*Houston Texans (12-5, wild card No. 1)*Buffalo Bills (12-5, wild card No. 2)*Los Angeles Chargers (11-6, wild card No. 3)*
NFC:
Seattle Seahawks (14-3, NFC West winners)*Chicago Bears (11-6, NFC North winners)*Philadelphia Eagles (11-6, NFC East winners)*Carolina Panthers (8-9, NFC South winners)*Los Angeles Rams (12-5, wild card No. 1)*San Francisco 49ers (12-5, wild card No. 2)*Green Bay Packers (9-7-1, wild card No. 3)*
*Â Denotes team that has clinched a playoff berth.
Below is a look at the playoff brackets for the AFC and NFC as the regular season winds to a close:
AFC:
No. 1 Denver Broncos (BYE)No. 2 New England Patriots vs. No. 7 Los Angeles ChargersNo. 3 Jacksonville Jaguars vs. No. 6 Buffalo BillsNo. 4 Pittsburgh Steelers vs. No. 5 Houston Texans
NFC:
No. 1 Seattle Seahawks (BYE)No. 2 Chicago Bears vs. No. 7 Green Bay PackersNo. 3 Philadelphia Eagles vs. No. 6 San Francisco 49ersNo. 4 Carolina Panthers vs. No. 5 Los Angeles Rams
The NFL’s wild-card schedule was announced during the “Sunday Night Football” game between the Steelers and Ravens. Here’s what to know about the general playoff schedule:
Wild-card round
All times Eastern
Saturday, Jan. 10
Sunday, Jan. 11
Monday, Jan. 12
Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN/ABCDivisional round
Saturday, Jan. 17
AFC/NFC divisional game: 4:30 p.m.AFC/NFC divisional game: 8:15 p.m.
Sunday, Jan. 18
AFC/NFC divisional game: 3 p.m.AFC/NFC divisional game: 6:30 p.m.NFL conference championship round
Sunday, Jan. 25
AFC championship game: 3 p.m.NFC championship game: 6:30 p.m.Super Bowl 60TV: NBCDate: Feb. 8, 2026Location: Levi’s Stadium (Santa Clara, California)Time: 6:30 p.m.How does the NFL playoff bracket work?
The NFL playoffs feature a dynamic bracket, which means the bracket changes as the playoffs progress.
What does that mean? Rather than having a fixed bracket, the postseason tournament re-seeds after each round. That means the No. 1 seed will face the lowest-remaining seed after the wild-card round while the two remaining teams in each conference will face off against one another.
If the No. 1 seed is upset on either side of the bracket, the top remaining seed would get home-field advantage in their conference championship game. That means, hypothetically, that any team – save for the No. 7 seed in each conference – could host a home playoff contest.