{"id":623029,"date":"2025-12-23T19:27:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-23T19:27:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/623029\/"},"modified":"2025-12-23T19:27:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-23T19:27:11","slug":"nfl-week-17-clinching-scenarios-how-every-division-and-playoff-spot-could-be-locked-up-this-weekend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/623029\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL Week 17 clinching scenarios: How every division and playoff spot could be locked up this weekend"},"content":{"rendered":"

With just two weeks<\/a> left to play in the NFL<\/a>‘s 2025 regular season, only one division has been clinched so far, but that could change in Week 17. After the Eagles<\/a>\u00a0clinched the NFC East<\/a>, the seven divisions<\/a> that are still up for grabs could all be settled this week. It’s also possible that every playoff spot could be clinched by the end of Week 17.<\/p>\n

So far, 10 of the 14 playoff berths have been accounted — and the final four spots could be in the bag by the end of the weekend.<\/p>\n

So, what has to happen for each playoff spot to be clinched? Glad you asked. Let’s check out all the clinching scenarios for Week 17.<\/p>\n

There’s exactly one scenario that would see the Broncos clinch the conference’s No. 1 seed and AFC West title:<\/p>\n

1. DEN win + LAC loss or tie + NE loss + BUF loss or tie + JAX loss or tie<\/p>\n

The Broncos have a much simpler path to just winning the AFC West this week, though. For that to happen, they only need one of the two following scenarios to happen:<\/p>\n

1. DEN win + LAC loss or tie OR
2. DEN tie + LAC loss<\/p>\n

The Broncos are at the\u00a0Chiefs<\/a>\u00a0on\u00a0Christmas Day<\/a> before the\u00a0Chargers<\/a>\u00a0host the\u00a0Texans<\/a>\u00a0in a\u00a0Saturday game<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Jags are on the cusp of clinching just their second division title in the past seven years. For that to happen, they need one of the following two scenarios to take place:<\/p>\n

1. JAX win + HOU loss or tie OR\u00a0
2. JAX tie + HOU loss<\/p>\n

The Jaguars travel to Indianapolis<\/a> for Sunday’s game while the Texans are at the Chargers.<\/p>\n

The Patriots could take the AFC East if with one of these two scenarios:<\/p>\n

1. NE win + BUF loss or tie OR
2. NE tie + BUF loss<\/p>\n

This coming Sunday, the Patriots are at<\/a> the Jets<\/a> while the Bills<\/a> host the Eagles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The AFC North race could be over this week if one of these two simple scenarios happens:<\/p>\n

1. PIT win or tie OR
2. BAL loss or tie<\/p>\n

The Ravens<\/a> play on Saturday<\/a> against the Packers<\/a>. A Baltimore loss would clinch the AFC North for Pittsburgh before the Steelers even take the field for Sunday’s game<\/a>\u00a0at the Browns<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Houston Texans<\/p>\n

The Texans can’t clinch a division title this week, but they can earn a playoff berth if any of the three following scenarios takes place:<\/p>\n

1. HOU win or tie OR
2. IND loss or tie OR
3. HOU clinches at least a tie in strength of victory tiebreaker over IND<\/p>\n

The Texans must beat the Chargers on Saturday or have the Colts<\/a> lose to the Jaguars on Sunday. That third clinching scenario involves the overall record of the teams that the Colts and Texans have each beaten.<\/p>\n

The Seahawks can clinch the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC this week, but there’s only one scenario where that could happen:<\/p>\n

1. SEA win + LAR loss or tie + SF-CHI tie<\/p>\n

The ONLY way the Seahawks can clinch the top seed is if the Bears-Seahawks game ends in a tie. That being said, Seattle does have a slightly easier path to clinching the NFC West:<\/p>\n

1. SEA win + LAR loss or tie + SF loss or tie OR
2. SEA tie + LAR loss + SF loss<\/p>\n

The Seahawks play at<\/a> Carolina on Sunday while the Rams<\/a> head to Atlanta for Monday’s game<\/a>. As for the 49ers<\/a>, they host<\/a> the Bears<\/a> on Sunday night.<\/p>\n

The Panthers could lock up the NFC South, but there are only two scenarios where that could happen:<\/p>\n

1. CAR win + TB loss or tie OR
2. CAR tie + TB loss<\/p>\n

The Panthers host the Seahawks on Sunday while the Buccaneers<\/a>\u00a0head\u00a0to Miami<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Chicago Bears<\/p>\n

The Bears can clinch the NFC North this weekend if one of these three things goes their way:<\/p>\n

1. CHI win OR
2. GB loss OR
3. CHI tie + GB tie<\/p>\n

The Bears face the 49ers on Sunday night, but they could clinch a spot before that if the Packers lose to the Ravens on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Green Bay Packers<\/p>\n

The Packers could clinch a playoff spot this week, and it could happen on Christmas Day. Here’s what they need:<\/p>\n

1. GB win or tie OR
2. DET loss or tie<\/p>\n

The Lions<\/a> play the Vikings<\/a> on Thursday<\/a>, and a loss by Detroit would clinch a spot for Green Bay. If the Lions win, the Packers can punch their own ticket by beating the Ravens on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

With that in mind, let’s take a look at who’s in and who’s out so far:<\/p>\n

NFC
1.\u00a0Seahawks (12-3) — NFC West leader
2. Bears (11-4) — NFC North leader
3. Eagles (10-5) — CLINCHED NFC EAST
4.\u00a0Panthers (8-7) — NFC South leader
5. 49ers (11-4)
6. Rams (11-4)
7.\u00a0Packers (9-5-1)
STILL ALIVE
Lions (8-7)
Buccaneers (7-8)<\/p>\n

NFC playoff spots clinched:\u00a0Rams, Eagles, Seahawks, Bears, 49ersNFC teams eliminated:\u00a0Vikings, Falcons<\/a>, Saints<\/a>, Commanders<\/a>, Cardinals<\/a>, Giants<\/a>, Cowboys<\/a><\/p>\n

AFC
1. Broncos (12-3) — AFC West leader
2.\u00a0Patriots (12-3) — AFC East leader
3.\u00a0Jaguars (11-4) — AFC South leader
4.\u00a0Steelers (9-6) — AFC North leader
5.\u00a0Chargers (11-4)
6.\u00a0Bills (11-4)
7.\u00a0Texans (10-5)
STILL ALIVE
Colts (8-7)
Ravens (7-8)<\/p>\n

AFC playoff spots clinched:\u00a0Broncos, Patriots, Jaguars, Bills, ChargersAFC teams eliminated:\u00a0Chiefs, Dolphins<\/a>, Bengals<\/a>, Jets, Browns, Raiders<\/a>, Titans<\/a><\/p>\n

The Colts, Ravens, Lions and Buccaneers could all be eliminated this week<\/a>. Tampa Bay is the only team that controls its fate: If the Bucs beat the Dolphins, they’ll still be alive to clinch a playoff spot in Week 18. The other three teams could be eliminated, even with a win.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With just two weeks left to play in the NFL‘s 2025 regular season, only one division has been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":623030,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[91994,53,260,391,258,7,345,253,125,262,58,249,91448,6,89097,91995,85529,62431,91993,37829,57,261],"class_list":{"0":"post-623029","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-afc-playoff-scenarios","9":"tag-buffalo-bills","10":"tag-carolina-panthers","11":"tag-chicago-bears","12":"tag-denver-broncos","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-green-bay-packers","15":"tag-houston-texans","16":"tag-jacksonville-jaguars","17":"tag-los-angeles-chargers","18":"tag-los-angeles-rams","19":"tag-new-england-patriots","20":"tag-nfc-playoff-scenarios","21":"tag-nfl","22":"tag-nfl-clinching-scenarios","23":"tag-nfl-division-clinching","24":"tag-nfl-playoff-scenarios","25":"tag-nfl-week-17","26":"tag-nfl-week-17-playoff-races","27":"tag-nfl-playoff-picture","28":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","29":"tag-seattle-seahawks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623029","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=623029"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/623029\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/623030"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=623029"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=623029"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=623029"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}