{"id":39275,"date":"2025-12-27T12:24:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T12:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/?p=39275"},"modified":"2025-12-27T12:24:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T12:24:18","slug":"nfl-week-17-playoff-picture-clinching-scenarios-standings","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/?p=39275","title":{"rendered":"NFL Week 17 playoff picture: Clinching scenarios, standings"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n<\/p>\n

Eight more NFL teams punched their ticket into the postseason during Week 16 of the 2025 NFL regular season, which is the most in a single week through a non-strike season in league history, per ESPN Research. That means 10 of 14 teams have qualified for the playoffs with two weeks to go.<\/p>\n

The Seahawks got in after beating the Rams on Thursday night, and the Eagles made it with a victory Saturday. On Sunday, a loss for the Lions meant the 49ers and Bears clinched. The Patriots secured a postseason spot by beating the Ravens on Sunday night. Finally, the Bills, Chargers and Jaguars all clinched after the Colts lost to the 49ers on “Monday Night Football.”<\/p>\n

So what’s at stake in Week 17? Five AFC teams and four NFC teams have a chance to secure something<\/em> this week, whether it be a No. 1 seed, divisional title or playoff berth. Let’s take a look at Week 17 clinching scenarios for those nine teams.<\/p>\n

More NFL playoff race coverage:<\/strong>
Projecting the final seeding
FPI ratings for every team
Projected 2026 draft order<\/p>\n

Week 17 playoff-clinching scenarios in the AFC<\/h2>\n

The matchup:<\/strong> at Kansas City on Thursday, 8:15 p.m. ET, Prime Video<\/p>\n

How the Broncos can clinch the AFC West:<\/strong><\/p>\n

How the Broncos can clinch the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage in the AFC: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Editor’s Picks<\/h2>\n
    \n
  • <\/li>\n
  • <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    1 Related<\/p>\n

    The matchup:<\/strong> at L.A. Chargers on Saturday, 4:30 p.m. ET, NFL Network<\/p>\n

    How the Texans can clinch a playoff berth:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The matchup:<\/strong> at Indianapolis on Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, Fox<\/p>\n

    How the Jaguars can clinch the AFC South:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The matchup:<\/strong> at N.Y. Jets on Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, NBC\/Peacock<\/p>\n

    How the Patriots can clinch AFC East:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The matchup:<\/strong> at Cleveland on Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS<\/p>\n

    How the Steelers can clinch the AFC North:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    Week 17 playoff-clinching scenarios in the NFC<\/h2>\n

    The matchup: <\/strong>at Seattle on Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS<\/p>\n

    How the Panthers can the NFC South:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The matchup: <\/strong>at San Francisco on Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC\/Peacock<\/p>\n

    How the Bears can clinch the NFC North:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    play<\/span><\/p>\n

    1:55<\/p>\n

    Can Bears make a Super Bowl run this season?<\/p>\n

    The “Get Up” crew debates whether the Bears can make a Super Bowl run after Caleb Williams led the team to an OT win vs. the Packers.<\/p>\n

    The matchup:<\/strong> vs. Baltimore on Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, Peacock<\/p>\n

    How the Packers can clinch a playoff berth:<\/strong><\/p>\n

    The matchup:<\/strong> vs. Carolina on Sunday, 1 p.m. ET, CBS<\/p>\n

    How the Seahawks can clinch the NFC West:<\/strong><\/p>\n

      \n
    • \n

      Win + L.A. Rams loss at Atlanta (8:15 p.m. ET, Monday) + San Francisco loss vs. Chicago (8:20 p.m. ET, Sunday)<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      NFL playoff matchups as things stand<\/h2>\n

      AFC<\/h2>\n

      NFC<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      Eight more NFL teams punched their ticket into the postseason during Week 16 of the 2025 NFL regular season, which is the most in a single week through a non-strike season in league history, per ESPN Research. That means 10 of 14 teams have qualified for the playoffs with two weeks to go. The Seahawks<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[13271,4084,8600,750,20939,8718,365],"class_list":{"0":"post-39275","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-clinching","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-picture","11":"tag-playoff","12":"tag-scenarios","13":"tag-standings","14":"tag-week"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=39275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/39276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=39275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=39275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=39275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}