NFL (2025 Season)

[Great Lakes Roads]

Incoming Bucs meltdown...

[Great Lakes Roads]

Week 15 update- Bucs just had a meltdown on TNF...

AFC East- Patriots
AFC West- Broncos
AFC North- Steelers
AFC South- Jags

NFC East- Eagles
NFC West- Rams
NFC North- Bears
NFC South- Buccaneers

AFC Wildcards- Bills, Texans, Chargers
NFC Wildcards- Packers, 49ers, Seahawks

Eliminated AFC teams: TEN, NYJ, MIA, CLE, LAS, CIN, IND, KC, BAL
Eliminated NFC teams: NO, NYG, ARI, WAS, MIN, ATL, DAL, CAR, DET

[Great Lakes Roads]

For the first time in YEARS, the Chiefs are ELIMINATED from the playoffs!

Let's celebrate! 

[ZLoth]

For the first time in YEARS, the Chiefs are ELIMINATED from the playoffs!

Great googly moogly!

Also, with the Chicago Bears win today, the Minnesota Vikings have been eliminated from this years playoffs.

[NWI_Irish96]

3 years ago today, Sam Darnold was the backup QB for the Carolina Panthers and Phillip Rivers was in his second year of retirement.

Today, they are locked in a mid-December battle of playoff hopefuls.

[ModernDayWarrior]

For the first time in YEARS, the Chiefs are ELIMINATED from the playoffs!

Let's celebrate! 

As the board's resident Chiefs fan (yeah, yeah, everyone can throw things at me at their leisure) I can't say I'm surprised. Anyone could have seen this coming after last season, when a deeply flawed team reached the Super Bowl thanks to somehow going 11-0 in one-score games, which is obviously unsustainable, and then did basically nothing to fix any of those flaws in the offseason.

Personally I'm rooting for a Super Bowl champ who hasn't won one before. Wouldn't mind seeing the Bills get there and actually win it this time. Or even the Jaguars. Really I'm happy with anyone winning, as long as it isn't the Rams. 

[epzik8]

I guess the Eagles really did singlehandedly end the Chiefs' dynasty this past February.

[thspfc]

Riddle me Dan Campbell being the most aggressive coach in NFL history yet not going for 2 down 8, which is according to analytics the correct choice by a significant margin.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Vikings can still do some serious damage to playoff hopefuls down the stretch, and all but ended whatever meager Cowboys chances remained. Cowboys can be eliminated Saturday if Philly beats Washington.

[Ted$8roadFan]

Quite a weekend. The Patriots were brought back to earth from their division rivals. Mahomes and Parsons are done for the year with torn ACLs. The Mahomes 1.0 era is over for the Chiefs. Dallas, Detroit and Indianapolis are fading. Lots of other teams can plan their January golf outings. Philip Rivers can still play at 44. And three weeks to go.

[webny99]

I guess the Eagles really did singlehandedly end the Chiefs' dynasty this past February.

I wouldn't go that far. There was a whole offseason since then, plus they have gone 0-6 against the current AFC playoff field and 1-7 in one score games.

[webny99]

Incoming Bucs meltdown...

The NFC South is insane. The Panthers could have set up a division clinch next weekend, but instead got swept by the Saints. Literally no one is interested in winning this division, and the only teams interested in winning games period already self-imploded and eliminated themselves from playoff contention.

Too bad a quality NFC North team will be munching popcorn on Wild Card weekend while the the NFC West runner-up rolls over whoever wins the South.

[Rick Powell]

I was just wondering: While the surviving members of the '72 Dolphins celebrate the last undefeated team's first loss, does the same thing happen with the '76 Buccaneers, '08 Lions or '16 Browns when the last winless team gets its first win?

Yes, but instead of sipping champagne, the ritual involves throwing up whatever liquid you have in your stomach and bowels.

[thenetwork]

Looks like the AFC North will yield the most pathetic playoff team record of the bunch.  Either PIT or BAL.

[mgk920]

And Pat Mahomes went down with a blown out knee.  What will await the Chefs next season     (yea, I know about Micah Parsons, too )

Mike

[ET21]

Bears back into 1st in the NFC North thanks to a Packers loss in Denver. The revenge game on Saturday likely seals the division.

[NWI_Irish96]

Bears back into 1st in the NFC North thanks to a Packers loss in Denver. The revenge game on Saturday likely seals the division.

Wouldn't say likely just yet. Two tough games after that still. Bears could end up 11-6 and not in the playoffs. Rams, Seahawks and Niners could all end up with 12+ wins and Lions at 11-6 would own tiebreaker on Bears.

[Great Lakes Roads]

The AFC playoffs are pretty much set (minus the teams in the North and South divisions)!

Clinched a playoff spot: Broncos
In the hunt: Patriots, Jaguars, Steelers, Chargers, Bills, Texans
On the bubble: Colts, Ravens

EDIT- The NFC, on the other hand...

Clinched a playoff spot: Rams
In the hunt: Bears, Eagles, Buccaneers, Seahawks, 49ers, Packers
On the bubble: Lions, Panthers, Cowboys*

*The Cowboys are <1% of making into the playoffs, and they are probably going to lose against the Chargers OR the Eagles win over the Commanders on Saturday in Week 16.

(And it's post-week 15/pre-week 16!)

[thspfc]

In 2023 there were 20 teams alive with 1 week left. In 2025 there are 19 teams alive with 3 weeks left, and one (Cowboys) needs hell to freeze over.

[webny99]

Yeah, the bad teams are really bad this year, contributing to a lot of early eliminations. Weeks 14 and 15 were some of the best weeks of games I can remember, but the tradeoff will be a less intriguing home stretch.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Commanders split the series with the Eagles, but sweep? I can't see it. Not to mention the Cowboys aren't a lock to win out either.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Yeah, the bad teams are really bad this year, contributing to a lot of early eliminations. Weeks 14 and 15 were some of the best weeks of games I can remember, but the tradeoff will be a less intriguing home stretch.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Commanders split the series with the Eagles, but sweep? I can't see it. Not to mention the Cowboys aren't a lock to win out either.

The slimmer margin for error does make some of the remaining big games like 49ers/Colts (probably more so for Indy than the Niners), Lions/Bears, Ravens/Steelers, Steelers/Lions or the two Bucs/Panthers matchups even higher-stakes as the losers could find themselves unable to recover.

[ZLoth]

https://nflplayoffscenarios.com/2025/week/16/simplest-path-to-the-playoffs/

[webny99]

https://nflplayoffscenarios.com/2025/week/16/simplest-path-to-the-playoffs/

We should have some decent options for the season finale.

Bears-Lions, Steelers-Ravens, Texans-Colts, and Bucs-Panthers all have potential to shape up as win & in scenarios.

[NWI_Irish96]

https://nflplayoffscenarios.com/2025/week/16/simplest-path-to-the-playoffs/

We should have some decent options for the season finale.

Bears-Lions, Steelers-Ravens, Texans-Colts, and Bucs-Panthers all have potential to shape up as win & in scenarios.

Would love to see an indoor team playing a January night game in Chicago.

[jgb191]

Personally I'm rooting for a Super Bowl champ who hasn't won one before.

Which means you're mostly likely going to be rooting for the Houston Texans; we are the most deprived and starving fanbase right now.  Texans are still the only team in NFL history that has never even won a game beyond the Wild Card Round of any playoffs.  Hopefully that could change this winter.