
The following charts seek to answer the following question: If these two (or more) teams finish with the same record, who wins the tiebreaker?
Notes and assumptions:
- No possibility of future tie games.
- Tiebreaker winners are as they would be if the teams were tied at the end of the season, NOT as if the season ended right now.
- Tiebreakers that don’t affect playoff berths or seeding are ignored. (Example: If DET and GB both finish 8-8, DET finishes in front of GB in the NFC North.)
- Division ties are broken first.
- If three or more teams are tied, apply that tiebreaker, not the two-team tiebreaker.
- Strength of victory is the combined winning percentage (essentially, the number of wins) of the teams a team has beaten. It has nothing to do with point totals.
- The #6 seed will be at least 9-7. Any tie at 9-7 for the #6 seed must include ATL and SEA.
- Clinched division and #1 seed: PHI.
- Clinched division: MIN, LAR.
- Clinched playoff berth: NO, CAR.
- Eliminated: NYG, WAS, DAL, CHI, DET, GB, TB, SF, ARI.
- Alive for #6 seed, but eliminated from division: ATL, SEA.
- The complete tiebreaker rules are here.
NFC East
PHI clinched division and #1 seed. NYG, WAS, and DAL eliminated from playoffs.
NFC North
MIN clinched division. CHI, GB, and DET eliminated from playoffs.
NFC South
TB eliminated from playoffs. ATL eliminated from division.
| If these teams tie | tie goes to | based on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| NO-CAR | NO | head-to-head |
NFC West
LAR clinched division. SF and ARI eliminated from playoffs.
Conference tiebreakers
2-team ties
| If these teams tie | at | tie goes to | based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| PHI-MIN | 13-3 | PHI | common opponents |
| MIN-NO | 12-4 | MIN | head-to-head |
| MIN-CAR | 12-4 | CAR | head-to-head |
| MIN-LAR | 12-4 | MIN | head-to-head |
| NO-LAR | LAR | head-to-head | |
| CAR-LAR | 12-4 | LAR | common opponents |
| ATL-SEA | ATL | head-to-head |
3-team ties
| If these teams tie | at | tie goes to | based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| DAL-DET-ATL | 9-7 | ATL | head-to-head |
| DAL-ATL-SEA | 9-7 | ATL | head-to-head |
| MIN-NO-LAR | 12-4 | MIN | head-to-head |
| MIN-CAR-LAR | 12-4 | MIN | conference record |
| DET-ATL-SEA | 9-7 | ATL | head-to-head |
4-team ties
| If these teams tie | at | tie goes to | based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| DAL-DET-ATL-SEA | 9-7 | ATL | head-to-head |