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 |