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:
- At most 1 more tie game.
- 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.
- 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.
No NFC team has yet clinched a playoff seed. CHI, NO, and LAR have clinched their divisions. NYG, GB, DET, TB, ATL, ARI, and SF are mathematically eliminated.
The complete tiebreaker rules are here.
Jump to East | North | Interdivisional ties 2-way • 3-way • 4-way
NFC East
| If these teams tie | at | with these things happening | tie goes to | based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAL-PHI | DAL | head-to-head | ||
| DAL-WAS | 8-8 | DAL | division record | |
| PHI-WAS | 7-8-1 | PHI ties WAS | PHI | head-to-head |
| PHI-WAS | 8-8 | WAS beats PHI | PHI | common opponents |
| DAL-PHI-WAS | 8-8 | DAL | head-to-head |
NFC North
| If these teams tie | at | tie goes to | based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| MIN-GB | 7-8-1 | MIN | head-to-head |
Interdivisional ties
2-way ties
| If these teams tie | at | with these things happening | tie goes to | based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAL-CHI | 10-6 | DAL | conference record | |
| DAL-MIN | DAL | conference record | ||
| DAL-CAR | 8-8 | CAR | head-to-head | |
| DAL-SEA | 8-8 | SEA | head-to-head | |
| PHI-MIN | MIN | head-to-head | ||
| PHI-CAR | 8-8 | CAR | head-to-head | |
| PHI-SEA | SEA | conference record | ||
| WAS-MIN | 8-8 / 7-7-2 | WAS | conference record | |
| WAS-CAR | 8-8 | WAS | head-to-head | |
| WAS-SEA | 8-8 | ? | strength of victory | |
| CHI-NO | 12-4 | CHI | conference record | |
| MIN-CAR | 8-8 / 7-7-2 | MIN ties DET | MIN | common opponents |
| MIN-CAR | 8-8 / 7-7-2 | MIN loses to DET | ? | strength of victory |
| MIN-SEA | SEA | head-to-head | ||
| CHI-LAR | CHI | head-to-head | ||
| NO-LAR | NO | head-to-head | ||
| CAR-SEA | 8-8 | SEA | head-to-head |
3-way ties
| If these teams tie | at | with these things happening | tie goes to | based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAL-MIN-CAR | 8-8 / 7-7-2 | DAL | conference record | |
| DAL-MIN-SEA | 8-8 / 7-7-2 | SEA | head-to-head | |
| DAL-CAR-SEA | 8-8 | SEA | head-to-head | |
| PHI-MIN-CAR | 8-8 / 7-7-2 | MIN ties DET | MIN |
|
| PHI-MIN-CAR | 8-8 / 7-7-2 | MIN loses to DET | MIN or CAR |
|
| PHI-MIN-SEA | 9-7 / 8-6-2 | SEA beats KC | SEA |
|
| PHI-MIN-SEA | SEA loses to KC | SEA | conference record | |
| PHI-CAR-SEA | 8-8 | SEA | conference record | |
| WAS-MIN-CAR | 8-8 / 7-7-2 | WAS | conference record | |
| WAS-MIN-SEA | 8-8 / 7-7-2 | WAS or SEA |
|
|
| WAS-CAR-SEA | 8-8 | WAS or SEA |
|
|
| CHI-NO-LAR | 12-4 | CHI | conference record | |
| MIN-CAR-SEA | 8-8 / 7-7-2 | SEA | head-to-head |
4-way ties
| If these teams tie | at | tie goes to | based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| DAL-MIN-CAR-SEA | 8-8 / 7-7-2 | SEA |
|
| PHI-MIN-CAR-SEA | 8-8 / 7-7-2 | SEA | head-to-head |
| WAS-MIN-CAR-SEA | 8-8 / 7-7-2 | WAS or SEA |
|
Hey accounting for future possible ties now. Interesting addition to your system. My compliments :).
There is no CHI-SEA tiebreaker (CHI head-to-head) shown. Also, there is no CHI-DAL-SEA tiebreaker. SEA has the tiebreaker (head-to-head) over DAL and DAL has the tiebreaker (conference record) over CHI. What is the order in that 3-way scenario? Thanks. ~ Jason
The Bears can’t wind up in any tiebreaker with the Seahawks because the Bears have won the NFC North and the Seahawks have been eliminated from the NFC West.