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 not shown. (Example: if HOU and DEN both finish the season with the same record, HOU wins the AFC South while DEN does not win the AFC West.)
- If the tie for the last wild card team is at 9 wins, DEN must be included in the tiebreaker.
- Division ties are broken first. If PIT, LAC, and DEN all finish 10-7, break the AFC West tie between LAC and DEN first, then break the tie between the LAC-DEN winner and PIT.
- If three or more teams are tied, apply that tiebreaker, not the two-team tiebreaker.
- BUF has clinched the AFC East, HOU has clinched the AFC South, and KC has clinched the AFC West.
- PIT, BAL, and LAC have clinched playoff berths.
- NE, NYJ, CLE, IND, TEN, JAX, and LV have been eliminated.
The complete tiebreaker rules are here.
Jump to North | West | Interdivisional ties 2-way • 3-way
AFC North
| If these teams tie | at | tie goes to | based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| BAL-PIT | 11-6 | PIT | division record |
AFC West
| If these teams tie | at | tie goes to | based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| LAC-DEN | 10-7 | LAC | head-to-head |
Interdivisional ties
2-way ties
| If these teams tie | at | tie goes to | based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| MIA-DEN | 9-8 | MIA | conference record |
| PIT-LAC | PIT | head-to-head | |
| PIT-DEN | 10-7 | PIT | head-to-head |
| BAL-LAC | 11-6 | BAL | head-to-head |
| CIN-DEN | 9-8 | CIN | head-to-head |
3-way ties
| If these teams tie | at | tie goes to | based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| MIA-CIN-DEN | 9-8 | MIA | conference record |
