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NFL Playoff Picture If Season Ended Today
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- NFL Playoff Picture If Season Ended Today
Don't look now, but the Carolina Panthers are a half-game out of first place in the NFC South. Carolina's overtime win against the Atlanta Falcons puts their record at 6-5 on the season, while the Tampa Bay Buccaneers — who have won five straight NFC South titles and just a few weeks ago looked like they might run away with the division — fell to 6-4 with a 44-32 loss to the Buffalo Bills .
Bryce Young passed for 448 yards and three touchdowns for the Panthers, who have not won a division title since 2015, when they went to Super Bowl 50. Week 12 shapes up nicely for the Panthers to possibly enter the playoff picture for the first time this season: The Bucs must play at the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday night. On Monday night, Carolina plays its lone prime-time game of the season, at the San Francisco 49ers. If the Bucs lose and the Panthers win, there will be a new leader inthe NFC South. Of course, the Panthers and Bucs have yet to play each other this season. They play twice in the last three weeks of the season, so the division title may very well come down to those meetings.
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In the AFC, the surprising Denver Broncos have overtaken the surprising Indianapolis Colts for the No. 1 seed — only because the Colts had a bye this week. And since the New England Patriots also won this week, the Colts actually drop to the third seed for now.
Here's a look at the playoff picture if the season ended today:
AFC Playoff Seeding
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Denver Broncos
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New England Patriots
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Indianapolis Colts
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Buffalo Bills
AFC Wild Card Round (Broncos get bye):
Jaguars at PatriotsChargers at Colts
Bills at Steelers
NFC Playoff Seeding
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Los Angeles Rams
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers
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NFC Wild Card Round (Eagles get bye):
Packers at RamsLions at Bears
Seahawks at Buccaneers
Here's a breakdown of the NFL's tiebreaking procedure
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Nov 17, 2025, where it first appeared in the NFL section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
