NFL Playoff Picture If Season Ended Today

With six teams on a bye and eight of 13 games on the schedule being interconference games, Week 8 might be one of the least consequential weeks on the 2025 NFL season. Still, every game is important and the results we’ve seen so far have impacted the current playoff picture (early as it may be).

The New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills both won Sunday to remain in the same playoff seeding they had last week — Patriots at No. 2 and Bills at No. 5. New England has the edge based on its Week 5 upset of Buffalo. Until they meet again in Week 15, these teams will likely continue to battle it out for supremacy in the AFC East. That Week 15 game could be critical, since it might help decide which of these teams will have at least one home playoff game and which will have to hit the road.

Another key race to watch is in the NFC West, a division that currently has three teams lined up to play in the postseason. And while the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks both had a bye in Week 8, they both moved up a notch in the seeding thanks to the San Francisco 49ers getting knocked off by the Houston Texans. When they were all 5-2, it was the 49ers who were on pace to win the West and host a wild-card game. With the 49ers falling to 5-3, it’s currently the Seahawks who control their own destiny in the division.

AFC Playoff Seeding

1. Indianapolis Colts
2. New England Patriots
3. Denver Broncos
4. Pittsburgh Steelers
5. Buffalo Bills
6. Los Angeles Chargers
7. Jacksonville Jaguars

AFC Wild Card Round (Colts get bye):
Jaguars at Patriots
Chargers at Broncos
Bills at Steelers

NFC Playoff Seeding

1. Green Bay Packers
2. Philadelphia Eagles
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
4. Seattle Seahawks
5. Detroit Lions
6. Los Angeles Rams
7. San Francisco 49ers

NFC Wild Card Round (Packers get bye):
49ers at Eagles
Rams at Buccaneers
Lions at Seahawks

Here’s a breakdown of the NFL’s tiebreaking procedures.