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 future 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 AFC team has yet clinched a playoff seed. KC and LAC have clinched playoff berths. NYJ, BUF, CIN, CLE, JAX, DEN, and OAK are mathematically eliminated.
The complete tiebreaker rules are here.
Jump to East | North | South | West | Interdivisional ties 2-way • 3-way
AFC East
| If these teams tie | at | tie goes to | based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| NE-MIA | 9-7 | MIA | division record |
AFC North
| If these teams tie | at | tie goes to | based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| PIT-BAL | PIT | division record |
AFC South
| If these teams tie | at | with these things happening | tie goes to | based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HOU-IND | 10-6 | IND | division record | |
| HOU-TEN | 10-6 | TEN | division record | |
| IND-TEN | IND | head-to-head |
AFC West
| If these teams tie | at | with these things happening | tie goes to | based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KC-LAC | 12-4 | KC beats OAK | KC | division record |
| KC-LAC | 12-4 |
|
KC | common opponents |
| KC-LAC | 11-5 | LAC loses to DEN | KC | division record |
Interdivisional ties
2-way ties
| If these teams tie | at | with these things happening | tie goes to | based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NE-PIT | PIT | head-to-head | ||
| NE-BAL | BAL | conference record | ||
| NE-HOU | NE | head-to-head | ||
| NE-IND | NE | head-to-head | ||
| NE-TEN | TEN | head-to-head | ||
| NE-KC | 11-5 | NE | head-to-head | |
| MIA-PIT | MIA | conference record | ||
| MIA-BAL | 9-7 | MIA | conference record | |
| MIA-IND | 9-7 | IND | head-to-head | |
| MIA-TEN | 9-7 | MIA | head-to-head | |
| PIT-HOU | HOU | conference record | ||
| PIT-IND | PIT beats or ties NO | IND | conference record | |
| PIT-IND |
|
PIT | common opponents | |
| PIT-IND | IND loses to or ties NYG | IND | conference record | |
| PIT-TEN | PIT beats NO | ? | strength of victory | |
| PIT-TEN | PIT loses to or ties NO | PIT | conference record | |
| BAL-HOU | 10-6 | ? | strength of victory | |
| BAL-IND | IND beats NYG | BAL | conference record | |
| BAL-IND | 9-7 | IND loses to NYG | ? | strength of victory |
| BAL-TEN | BAL | head-to-head | ||
| HOU-KC | 12-4 | KC beats SEA | ? | strength of victory |
| HOU-KC |
|
KC | conference record | |
| HOU-KC | 11-5 | HOU loses to PHI | ? | strength of victory |
| HOU-LAC | 12-4 | ? | strength of victory |
3-way ties
| If these teams tie | at | with these things happening | tie goes to | based on |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NE-PIT-HOU | 10-6 / 9-5-2 | HOU | conference record | |
| NE-PIT-IND | 10-6 / 9-5-2 | PIT beats or ties NO | NE |
|
| NE-PIT-IND | 9-7 / 8-6-2 | PIT loses to NO | ? | strength of victory |
| NE-PIT-TEN | 10-6 / 9-5-2 | PIT beats NO | PIT or TEN |
|
| NE-PIT-TEN | 10-6 / 9-5-2 | PIT ties NO | PIT |
|
| NE-PIT-TEN | 9-7 / 8-6-2 | PIT loses to NO | PIT or TEN |
|
| NE-BAL-HOU | 10-6 | BAL or HOU |
|
|
| NE-BAL-TEN | BAL | conference record | ||
| NE-HOU-KC | 11-5 | NE | head-to-head | |
| MIA-PIT-IND | 9-7 / 8-6-2 | MIA | conference record | |
| MIA-PIT-TEN | 9-7 / 8-6-2 | MIA | conference record | |
| MIA-BAL-IND | 9-7 | MIA | conference record | |
| MIA-BAL-IND | 9-7 | MIA | conference record | |
| MIA-BAL-IND | 9-7 | MIA | conference record | |
| MIA-BAL-TEN | 9-7 | MIA |
|
