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2021 NFC tiebreakers after Week 16

by Jeremy Snyder - 0

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:

  1. No possibility of future tie games.
  2. 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. (Example: the only way DAL and ARI wind up with the same record at the end of the season is if ARI beats DAL in Week 16.)
  3. Tiebreakers that don’t affect playoff berths or seeding are ignored. (Example: a tie at 7-10 between MIN and CHI.)
  4. Any tie for the last wild card spot at 8-9 must include PHI or WAS from the NFC East, NO or ATL from the NFC South, and SF from the NFC West.
  5. Division ties are broken first. If NO, ATL, and SF all finish 8-9, break the NFC South tie between NO and ATL first, then break the tie between the NO-ATL winner and SF.
  6. If three or more teams are tied, apply that tiebreaker, not the two-team tiebreaker.
  7. 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.
  8. DAL has clinched the NFC East. GB has clinched the NFC North. TB has clinched the NFC South.
  9. LAR and ARI have clinched playoff berths.
  10. NYG, CHI, DET, CAR, and SEA have been eliminated.

The complete tiebreaker rules are here.

Jump to East | South | West | Interdivisional ties 2-way • 3-way • 4-way

NFC East

If these teams tie at with these things happening tie goes to based on
PHI-WAS 8-9 WAS division record

NFC South

If these teams tie at with these things happening tie goes to based on
NO-ATL 8-9 NO beats ATL NO division record
NO-ATL 8-9 ATL beats NO ATL head-to-head

NFC West

If these teams tie at with these things happening tie goes to based on
ARI-LAR ARI division record
ARI-SF 10-7 ARI head-to-head

Interdivisional ties

2-way ties

If these teams tie at with these things happening tie goes to based on
DAL-GB DAL conference record
DAL-TB TB head-to-head
DAL-ARI ARI head-to-head
DAL-LAR DAL conference record
PHI-MIN 9-8 PHI beats DAL ? strength of victory
PHI-MIN PHI loses to DAL MIN common opponents
PHI-NO PHI head-to-head
PHI-ATL PHI head-to-head
PHI-ARI 10-7 PHI conference record
PHI-SF SF head-to-head
WAS-MIN WAS conference record
WAS-NO 8-9 NO head-to-head
WAS-ATL WAS head-to-head
WAS-SF 8-9 WAS conference record
GB-TB TB beats NYJ GB conference record
GB-TB 12-5 TB loses to NYJ GB common opponents
GB-ARI 12-5 GB head-to-head
GB-LAR GB head-to-head
MIN-NO 8-9 NO loses to CAR MIN common opponents
MIN-NO 8-9
  • NO beats CAR
  • and MIN loses to GB
 ? strength of victory
MIN-NO MIN beats GB MIN common opponents
MIN-ATL MIN conference record
MIN-SF SF head-to-head
TB-ARI 12-5 TB beats NYJ ARI conference record
TB-ARI TB loses to NYJ TB common opponents
TB-LAR LAR head-to-head
NO-SF 9-8 SF beats HOU NO conference record
NO-SF
  • NO beats ATL and
  • SF loses to HOU
 NO common opponents
NO-SF 8-9 NO loses to ATL ? strength of victory
ATL-SF SF head-to-head

3-way ties

If these teams tie at with these things happening tie goes to based on
DAL-GB-TB DAL conference record
DAL-GB-ARI 12-5 DAL conference record
DAL-GB-LAR DAL conference record
DAL-TB-ARI 12-5 TB beats NYJ ARI
  1. DAL eliminated on head-to-head
  2. conference record
DAL-TB-ARI TB loses to NYJ TB
  1. DAL eliminated on head-to-head
  2. common opponents
DAL-TB-LAR DAL conference record
PHI-MIN-NO ? strength of victory
PHI-MIN-ATL PHI beats DAL PHI or MIN
  1. ATL eliminated on conference record
  2. strength of victory
PHI-MIN-ATL PHI loses to DAL MIN
  1. ATL eliminated on conference record
  2. common opponents
PHI-MIN-SF SF head-to-head
PHI-NO-SF 9-8 SF beats HOU SF
  1. PHI eliminated on head-to-head
  2. conference record
PHI-NO-SF
  • NO beats ATL and
  • SF loses to HOU
 NO
  1. PHI eliminated on head-to-head
  2. common opponents
PHI-NO-SF 8-9 NO loses to ATL NO or SF
  1. PHI eliminated on head-to-head
  2. common opponents
PHI-ATL-SF SF head-to-head
WAS-MIN-NO 8-9 WAS conference record
WAS-MIN-ATL 8-9 WAS conference record
WAS-MIN-SF 8-9 WAS conference record
WAS-NO-SF 8-9 WAS conference record
WAS-ATL-SF 8-9 WAS
  1. ATL eliminated on head-to-head
  2. conference record
GB-TB-ARI 12-5 TB beats NYJ GB
  1. TB eliminated on conference record
  2. head-to-head
GB-TB-ARI 12-5 TB loses to NYJ ? strength of victory
GB-TB-LAR 12-5
  • TB beats NYJ and
  • LAR beats BAL
 GB
  1. TB eliminated on conference record
  2. head-to-head
GB-TB-LAR 12-5
  • TB loses to NYJ and
  • LAR beats BAL
 ? strength of victory
GB-TB-LAR 12-5 LAR loses to BAL LAR conference record
MIN-NO-SF 9-8
  • MIN beats GB and
  • SF beats HOU
 MIN
  1. SF eliminated on conference record
  2. common opponents
MIN-NO-SF 9-8
  • MIN loses to GB and
  • SF beats HOU
 MIN or NO
  1. SF eliminated on conference record
  2. strength of victory
MIN-NO-SF SF loses to HOU ? strength of victory
MIN-ATL-SF SF head-to-head

4-way ties

If these teams tie at with these things happening tie goes to based on
DAL-GB-TB-ARI 12-5 DAL conference record
DAL-GB-TB-LAR DAL conference record
PHI-MIN-NO-SF 9-8 SF beats HOU PHI, MIN, or NO
  1. SF eliminated on conference record
  2. strength of victory
PHI-MIN-NO-SF SF loses to HOU ? strength of victory
PHI-MIN-ATL-SF SF head-to-head
WAS-MIN-NO-SF 8-9 WAS conference record
WAS-MIN-ATL-SF 8-9 WAS conference record

 

Jeremy Snyder

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