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. (Example: the only way MIA and BUF wind up with the same record at the end of the season is if BUF beats MIA Week 18.)
- Ties that don’t affect playoff berths or seeding are not shown. (Examples: any tie at fewer than 10 wins, or any tie involving 11-6 non-division winner CLE and 11-6 West winner KC.)
- 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.
- BAL has clinched the AFC North and the #1 seed. KC has clinched the AFC West.
- MIA, CLE, and HOU have clinched playoff spots.
- NE, TEN, LAC, NYJ, LV, CIN, DEN, and IND have been eliminated.
The complete tiebreaker rules are here.
Jump to East |South | Interdivisional ties 2-way • 3-way
AFC East
| If these teams tie | at | tie goes to | based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| MIA-BUF | 11-6 | BUF | head-to-head |
AFC South
| If these teams tie | at | tie goes to | based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| JAX-HOU | 10-6 | JAX | division record |
Interdivisional ties
2-way ties
| If these teams tie | at | tie goes to | based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| MIA-CLE | 11-6 | CLE | conference record |
| BUF-PIT | 10-7 | PIT | conference record |
| BUF-HOU | 10-7 | HOU | conference record |
| BUF-KC | 11-6 | BUF | head-to-head |
| PIT-HOU | 10-7 | HOU | head-to-head |
| JAX-KC | 10-7 | KC | head-to-head |
| HOU-KC | 10-7 | KC | conference record |
3-way ties
| If these teams tie | at | tie goes to | based on |
|---|---|---|---|
| BUF-PIT-HOU | 10-7 | HOU |
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