Every week for the duration of the 2025 regular season, USA TODAY Sports will provide timely updates to the NFL's ever-evolving playoff picture – typically starting Sunday afternoon and then moving forward for the remainder of the week (through Monday's and Thursday's games or Saturday's, if applicable. And, when the holidays roll around, we'll be watching then, too).
What just happened? What does it mean? What are the pertinent factors (and, perhaps, tiebreakers) prominently in play as each conference's seven-team bracket begins to crystallize? All will be explained and analyzed up to the point when the postseason field is finalized Sunday, Jan. 4.
Here's where things stand as the final day of the 2025 regular season winds toward a conclusion:
yz − 1. Denver Broncos (14-3), AFC West champions: Sunday's win over the Chargers gave them home-field advantage and a first-round bye in a season which brought Denver's first division title in a decade − which was also the last time they won the Super Bowl. The common-games tiebreaker gives the Broncos the No. 1 seed instead of New England. Remaining schedule: TBD
y − 2. New England Patriots (14-3), AFC East champions: They have their first division title since 2019 even if they couldn't quite get up to the conference's top spot, as Tom Brady and Co. so frequently did. Remaining schedule: vs. Chargers
