NFL 2021 Playoff Picture: Here are the 14 projected playoff teams with Rams, Bills securing division titles

After a wild Week 17, there’s not going to be much drama left for the final week of the 2021 NFL season and that’s because 11 of the NFL’s 14 playoff berths have now been clinched. 

Actually, there definitely might still be some drama and that’s because there are still hundreds of seeding possibilities despite the fact that there are only three available playoff spots. As a matter of fact, there are 256 seeding scenarios in the AFC alone. 

So who’s going to get those final three spots and how will the final playoff seedings shake out? That’s where our projections come in. Right now, the Packers are the only team that knows which seed they’ll be in the playoffs and that’s because they clinched the NFC’s top seed on Sunday. 

Every other seed is up for grabs. To help you figure out how this is all going to play out, we’re going to project the 14 playoff teams along with their seedings. These projections are based on data from number-cruncher Stephen Oh of SportsLine.com. Oh plugged some numbers into his SportsLine computer and simulated Week 18 more than 10,000 times, and using those numbers, we projected the entire playoff field. 

With that in mind, let’s get to this week’s playoff projections. Actually, before we do that, here’s a mock draft that you might want to read if your favorite team has already been eliminated from the playoffs. 

As for everyone else, let’s get to the projection. 

Note: Remember, this is a projection based on how we think the rest of the regular season will play out. If you want to see the current playoff standings, be sure to click here. For a breakdown of the current playoff picture, be sure to click here. SportsLine simulates every game leading up to the playoffs 10,000 times, and you can see the model’s picks both straight up and against the spread here.

AFC Playoff Projection

Here’s a list of the playoff chances for all the other AFC teams (their percentage chances of getting into the playoffs is listed next to them in parentheses): Raiders (49.6%), Steelers (6.6%), Ravens (2.4%), Dolphins (ELIMINATED), Browns ((ELIMINATED), Broncos (ELIMINATED), Jaguars (ELIMINATED), Jets (ELIMINATED), Texans (ELIMINATED). 

NFC Playoff Projection

Here’s a list of the playoff chances for all the other NFC teams (their percentage chances of getting into the playoffs is listed next to them in parentheses): Saints (36.5%), Vikings (ELIMINATED), Washington (ELIMINATED), Falcons (ELIMINATED), Seahawks (ELIMINATED), Giants (ELIMINATED), Panthers (ELIMINATED), Bears (ELIMINATED), Lions (ELIMINATED). 

Wild card round projection

AFC

(7) Chargers at (2) Chiefs

(6) Colts (3) Bills

(5) Patriots at (4) Bengals

Bye: Titans

NFC 

(7) Eagles at (2) Rams

(6) 49ers at (3) Buccaneers

(5) Cardinals at (4) Cowboys

Bye: Packers