NFL playoff picture entering Week 7: 49ers alone at 6–0, Browns top a three-way AFC North tie and the Ravens drop out

Week 6 is final after San Francisco’s 23–17 Monday night win over Washington, and the standings now show one 6–0 team, two more unbeaten clubs that have already had their byes, and an AFC in which six teams share a 4–2 record behind Kansas City and Buffalo.

If the season ended today, the seeds would be Kansas City, Buffalo, Jacksonville and Cleveland as AFC division leaders with New England, Denver and Pittsburgh as wild cards. In the NFC it would be San Francisco, Minnesota, Carolina and the New York Giants, with Green Bay, Chicago and Detroit taking the wild cards.

AFC: Chiefs at No. 1, six teams at 4–2

Kansas City (5–0) holds the top seed after a 22–6 win over the Chargers, with a 5–0 conference record and a +57 point differential. Buffalo (5–1) climbed from No. 4 to No. 2 with a 33–30 win at Las Vegas. Jacksonville stays No. 3 at 4–2 despite a 34–31 loss to Houston at Wembley; the Jaguars hold the edge over Cleveland, also 4–2, because they beat the Browns 34–10 in Week 1.

The AFC North is a three-way tie at 4–2. Cleveland leads it because it has beaten both rivals, Pittsburgh 27–24 in Week 4 and Baltimore 13–10 on Sunday, and is 2–0 in the division. Pittsburgh is next on its 1–1 division record. Baltimore, the No. 2 seed entering Week 6, has fallen to eighth, and Cincinnati is 3–2 coming off its bye.

New England, Denver and Pittsburgh hold the three wild-card spots. The Patriots’ 4–1 conference record is the best in that group, with Denver 2–1 against AFC teams and Pittsburgh 2–2. Baltimore is also 2–1 in the conference, but it ranks behind Pittsburgh inside the division, which keeps the Ravens out for now.

Las Vegas (3–3) has lost three straight and slid from the No. 7 seed to 10th. Miami (0–5) and the Chargers (0–6) are the last two winless teams, while Tennessee got its first win, 26–20 at Indianapolis.

AFC standings by seed after Week 6

Seed	Team	Record	Conf	Div	PF	PA	Diff	Streak	Status	Seed before Week 6
1	Kansas City Chiefs	5–0	5–0	3–0	140	83	+57	W5	Division leader	1
2	Buffalo Bills	5–1	3–1	0–1	197	171	+26	W2	Division leader	4
3	Jacksonville Jaguars	4–2	3–2	0–1	154	104	+50	L1	Division leader	3
4	Cleveland Browns	4–2	2–2	2–0	106	122	−16	W1	Division leader	8
5	New England Patriots	4–2	4–1	2–0	136	113	+23	W3	Wild card	5
6	Denver Broncos	4–2	2–1	1–1	114	125	−11	W2	Wild card	6
7	Pittsburgh Steelers	4–2	2–2	1–1	137	128	+9	W2	Wild card	9
8	Baltimore Ravens	4–2	2–1	0–1	156	132	+24	L1	Outside	2
9	Cincinnati Bengals	3–2	2–2	0–1	128	109	+19	W1	Outside	10
10	Las Vegas Raiders	3–3	2–3	1–1	162	162	0	L3	Outside	7
11	New York Jets	2–4	2–1	0–1	112	122	−10	L1	Outside	11
12	Indianapolis Colts	2–4	1–4	1–1	144	164	−20	L2	Outside	12
13	Houston Texans	2–4	2–3	2–1	144	143	+1	W2	Outside	13
14	Tennessee Titans	1–5	1–3	1–1	84	129	−45	W1	Outside	16
15	Miami Dolphins	0–5	0–3	0–0	70	132	−62	L5	Outside	14
16	Los Angeles Chargers	0–6	0–4	0–3	90	151	−61	L6	Outside	15

NFC: 49ers alone at 6–0, all four NFC North clubs in

San Francisco is 4–0 in the conference, 3–0 in the NFC West and +67 in point differential, the best margin in the league. Minnesota (5–0) is No. 2 after its bye. Carolina’s 25–14 win in Philadelphia moved the Panthers (3–2) up to No. 3 as NFC South leaders, ahead of the 3–2–1 Giants, who still lead the NFC East but dropped to No. 4 after a 34–27 home loss to New Orleans.

The wild cards all come from the NFC North for a second straight week: Green Bay (4–2) at No. 5, Chicago (4–2) at No. 6 and Detroit (3–2) at No. 7, so every team in the division would be in the field. The Packers sit ahead of the Bears on their 31–7 Week 5 win, and Detroit was on bye. Seattle is first out at 3–3 after losses to San Francisco and Denver.

Philadelphia has lost four straight and is 2–4, a game and a half behind the Giants. The Rams fell from No. 9 to 14th after an 18–16 home loss to Arizona. Washington (1–4–1) and Tampa Bay (1–5) are at the bottom of the conference.

NFC standings by seed after Week 6

Seed	Team	Record	Conf	Div	PF	PA	Diff	Streak	Status	Seed before Week 6
1	San Francisco 49ers	6–0	4–0	3–0	177	110	+67	W6	Division leader	1
2	Minnesota Vikings	5–0	4–0	2–0	109	64	+45	W5	Division leader	2
3	Carolina Panthers	3–2	3–1	1–0	146	123	+23	W2	Division leader	4
4	New York Giants	3–2–1	2–2–1	1–0–1	136	140	−4	L1	Division leader	3
5	Green Bay Packers	4–2	3–2	1–1	127	125	+2	W3	Wild card	5
6	Chicago Bears	4–2	3–2	0–2	150	119	+31	W1	Wild card	7
7	Detroit Lions	3–2	2–1	0–0	164	148	+16	W1	Wild card	6
8	Seattle Seahawks	3–3	1–2	1–1	148	122	+26	L2	Outside	8
9	Atlanta Falcons	2–4	2–2	1–1	142	153	−11	L2	Outside	10
10	New Orleans Saints	2–4	1–3	0–1	152	178	−26	W1	Outside	15
11	Philadelphia Eagles	2–4	1–3	1–0	106	137	−31	L4	Outside	11
12	Dallas Cowboys	2–4	1–3	1–1	151	159	−8	L2	Outside	12
13	Arizona Cardinals	2–4	1–4	1–2	126	178	−52	W1	Outside	16
14	Los Angeles Rams	2–4	2–2	0–2	135	138	−3	L2	Outside	9
15	Washington Commanders	1–4–1	1–3–1	0–2–1	132	172	−40	L1	Outside	13
16	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	1–5	1–2	0–0	119	138	−19	L1	Outside	14

Division races

Division	Leader	Record	Closest chaser	Record	Games back
AFC East	Buffalo Bills	5–1	New England Patriots	4–2	1
AFC North	Cleveland Browns	4–2	Pittsburgh Steelers, Baltimore Ravens	4–2	0
AFC South	Jacksonville Jaguars	4–2	Indianapolis Colts, Houston Texans	2–4	2
AFC West	Kansas City Chiefs	5–0	Denver Broncos	4–2	1.5
NFC East	New York Giants	3–2–1	Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys	2–4	1.5
NFC North	Minnesota Vikings	5–0	Green Bay Packers, Chicago Bears	4–2	1.5
NFC South	Carolina Panthers	3–2	New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons	2–4	1.5
NFC West	San Francisco 49ers	6–0	Seattle Seahawks	3–3	3

Biggest seed changes in Week 6

Team	Conf	Seed before Week 6	Seed now	Week 6
Buffalo Bills	AFC	4	2	W 33–30 at Raiders
Cleveland Browns	AFC	8	4	W 13–10 vs. Ravens
Pittsburgh Steelers	AFC	9	7	W 26–19 at Buccaneers
Baltimore Ravens	AFC	2	8	L 10–13 at Browns
Las Vegas Raiders	AFC	7	10	L 30–33 vs. Bills
Carolina Panthers	NFC	4	3	W 25–14 at Eagles
New York Giants	NFC	3	4	L 27–34 vs. Saints
Chicago Bears	NFC	7	6	W 31–23 at Falcons
Detroit Lions	NFC	6	7	Bye
New Orleans Saints	NFC	15	10	W 34–27 at Giants
Los Angeles Rams	NFC	9	14	L 16–18 vs. Cardinals
Tennessee Titans	AFC	16	14	W 26–20 at Colts

Week 7 games that can move the picture

Two AFC division leaders, Buffalo and Jacksonville, are on bye along with the Chargers and Washington. That puts the spotlight on Cleveland’s trip to Tennessee and Cincinnati’s visit to Baltimore, which decide whether the AFC North tie survives another week. In the NFC, Green Bay at Detroit is a direct wild-card game between the No. 5 and No. 7 seeds, and Kansas City’s Sunday night trip to Seattle pits the AFC’s top seed against the first NFC team out.

Game	Kickoff (ET)	Cairo time	Note
Patriots (AFC 5) at Bears (NFC 6)	Thu, Oct. 22, 8:15 p.m.	Fri 03:15
Steelers (AFC 7) vs. Saints (NFC 10)	Sun, Oct. 25, 9:30 a.m.	Sun 16:30	Stade de France, Paris
Bengals (AFC 9) at Ravens (AFC 8)	Sun, 1:00 p.m.	Sun 20:00
Browns (AFC 4) at Titans (AFC 14)	Sun, 1:00 p.m.	Sun 20:00
49ers (NFC 1) at Falcons (NFC 9)	Sun, 1:00 p.m.	Sun 20:00
Colts (AFC 12) at Vikings (NFC 2)	Sun, 1:00 p.m.	Sun 20:00
Giants (NFC 4) at Texans (AFC 13)	Sun, 1:00 p.m.	Sun 20:00
Buccaneers (NFC 16) at Panthers (NFC 3)	Sun, 1:00 p.m.	Sun 20:00
Dolphins (AFC 15) at Jets (AFC 11)	Sun, 1:00 p.m.	Sun 20:00
Broncos (AFC 6) at Cardinals (NFC 13)	Sun, 4:05 p.m.	Sun 23:05
Packers (NFC 5) at Lions (NFC 7)	Sun, 4:25 p.m.	Sun 23:25
Rams (NFC 14) at Raiders (AFC 10)	Sun, 4:25 p.m.	Sun 23:25
Chiefs (AFC 1) at Seahawks (NFC 8)	Sun, 8:20 p.m.	Mon 03:20
Cowboys (NFC 12) at Eagles (NFC 11)	Mon, Oct. 26, 8:15 p.m.	Tue 03:15

Byes in Week 7: Buffalo, Jacksonville, Los Angeles Chargers, Washington.

This is a snapshot of the current order from completed games only. Clinching and elimination are not in play yet, and the seeds will start shifting again with Thursday night’s game in Chicago.