Much of the NFL playoff picture has been resolved after Week 17, but there’s still a wild chase for the top seeds in each conference.
The NFC South could come down to a Week 18 meeting between the Panthers and Buccaneers … provided the Falcons don’t throw a wrench into things.
The AFC North champion will be decided by the Steelers and Ravens’ showdown after Pittsburgh stumbled against Cleveland.
The 32 things we learned from Week 17 of the 2025 NFL season:
0. The number of losses suffered on the road this season by the New England Patriots, who wound up with their first AFC East title in six years by Sunday’s end. Their 42-10 rout of the New York Jets made the Pats the second team (along with the San Francisco 49ers) to have three undefeated seasons on the road since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
1. As in the Las Vegas Raiders, who now occupy the top spot of the 2026 NFL Draft after (decisively) losing Sunday’s game to the New York Giants in a matchup of teams that were 2-13 entering the weekend.
2. The number of playoff spots available heading into Week 18 – basically the still unclaimed titles in the AFC North and NFC South. It seems likely the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers plus the Carolina Panthers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers will decide who wins those crowns on the field … unless the Atlanta Falcons keep winning and throw a minor wrench into the NFC South showdown. (If all three teams finish 8-9, the Panthers win the division due to a 3-1 record against the other two squads.)
3. The number of net passing yards the Minnesota Vikings had in their Christmas win over the Detroit Lions, who were eliminated by the Vikes despite their defensive effort – which included seven sacks (for minus-48 yards) of Minnesota rookie QB Max Brosmer.
4. The jersey number of suspended Steelers WR DK Metcalf. Think the team could have used him Sunday in a game it lost 13-6 to the lowly Cleveland Browns? Pittsburgh, which had just 160 net passing yards in its defeat, blew a chance to win the AFC North and will now have to do so by sweeping the archrival Baltimore Ravens in Week 18 at Acrisure Stadium.
5. The number of TD passes thrown Sunday by Patriots QB Drake Maye, a career high, in what was something of a historic performance. Was it enough to cap a league MVP résumé? LA Rams QB Matthew Stafford gets to respond Monday night in Atlanta.
6. The jersey number of New Orleans Saints QB Tyler Shough, who outplayed fellow rookie QB Cam Ward of the Tennessee Titans on Sunday while leading the Saints to a fourth straight win. New Orleans WR Chris Olave certainly thinks Shough has done enough to be the Offensive Rookie of the Year.
7. The number of times Ravens RB Derrick Henry has rushed for 200 yards in a game – as he did during Saturday night’s victory in Green Bay − during his 10-year career, the most in NFL history. His 216 yards were the most ever by an opposing player at Lambeau Field.
8. Henry also tied his career high with four TD runs against the Packers and now has 122 in his career, fourth most ever. With two more, he’ll overtake Hall of Famer Marcus Allen for third place.
9. But maybe the craziest stat from Henry’s huge night was his career-high (in the NFL anyway) 36 carries.
9a. FWIW, Henry had at least 36 carries (including 46 on one occasion) four different times while at the University of Alabama. Nick Saban – not worried about tread on the tires.
10. The number of catches Sunday for the Arizona Cardinals’ Trey McBride, giving him 119 in 2025 – a new single-season record for a tight end.
11. Anybody want to win the NFC South? The Buccaneers and Panthers both lost Sunday – and that’s seven defeats in the last eight outings for the Bucs, who’ve won the division every year since 2021.
12. Carolina last won the division in 2015 … when they also reached Super Bowl 50 … which was staged in Santa Clara, Calif. … as it will be this season. The same is true of the Denver Broncos, who won that Super Bowl, Peyton Manning’s final NFL game.
13. The number of games (at least) Seattle Seahawks QB Sam Darnold has won each of the past two seasons … putting him in pretty select company. He’s the only one of the bunch to manage this while playing for two different teams after he came over from the Vikings earlier this year.
14. The jersey number of former NFL QB Ryan Fitzpatrick. If only he’d been wearing it Thursday night in Kansas City while on Prime Video’s postgame desk.
15. Jacksonville Jaguars QB Trevor Lawrence has rushed for nine TDs this season, nearly double his previous career high (5). His team will claim the AFC South with one more win.
16. Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen, 29, accounted for his 300th career regular-season TD on Sunday in his 127th game, making him the fastest ever to reach the mark.
17. The jersey number of Indianapolis Colts QB Philip Rivers. If this was truly it … shoot, we must admit your three-game return livened up December.
18. Unfortunately, the Colts became the first team in 30 years to miss the playoffs after a 7-1 start.
19. The San Francisco 49ers’ Thomas Morstead punted Sunday night … for the first time since November.
20. Elsewhere, the Packers haven’t punted in their past two games … yet managed to lose both – the first team to ever go 0-2 in such an instance.
21. The number of yards covered by Cincinnati Bengals OT Cody Ford’s first career reception after he hooked up with QB Joe Burrow. Sunday was Ford’s 29th birthday.
21a. Per the league’s research department, Ford’s play set a new record among big men.
22.Stillthe number of sacks Cleveland Browns DE Myles Garrett has this season – still one shy of breaking the single-season record of 22½, which has been achieved twice since sacks became an official statistic in 1982.
23. Garrett had 21½ in his first fourteen games but just a half-sack in his past two.
24. He didn’t bag QB Aaron Rodgers in Sunday’s upset of the Steelers, the first time Garrett had been held sack-less since Oct. 12.
25. Like the Eagles? The father-son play-by-play duo of Ian and Noah Eagle worked called four NFL games between Christmas and Sunday.
26. Like the Eagles? Philadelphia is now 11-5, the team’s modest three-game winning streak extended by Sunday’s win at Buffalo.
27. The defending Super Bowl champions can’t earn the NFC’s No. 1 seed, yet they didn’t have it last season, either – and that worked out pretty well.
28. Speaking of top seeds, the Broncos and Seahawks need one more victory to secure them in the AFC and NFC, respectively. Super Bowl 48 rematch, anyone?
29. Denver’s Sean Payton joined Bill Belichick as the only head coaches in league history to win at least 13 regular-season games in at least five different seasons.
30. The Houston Texans became the only team to make the playoffs on two separate occasions following an 0-3 start to a season.
31. Per NBC, Niners QB Brock Purdy became the first player ever to pass for a TD, rush for a TD and throw a pick-six all in the first quarter of a game.
32. Week 18, folks, when much will be decided going into the Super Bowl 60 tournament … even as 18 teams go away until next season. Enjoy.