NFL Playoff Bracket 2019: Standings after Sunday in Week 12
Week 12 featured some crucially important games with postseason implications on Sunday and this is how the NFL Playoff bracket now shakes out.
We’ve officially reached the point of the regular season when the 2019 NFL Playoff bracket is going to be shuffled with every win and loss throughout the league. That may be truer in the AFC than the NFC where at least 10 teams are still quite alive in the postseason race but even in the other conference, the seeding is changing at the top as things are exceptionally tight.
NFL Week 12 featured a litany of games with big postseason implications. Thursday’s matchup with Deshaun Watson and the Texans topping the Colts gave Houston the AFC South lead. Meanwhile, Russell Wilson‘s Seattle Seahawks came through in Philly to stay dominant. The Browns, Titans and Steelers stayed alive as well with wins, though Cleveland and Tennessee’s were far more impressive.
For the real marquee games of the day, though, the Dallas Cowboys found themselves overmatched by the vaunted New England Patriots defense in a cold, rainy game. The same too can be said for the Packers, who went to San Francisco and got their brakes beat off on Sunday Night Football by the 49ers.
More from NFL Spin Zone
- Dallas Cowboys made the trade everyone else should have made
- Pittsburgh Steelers rookie sleeper everyone should be talking about
- Anthony Richardson putting jaw-dropping talent on display immediately
- Denver Broncos’ stud wide receiver might be out for a while
- Washington Commanders: Three takeaways from win over Ravens
So where does all of this action leave us after Sunday in Week 12? This is how the 2019 NFL Playoff bracket shakes out after these games throughout the league, starting with the AFC.
AFC Playoff Picture
6 Pittsburgh Steelers (6-5) at 3 Houston Texans (7-4)
5 Buffalo Bills (8-3) at Kansas City Chiefs (7-4)
First-Round Byes: 1 New England Patriots (10-1), 2 Baltimore Ravens (8-2)
Still In The Hunt: 7 Oakland Raiders (6-5), 8 Indianapolis Colts (6-5), 9 Tennessee Titans (6-5), 10 Cleveland Browns (5-6)
Talk about a paper tiger, the Steelers — a team that benched a struggling Mason Rudolph against the Bengals on Sunday — would make the NFL Playoffs if the season ended after Week 12. Given how that team looks and how the quarterback has been playing, it feels safe to assume that the second Wild Card spot is up for grabs.
Unlike in the NFC side, the AFC side of the NFL Playoff bracket has teams chomping at the bit to get that final spot. The Raiders had a letdown against the Jets and the Colts lost too but the Titans and Browns seem to be peaking at the right time and may be primed to make a run. The race between Ryan Tannehill and Baker Mayfield, just like we all thought it’d come down to.
Baltimore has been red-hot behind Lamar Jackson lately and their Monday night game, I suspect, will only further prove that. Meanwhile, the cold-weather Patriots aren’t winning with style points but are still winning, as they always do. And though the records of the Chiefs, Texans and even Bills look great, they have all shown flaws this season and need to shore things up over the final five weeks.
NFC Playoff Picture
6 Minnesota Vikings (8-3) at 3 Green Bay Packers (8-3)
5 Seattle Seahawks (9-2) at 4 Dallas Cowboys (6-5)
First-Round Byes: 1 San Francisco 49ers (10-1), 2 New Orleans Saints (9-2)
Still In The Hunt: 7 Los Angeles Rams (6-4), 9 Philadelphia Eagles (5-6)
It truly does feel as if only the Rams — depending on how they play on Monday Night Football — have a chance at making their way into the Wild Card race in the NFC. The next closest team is the Chicago Bears (also at 5-6) and that three-game deficit seems like too much to overcome.
Also in the hunt, though, is the Eagles. Though they’ve lost two consecutive tough games, Philadelphia remains only one game out of the NFC East lead and have another meeting with the Cowboys looming. Carson Wentz and the birds haven’t looked their best lately but the chance is very much still there.
At the top of this side of the NFL Playoff bracket, though, the 49ers look quite dominant right now and the Packers have now lost their first-round bye. Perhaps more than that, Green Bay now has the same record as the Vikings and we could be looking at a down-to-the-wire battle in the NFC North.
Next. NFL Power Rankings: 49ers thrash Packers, Pats handle Cowboys. dark
That, however, is not the case in the NFC South where Drew Brees and the Saints are running away with things in a down year for the division. The only question for New Orleans is if they’ll be able to hold onto their first-round bye at this point. And after seeing Green Bay on Sunday night, that looks like it might be in the bag.