The NFL is the most unpredictable sports league on the planet, and we got a good taste of that in Week 7 with TWO undefeated teams going down (49ers and Chiefs). Last week, we had those two teams projected to land the top seeds in the AFC and NFC, but our projection has now been turned upside down. So who's going to earn the top seed in each conference?
To help us figure out, we had our analytics expert, Stephen Oh, simulate the rest of the 2026 season. There are 165 games left on the regular-season schedule, along with 13 playoff games, and Oh simulated all of them. Not only did he project all eight division winners and the 14 playoff teams, but he also crowned a Super Bowl champion.
With that in mind, let's get to the projections. And just as a reminder, we're projecting what the NFL playoff field will look like at the end of the season. This is NOT the current playoff standings.
The AFC playoff projection underwent some massive changes this week. Thanks to the Chiefs' loss in Week 7, the Bills are now projected to earn the No. 1 overall seed in the AFC. Here's the projected AFC playoff field (with each team's current record): 1.
Bills (5-1) -- AFC East champion 2. Chiefs (5-1) -- AFC West champion 3. Jaguars (4-2) -- AFC South champion 4.
Bengals (4-2) -- AFC North champion 5. Ravens (4-3) JUST MISSED: Patriots (4-3), Browns (5-2) Besides the Bills moving up to the top, the other notable change here is that the Bengals are now projected to win the AFC North. The Bengals made history in Week 7 by becoming the first team in 75 years to win a game by at least 20 points after trailing by at least 13 points at halftime.
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