Playoff Picture entering Week 11: Woe in Washington

Field Level Media
11 Nov 2025, 23:10 GMT+10

(Photo credit: David Reginek-Imagn Images)

Good news, Commanders fans: At 3-7, Washington can still become bowl eligible this season.

Bad news: Six wins won't mean much in the NFL, and those Super Bowl thoughts percolating in January when the Commanders crashed the NFC Championship game are a distant memory.

Hard times are hanging around the NFC East. The Philadelphia Eagles are the lone playoff contender at this early stage in the race, the Dallas Cowboys have three wins and the New York Giants fired head coach Brian Daboll after a 2-8 start to 2025.

Philadelphia (7-2) outlasted the Green Bay Packers on Monday night. Now the Eagles are in a spotlight game with the Detroit Lions (6-3) in what sets up as a massive week for the playoff standings, potential tiebreakers and even a couple last-chance turnarounds.

The headlines on the Week 11 schedule are the AFC West duel in Denver between the Broncos (8-2) and Kansas City Chiefs (5-4). Kansas City currently is out of the playoffs and the No. 8 seed on the heels of the Jacksonville Jaguars (5-4), who own a head-to-head win over KC. The Broncos are right in the thick of the race for the AFC's first-round bye and home field with the Indianapolis Colts (8-2) and New England Patriots (8-2).

Indianapolis beat Denver 29-28 in Week 2 and is one of two teams with just one loss against conference teams (6-1). The Chargers (6-3) are the AFC's other one-loss team.

NFC playoff standings are a rollercoaster.

A three-point home loss Monday cost the Packers (5-3-1) the top spot in the NFC and then some. They enter Week 11 as the last team in the conference bracket with a ticket to play in Seattle in the wild-card round based on current standings.

In pursuit of the Eagles, the Seahawks (7-2) and Rams (7-2) duel Sunday for the top spot in the NFC West and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6-3) visit the Buffalo Bills (6-3).

How crowded is the NFC West? The loser of Rams-Seahawks slides from the No. 2 spot in the conference to a potential trip to Tampa -- or Carolina -- depending on how the NFC South shakes out.

And the six-win 49ers, who have wins at Seattle and Los Angeles, are not in the playoffs at the moment.

Here is a complete look at the playoff bracket in each conference after 10 weeks:

AFC

First Round Bye: 1. Indianapolis Colts (8-2)

7. Jacksonville Jaguars (5-4) at 2. Denver Broncos (8-2)

6. Buffalo Bills (6-3) at 3. New England Patriots (8-2)

5. Los Angeles Chargers (7-3) at 4. Pittsburgh Steelers (5-4)

Wild-card contenders:

8. Kansas City Chiefs (5-4)

9. Houston Texans (4-5); Texans own a head-to-head win over the Ravens.

10. Baltimore Ravens (4-5)

11. Cincinnati Bengals (3-6)