The Week 18 schedule is set.
With just one game remaining in the 2025 NFL regular season and plenty of playoff seeding still up for grabs, the NFL schedule-makers flexed some doozies for the Saturday games and Sunday Night Football.
Below we’ll take a look at the updated schedule and analyze the seeding ramifications for next week’s matchups.
Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers (-3, per DraftKings): 4:30 p.m. ET
Seattle Seahawks (-1.5) at San Francisco 49ers: 8 p.m. ET
Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings (-6.5): 1 p.m. ET
Cleveland Browns at Cincinnati Bengals (-7): 1 p.m. ET
Indianapolis Colts at Houston Texans (-10): 1 p.m. ET
Dallas Cowboys (-5.5) at New York Giants: 1 p.m. ET
New Orleans Saints at Atlanta Falcons (-2.5): 1 p.m. ET
Tennessee Titans at Jacksonville Jaguars (-10.5): 1 p.m. ET
New York Jets at Buffalo Bills (-11.5): 4:25 p.m. ET
Detroit Lions at Chicago Bears (-1.5): 4:25 p.m. ET
Los Angeles Chargers at Denver Broncos (-7.5): 4:25 p.m. ET
Kansas City Chiefs (-6) at Las Vegas Raiders: 4:25 p.m. ET
Arizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Rams (-8.5): 4:25 p.m. ET
Miami Dolphins and New England Patriots (-10): 4:25 p.m. ET
Washington Commanders at Philadelphia Eagles (-7.5): 4:25 p.m. ET
Baltimore Ravens (-3.5) at Pittsburgh Steelers: 8:20 p.m. ET
Only two playoff berths are still up for grabs, and both are for divisional titles: The AFC North title will be decided between the Ravens and Steelers, and the NFC South title will be decided between the Panthers and Bucs. That always made it likely that each matchup would get either the Saturday or Sunday night treatment (and given the heated rivalry between the Ravens and Steelers, it always felt likely that the clash would close the regular season).
Both winners are locked into place as the No. 4 seed in their respective conferences.
Plenty of seeding will be determined in Week 18 as well. The Broncos are a win away from clinching the top seed in the AFC and earning a bye, though a loss will open the door for the Patriots to grab the top seed. A Broncos loss and wins by the Patriots and Jaguars would drop the Broncos to the No. 3 seed. A Jacksonville win paired with Denver and New England losses would see the Jaguars ascend to the AFC’s top spot.
If the Jaguars lose next week and the Texans win, however, Houston would win the AFC South and earn the No. 3 seed in the conference.
The NFC’s top spot is a bit more cut-and-dry: The winner of Week 18’s matchup between the Seahawks and Niners will earn the top overall seed and NFC West title.
The No. 2 seed in the NFC remains up for grabs as well. The Bears are currently the frontrunners for that berth, but a Chicago loss and Philadelphia win next week would see the Eagles leapfrog the Bears.
There could be plenty of other shuffling among the league’s Wild Card teams as well. In the AFC, the Texans, Chargers and Bills have identical 11-5 records. In the NFC, only the Packers are locked into being the No. 7 seed, while the Rams are guaranteed to be the No. 5 seed if they win out.
The top overall pick will also be up for grabs, with the Raiders the clear frontrunner after getting blown out by the Giants on Sunday in a battle of cellar-dwellers. If the Raiders lose to the Patrick Mahomes-less Chiefs on Sunday, they’ll clinch the top overall selection. If they win that game, a number of permutations suddenly are in play, with four three-loss teams entering the week.
So much remains at stake. Week 18 is gonna be fun.
