NFL tiebreakers explained: how teams level on record are separated for a division title and a wild-card place, step by step, from head-to-head to coin toss.
How NFL tiebreakers work
NFL tiebreakers decide the order of teams that finish with the same winning percentage. A tie in a game counts as half a win and half a loss, so two teams are only level when their percentages match exactly. When they do, the league runs a fixed list of steps, one at a time, and the first step that separates the teams settles it. Head-to-head comes first, a coin toss comes last, and in practice almost every tie is settled in the first four or five steps.
There are two lists. The division tiebreakers decide who wins a division and the order inside it. The wild-card tiebreakers decide the order of teams from different divisions, which matters for the three wild-card places and for seeding the four division winners. You can follow both races on the NFL standings, and on the AFC and NFC tables.
Why ties are common in the NFL
Each team plays seventeen games over eighteen weeks: six against its own division, four against another division in its conference, four against a division in the other conference and three more set by last season's finish. With so few games, records bunch up. Two or three teams finishing 10-7 or 9-8 in the same race is a normal December, not a rare one, which is why the order of the steps below matters every season.
Division tiebreakers: two teams
When two teams in the same division finish level, the league works down this list until one step separates them:
- Head-to-head: the better record in the games between the two teams. Division rivals meet twice, as the Ravens and Steelers head-to-head record shows, so a sweep settles it; a split moves on to step 2.
- Division record: the better winning percentage in games within the division.
- Common games: the better winning percentage in games against opponents both teams played.
- Conference record: the better winning percentage in games within the conference.
- Strength of victory: the higher combined winning percentage of the teams each one beat.
- Strength of schedule: the higher combined winning percentage of all the teams each one played.
- Conference points ranking: the best combined ranking among conference teams in points scored and points allowed.
- League points ranking: the best combined ranking among all teams in points scored and points allowed.
- Net points in common games.
- Net points in all games.
- Net touchdowns in all games.
- Coin toss.
The early steps reward results that the two teams can control directly: beating each other, then winning inside the division. Strength of victory and strength of schedule are the first steps that depend on other teams' results, which is why a tiebreaker can still change on the last Sunday even when neither team involved plays well or badly.
Division tiebreakers: three or more teams
With three or more teams level in a division, the steps are almost the same, but head-to-head means the combined record of the games among all the tied teams. The league runs the list until one team is separated, either at the top or at the bottom. Once a team drops out, the others start again from step 1: if two are left, they go back to the two-team list above, so head-to-head between those two can decide it even if it did not decide the three-way tie.
Wild-card tiebreakers: two teams
When two teams from different divisions finish level for a wild-card place, the list changes, because the teams may not have played each other and do not share a division:
- Head-to-head, if they played.
- Conference record.
- Common games, with a minimum of four.
- Strength of victory.
- Strength of schedule.
- Conference points ranking.
- League points ranking.
- Net points in conference games.
- Net points in all games.
- Net touchdowns in all games.
- Coin toss.
The big difference from the division list is that conference record comes second. A team that has won its games against the other conference but lost inside its own can find itself behind a team with the same overall record, which is worth remembering when you read a wild-card race in the final weeks. The AFC standings and NFC standings put every team in the conference in one table, with conference records alongside.
If the two teams are from the same division, the division tiebreakers decide it instead.
Wild-card tiebreakers: three or more teams
Three-way and four-way wild-card ties are where most of the confusion comes from. The league does it in two stages:
- One team per division: if two or more of the tied teams share a division, the division tiebreakers are applied first, and only the highest-ranked team from each division stays in the wild-card tie.
- Head-to-head sweep: head-to-head only counts if one team beat every other team in the tie, or lost to every other team. Otherwise it is skipped.
- Conference record, then common games (minimum of four), strength of victory, strength of schedule and the points steps, as in the two-team list.
As soon as one team is separated, the rest start again: two remaining teams go back to the two-team wild-card list, and three remaining teams go back to the start of the three-team list. That restart is why a team can win a three-way tie and still lose a two-way tie to one of the same teams a step later.
How the playoff seeds are set
Seven teams from each conference reach the playoffs. The four division winners are seeds 1 to 4, ordered by record, and the three best remaining teams are seeds 5 to 7. A division winner is always seeded above every wild-card team, even one with a better record. Only the 1 seed has a bye in the first round. The NFL playoff bracket shows the seeds and every round once the field is set.
When two division winners finish with the same record, the wild-card tiebreakers, not the division ones, decide which of them is seeded higher, because they come from different divisions. The same is true for the order of the wild-card teams.
Reading a tiebreaker race in December
- Start with head-to-head. It is step 1 in both lists, so check whether the tied teams have met and whether a second meeting is still to come. The NFL schedule has every week, and each of the 32 team pages has its own.
- Division races turn on division games. The last weeks of the schedule are heavy on division games, and each one counts twice for the tiebreaker: once in the overall record and again in the division record. The NFL standings show that record in its own column.
- Wild-card races turn on conference games. A conference win is worth more than a win against the other conference once a tie is in play.
- Strength of victory is a moving target. It depends on how the teams you beat finish, so it can change in a week your team does not play. The NFL power rankings show which of those teams are rising or falling.
The NFL standings have every division's table, with home, road, division and conference records side by side, and each division has its own page: the AFC East, AFC North, AFC South, AFC West, NFC East, NFC North, NFC South and NFC West. The NFL futures page has the Statz model's division-winner and playoff chances for all 32 teams.
Frequently asked questions
What is the first NFL tiebreaker?
Head-to-head is the first NFL tiebreaker, for a division title and for a wild-card place alike. Two teams level on winning percentage are separated by their record in the games they played against each other. In a wild-card tie between three or more teams it only counts if one team beat all the others or lost to all of them.
How do NFL tiebreakers work for the wild card?
For a wild card, the NFL first keeps only the best-placed team from each division in the tie, using the division tiebreakers. It then compares head-to-head (only a sweep counts with three or more teams), conference record, common games with a minimum of four, strength of victory and strength of schedule, followed by points rankings, net points and a coin toss.
What is strength of victory in the NFL?
Strength of victory is the combined winning percentage of the teams a club has beaten. A team whose wins came against good teams has a higher strength of victory. It is the fifth division tiebreaker and the fourth wild-card tiebreaker, and it can change in a week the team does not play, because it depends on other results.
What is the difference between strength of victory and strength of schedule?
Strength of victory counts only the opponents a team beat, while strength of schedule counts every opponent it played, win or lose. Both use those opponents' combined winning percentage. Strength of victory comes first in both tiebreaker lists, and strength of schedule is used only if strength of victory is level.
Does a division winner always get a home playoff game?
Yes. The four division winners in each conference are seeded 1 to 4 and host a playoff game, even when a wild-card team from the same conference finished with a better record. The 1 seed skips the first round with a bye, so its first home game is in the divisional round.
Has an NFL tiebreaker ever gone to a coin toss?
A coin toss is the last step on both lists, after net points and net touchdowns. It exists so that every tie can be settled, but with so many steps before it, a playoff place decided by a coin toss is extremely rare. Almost every tie is settled by head-to-head, division or conference record, common games or strength of victory.