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Three different Week 17 games in the NFL set up two extremely important matchups for the regular season finale across the league next week.
The NFC South and AFC North divisions will both be decided by who wins, as the Carolina Panthers, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Pittsburgh Steelers all lost on Sunday.
The first two teams, the Panthers and Bucs, are division rivals who both knew what was at stake going into their contests against the Seattle Seahawks and Miami Dolphins, respectively.
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Aaron Rodgers of the Pittsburgh Steelers reacts during the second quarter of the game against the Cleveland Browns at Huntington Bank Field on December 28, 2025 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Nick Cammett/Getty Images)
For the Panthers, a win at home against the Seahawks meant winning the NFC South. But Seattle had already clinched their spot in the playoffs and owned the top seed in the NFC with a 12-3 record heading into the game.
Bryce Young and company were unable to get anything going against a suffocating Seattle defense that has been one of the best units in the league all season. Young scored a meaningless touchdown in the fourth quarter, but the Seahawks rallied with a 27-10 victory on the road to help their No. 1 seed status.
Meanwhile, the Bucs knew they would definitely like Carolina to lose to the Seahawks, but they had to take care of the Dolphins to have a better chance at winning the division.
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Instead, Baker Mayfield struggled to regain consistency on offense, throwing two interceptions and two touchdowns in a 20-17 loss to Quinn Ewers and the Dolphins. Miami’s seventh-round pick was 14-of-22 for 172 yards with two touchdown passes in the win that put the Dolphins at 7-9, though their playoff hopes were already done.
Looking at the NFC South standings, the Bucs sit at 7-9 after losing their fourth straight game, while the Panthers are at 8-8.
So how would the Buccaneers win the division if they both have the same record at the end of Week 18 (8-9)? When you look at the NFL tiebreaker rules, it begins with a head-to-head matchup. The Panthers took their first meeting, a 23-20 win, so it would be split if Tampa Bay wins in Week 18.
Then the tiebreaker would be a division record, but a Buccaneers win would mean the same division record for both themselves and the Panthers (3-3). Next on the list is record in regular games, meaning the contests in which they have faced the same opponent. The Buccaneers have the Panthers beat in that category given their win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 13, while the Panthers lost in Week 2 to the same Arizona team.
Bryce Young of the Carolina Panthers is seen before playing the Seattle Seahawks at Bank of America Stadium on December 28, 2025 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
By advancing to the AFC North, Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers would have wrapped up the division title with a bow if they could take care of business against the Cleveland Browns on the road. But the Browns’ defense had other things in mind at the end.
It all came down to the final play of the game, when Rodgers led his Steelers down the field into the red zone, hoping they could secure their first touchdown of the game and maybe go for two points to win 14-13.
But a controversial fourth-and-goal completion occurred when Rodgers attempted to loft a pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling in the end zone, and Browns cornerback Denzel Ward appeared to throw a pass as he hit him before making contact with the ball. However, no flag was thrown and the Browns celebrated at home as they might have spoiled their rival’s chances of winning the division.
The Steelers still control their own destiny, though the Baltimore Ravens now have a chance to do the same.
The Ravens started the year in stunning fashion 1-5, and it looked like the playoffs were not in the cards. That all changed in recent weeks, and Derrick Henry’s best game of his career came at the perfect time Saturday night in Green Bay, when he scored four touchdowns to help the Ravens beat the Packers and move to 8-8.
Everyone supporting the Ravens was watching intently to see if the Browns could pull through at home, and they did just that.
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Whoever wins the Week 18 matchup at Acrisure Stadium between the Ravens and Steelers will be crowned AFC North champions and earn a spot in the playoffs.
Week 18 looked like an NFL slate without the kind of matchups where many teams had already punched their tickets to the playoffs.
Now two key rivalry games have everything on the line with division titles on the line.
