NFL Playoff Standings 2022: Records, Postseason Scenarios and Wild Card Review

Just 14 teams remain in the hunt for Super Bowl bliss after the 2021 NFL regular season came to a close Sunday.

Only eight will remain after the upcoming weekend, when the six-game Wild Card Round nearly slices the field in half.

Let's not waste any time then and get down to business by recapping the final playoff standings, examining the possible postseason scenarios and taking an early look at the wild-card contests.

AFC

1. Tennessee Titans: 12-5

2. Kansas City Chiefs: 12-5

3. Buffalo Bills: 11-6

4. Cincinnati Bengals: 10-7

5. Las Vegas Raiders: 10-7

6. New England Patriots: 10-7

7. Pittsburgh Steelers: 9-7-1

NFC

1. Green Bay Packers: 13-4

2. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 13-4

3. Dallas Cowboys: 12-5

4. Los Angeles Rams: 12-5

5. Arizona Cardinals: 11-6

6. San Francisco 49ers: 10-7

7. Philadelphia Eagles: 9-8

If the higher seeds hold serve, then the NFL playoffs are easy to map out.

The top seeds in each conference, Tennessee and Green Bay, are on bye this week and draw the lowest remaining seed after that. So, if everything goes according to the seed line in the AFC, it would be the Titans hosting the Bengals and the Bills visiting the Chiefs next week. In that same scenario, the NFC's divisional round would have the Packers hosting the Rams and the Cowboys traveling to Tampa.

Of course, the single-elimination nature of the postseason means anything can happen from this point forward, so that's when all of the different scenarios come into play.

One upset is enough to change everything, since the matchups are based on seeds alone. If, say, the Patriots knock off the Bills, then they'd be visiting the Titans, while the Bengals-Raiders winner would draw the Chiefs (assuming they beat Pittsburgh).

This weekend will be fun.

Let's start with the pair of division rivalries extending over to the playoffs. The Bills and Patriots took their fight for the AFC East crown down to the final days, as did the Rams and Cardinals in the NFC West. Both sets of rivals split their regular-season series, with Buffalo getting the last laugh behind a 314-yard, three-touchdown performance by Josh Allen and then L.A. winning the final matchup as Matthew Stafford threw for 287 yards and three scores.

The other AFC clashes have the Bengals hosting the Raiders and then the Steelers visiting the Chiefs. Kansas City won nine of its final 10 games, while Pittsburgh closed out with a pair of had-to-have-them victories. This is likely the last go-round for Ben Roethlisberger, and the task of matching Patrick Mahomes is a massive one. Cincy, meanwhile, will witness the playoff debuts of both Joe Burrow and Derek Carr.

Out in the NFC, the Cowboys and 49ers will lock horns in Dallas. The Cowboys' defensive playmakers will look to make life miserable for Jimmy Garoppolo, while the Niners need their front seven to put pressure on Dak Prescott. In Tampa, Jalen Hurts will make his postseason debut against Tom Brady and the defending champion Buccaneers.