NFL Team Standings: Track Every Division, Conference & Playoff Race

It’s not just about who’s hot and who’s cold, it’s about simply understanding the bigger picture for each week’s games and the latest NFL team standings. Standings indicate which teams are on the rise, which are on the decline and which are playing with a playoff mind-set as opposed to a next season mindset. It’s as important in fantasy football and DFS as it is in the race to the postseason.

View our standings page for an up-to-the-minute look at each team’s win/loss record in all divisions, conferences and league-wide standings. You can get a quick look at the AFC East standings or a complete league update, and current records, win percentages and head-to-head results will be updated throughout the season.

The importance of looking at NFL standings beyond just wins and losses

Box scores don’t begin to tell the story of a team’s place in the standings. That’s because teams in the wild-card or division title game tend to play harder, rely more on their top players and keep their top players fresh for the last couple games, which all impact fantasy production down the stretch. Conversely, teams that get mathematically removed or stuck in a high draft slot can begin counting snaps, rest veterans or add additional reps to young players without your knowledge, which can slowly deplete those players’ fantasy value.

When combined with the schedule, standings can show you where players are positioned in their game. A team with a hot streak in front of less formidable division competition is not the same team as a team with the same record in front of playoff competition. It’s as well to know how a team has achieved its record as to know the record itself.

The structure of NFL standings.The structure of the NFL standings.

The NFL is divided into two divisions  the AFC and the NFC  each with four divisions of four teams: North, South, East, and West. Each team faces a series of divisional opponents twice a season, making divisional rivalries and games particularly important, as they tend to carry the highest stakes.

The best five teams in each conference qualify for the playoffs at the end of the regular season: The division winner gets an automatic spot, with the remaining positions determined by the next best records in each conference, based on the Wild Card rule. The number of seeds has been based on regular season record, with an increase in home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. At the bottom of the standings, teams get the first round picks in the next year’s NFL Draft, and even the worst teams have a chance to compete late in the season.

Standings to hone your Fantasy & DFS strategy

Smart fantasy managers don’t just glance at the standings for the sake of seeing what they’re up to, they use the standings as a filter. Weeks 15-18 teams with playoff aspirations are much more likely to play a full rotation of starters and are much more likely to run with a more aggressive game plan, whereas teams who have been eliminated will be more likely to take a “evaluate young talent” route and limit the number of opportunities for proven fantasy assets. Reviewing the game plan before committing to a roster can prevent you from making some unpleasant moves, such as not playing the starter or a game that you’ve planned to go heavy on offense and not have a lot of “play down” time.

Compare NFL odds and implied totals with the record and playoff seeding of each team on our NFL standings page, then use our lineup optimizer to create a team around the teams that have the most to play for. Standings, matchup information and player projections go hand-in-hand — each one provides a piece of the puzzle that the others don’t.

Follow along each week as the overall playoff scenario becomes more and more competitive, with division titles, the Wild Card and draft positioning all becoming more intense at the end.