NFL Division Tie Breaker Rules

The champion of each of the NFL's six divisions qualifies for the playoffs every year (along with two wild-card teams in each conference). In cases where there's a tie--where two or more teams in the same division finish the regular season with identical records--the NFL has a 12-step process to determine the champion.

  1. The First 2 Steps

    • The first step compares the teams' head-to-head records. If they're still tied, the next step is comparing the teams' records within the division.

    The 3rd and 4th Steps

    • If still tied, the third step compares the teams' record against common opponents. The fourth step compares the teams' record within the conference.

    The 5th and 6th Steps

    • The fifth step compares the teams' strength of victory (the margin by which they won their games). The sixth step compares the teams' strength of schedule.

    The 7th and 8th Steps

    • The seventh and eighth steps compare the teams' points scored and points allowed over the season. The seventh step makes those comparisons against conference games, while the eighth step compares it using all games played.

    The 9th, 10th and 11th Steps

    • The next three steps compare net points scored: first in common games, then in all games and finally by just counting touchdowns instead of total points.

    The Coin Toss

    • If the first 11 steps fail to break the tie, the division winner is determined with a coin toss.