NFL League Position shocker: Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and 49ers reshuffle Super Bowl race
17.01.2026 - 15:49:13
The NFL League Position board just got flipped again. Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs suddenly look mortal, Lamar Jackson has the Ravens playing bully ball, and the 49ers keep reminding everyone why they are the NFC’s measuring stick. With the latest week in the books, the Super Bowl contender tier, the playoff picture and even the MVP race all feel different than they did just a few days ago.
[Check live NFL scores & stats here]
Across the league, we saw late-game heartbreakers, statement wins and a couple of full-on meltdowns that will echo in the standings deep into December. The NFL League Position shuffle is not just about who sits atop the AFC and NFC today, it is about who looks like a real NFL Super Bowl contender when the pressure tightens and the hits get colder.
Mahomes and the Chiefs: Still royalty, but no longer untouchable
Kansas City walked into this week still carrying that aura of inevitability. But for long stretches, the offense sputtered again, and Mahomes was left trying to manufacture magic behind inconsistent protection and a receiving corps that too often loses at the catch point. He still delivered his trademark off-platform lasers, kept plays alive with elite pocket presence and footwork, but the margins are thinner than we are used to in the Mahomes era.
The Chiefs’ latest outing was a reminder that while they sit high in the NFL League Position standings, they are not bulletproof. Drives stalled in the red zone, a couple of miscommunications downfield killed potential shot plays, and the run game never fully imposed its will. One opposing defender put it bluntly postgame: "You can’t let 15 get comfortable. We kept him moving, and eventually the clock works in your favor." That has become the defensive game plan blueprint against Kansas City, and it is working often enough to keep the AFC door wide open.
From a playoff picture standpoint, the Chiefs are still in prime position to claim their division and host at least one postseason game at Arrowhead. But they are no longer cruising toward the AFC’s No. 1 seed. Between a demanding remaining schedule and the rise of other AFC powers, Kansas City’s path to another Lombardi is tougher than it has been in years.
Lamar Jackson’s Ravens muscle into the driver’s seat
On the other side of the conference, Lamar Jackson and the Ravens just keep stacking grown-man wins. This week was another showcase of why Baltimore feels like the most balanced NFL Super Bowl contender in the AFC. Jackson diced up coverages from the pocket, extended plays without drifting into chaos and ripped off chunk gains with his legs whenever defenses dared to turn their backs.
He finished with strong passing production, multiple touchdowns and efficient third-down execution, while the Ravens’ ground game controlled tempo and their defense swarmed. Baltimore’s front generated steady pressure, collapsed the pocket and forced hurried throws that turned into turnovers. The stadium had a playoff atmosphere, and Jackson looked completely in command of it.
In the latest NFL playoff picture, Baltimore’s win tightens their grip on a top seed. They are not just winning; they are imposing their style on opponents. One veteran Raven summed it up afterward: "This is our identity now. We don’t just want to outscore you, we want to break you by the fourth quarter." That attitude is exactly why the rest of the AFC is watching the Ravens with increasing anxiety.
49ers reassert NFC dominance, while Eagles grind through the gauntlet
In the NFC, the 49ers once again put on a clinic in complementary football. Their latest victory combined Kyle Shanahan’s motion-heavy, misdirection offense with a defense that hunts in packs. Christian McCaffrey continued to function as a cheat code in both the run and pass game, turning simple dump-offs into first downs and red zone touches into near-automatic points.
Brock Purdy distributed the ball with surgical efficiency, hitting in-breaking routes on time, staying calm against the blitz and avoiding the back-breaking turnover. He might not have Mahomes’ highlight reel, but from down to down he is operating the offense at a borderline MVP level. Add in a pass rush that consistently got home and you have the blueprint of a true NFL Super Bowl contender in the NFC.
The Eagles, meanwhile, remain in the thick of the NFC race despite playing one of the league’s toughest schedules. Jalen Hurts took more hits than the coaching staff would like, but he stood in the pocket, delivered strikes over the middle and once again showed why his toughness and leadership are the heartbeat of that locker room. Philadelphia’s offense still bogs down at times in the red zone, but their late-game resilience has them firmly in the NFC’s top tier of the NFL League Position standings.
Defensively, though, the Eagles continue to live dangerously in the secondary. Communication busts and coverage lapses left receivers running free more than you want to see from a would-be No. 1 seed. If that does not get cleaned up, it is the kind of flaw that can end a season in one brutal January night.
Game-week thrills: Statement wins and gut-punch losses
If you are looking for pure drama, this week delivered in spades. Several games swung the NFL playoff picture and wild card race in real time, with late-game drives redefining entire seasons.
One of the biggest swings came in a back-and-forth AFC clash where a young quarterback marched his team 75 yards in the final two minutes, ripping throws into tight windows and converting a money down with his legs. The game-winning touchdown came on a perfectly timed fade against press coverage, the kind of throw that separates franchise guys from placeholders. The sideline erupted, and suddenly that team is no longer simply "in the hunt" graphics material. They are a living, breathing factor in the wild card race.
Elsewhere, an NFC hopeful suffered a crushing overtime loss that may end up as the turning point of their season. After clawing back from a two-score deficit, they had the ball in field goal range at the edge of the red zone with a chance to steal the win. A sack pushed them back, a penalty made it worse, and the eventual long field goal sailed wide. The opponent answered with a methodical march and a walk-off kick, sending one sideline into celebration and the other into stunned silence.
Plays like that do not just move teams up and down the NFL League Position ladder, they reshape locker-room belief. One veteran from the losing side admitted afterward, "We let one get away. In this league, that can be the difference between hosting a playoff game and watching from the couch."
Current AFC & NFC playoff picture: Seeds, leaders and the wild card fight
The standings are a living organism, changing every Sunday, but the outline of the playoff bracket is starting to come into focus. The NFL League Position at the top features familiar heavyweights and a couple of upstarts refusing to fade.
Here is a snapshot of how the conference leaders and primary wild card contenders stack up right now:
| Conf | Seed | Team | Status | Record* |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AFC | 1 | Ravens | Top seed / Division leader | Surging |
| AFC | 2 | Chiefs | Division leader | Contender, some cracks |
| AFC | 3 | Dolphins | Division leader | Explosive offense |
| AFC | 4 | Jaguars | Division leader | Up-and-down |
| AFC | 5 | Browns | Wild Card | Elite defense |
| AFC | 6 | Steelers | Wild Card | Winning ugly |
| AFC | 7 | Texans | Wild Card | QB breakout |
| NFC | 1 | 49ers | Top seed / Division leader | Balanced juggernaut |
| NFC | 2 | Eagles | Division leader | Battle-tested |
| NFC | 3 | Lions | Division leader | Physical offense |
| NFC | 4 | Buccaneers | Division leader | Surprise atop weak div. |
| NFC | 5 | Cowboys | Wild Card | High-ceiling, volatile |
| NFC | 6 | Seahawks | Wild Card | Inconsistent |
| NFC | 7 | Vikings | Wild Card | Scrapping to stay afloat |
*Records described, not numerically listed, due to live updates and ongoing games.
Ravens and 49ers currently look like the most complete No. 1 seeds, controlling tempo on both sides of the ball. The Chiefs and Eagles remain firmly in that top shelf, but their issues are visible on tape every week, from Kansas City’s inconsistency at receiver to Philadelphia’s pass defense wobbles.
In the wild card race, the AFC feels deeper. Teams like the Browns and Steelers are winning with suffocating defense and just enough offense, while a young Texans squad has burst into relevance behind an explosive passing game. In the NFC, the Cowboys are the team nobody wants to see if they bring their A-game, but behind them the NFL playoff picture feels wide open, with the Seahawks and Vikings trying to hang on against a swarm of .500-ish challengers.
MVP race: Lamar, Mahomes, McCaffrey and the chase for hardware
The MVP conversation this week crystallized around a familiar set of names, but the order is shifting. Lamar Jackson’s blend of efficient passing and game-breaking rushing has him right at the top of the MVP race. He posted another stat line that jumps off the page: well north of 200 passing yards, multiple total touchdowns and minimal mistakes against a quality defense. More important than the box score, his control at the line of scrimmage and situational mastery in the red zone screamed MVP.
Mahomes is still firmly in the mix because no player carries more of his team’s offensive burden. Even in a performance that fell short of his standard, he posted solid yardage and kept his team alive late. But as the Chiefs stumble compared to previous years, voters may lean toward quarterbacks whose teams are pushing for top seeds in the NFL League Position hierarchy.
Christian McCaffrey remains the non-quarterback with the cleanest MVP case. He continues to pile up scrimmage yards, with another outing featuring well over 100 combined rushing and receiving yards and a touchdown punch in the red zone. Every time the 49ers need a play on third-and-medium or in the shadow of the goal line, the ball finds McCaffrey. His consistency is turning a narrative usually reserved for QBs into a real two-horse contest in San Francisco: Purdy’s efficiency vs. McCaffrey’s volume and impact.
Do not discount other names lurking either. A hot month from a quarterback like Jalen Hurts, Tua Tagovailoa or a suddenly red-hot young AFC passer could vault them back to the front of the MVP conversation, especially if their teams surge up the NFL playoff picture and steal a No. 1 seed late.
Injury report and its impact on Super Bowl hopes
The NFL Injury Report this week delivered some brutal news for several squads that fancy themselves in the NFL Super Bowl contender tier. A premier pass rusher exited with a lower-body injury and was quickly ruled out, an ominous sign for a defense built around his edge pressure. Early indications labeled it as a multi-week issue, which could force that team to blitz more, exposing their secondary and fundamentally changing their defensive identity.
On offense, a Pro Bowl-level wide receiver was limited all week and then aggravated a soft-tissue injury in the first half, never returning. Without his ability to win one-on-one and draw safety help over the top, the passing attack bogged down, shrinking the field and allowing defenses to sit more aggressively on underneath concepts. That kind of absence is the difference between being a dark-horse wild card threat and a real NFL Super Bowl contender that can win shootouts in January.
Quarterback health always sits at the top of any NFL Injury Report, and a couple of starters took concerning hits. One left briefly to be evaluated for a possible concussion before returning, another played through a clearly sore throwing shoulder. Both situations are worth monitoring headed into next week; one setback or missed start can change the entire NFL League Position calculus for their teams.
Coaches across the league were honest about the attrition. As one NFC head coach put it, "Everyone’s banged up right now. The question is not if you are hurt, it is how deep you are and whether your backups can keep the standard." Front offices that built real depth are about to see that investment tested.
Coaches on the hot seat and locker rooms at a crossroads
While the top of the standings fights for seeding, a few struggling franchises are wrestling with existential questions. Another lifeless offensive outing from a once-proud team has their head coach and offensive coordinator under fire. Red zone trips ended in field goals, third-down play-calling felt conservative and predictable, and postgame comments from key veterans carried a noticeable edge.
"We have the guys in this locker room," one veteran said, "but we have to let them play fast. Right now it feels like we are thinking too much out there." That is the kind of quote that gets replayed on talk shows and parsed in front offices. When losses pile up and the NFL League Position standings show you firmly below the playoff line, patience evaporates quickly.
Elsewhere, a first-year head coach earned his signature win, with his team playing with a clear identity: downhill run game, play-action shots and an attacking defense. You could feel the buy-in from players on the sideline. Those are the small inflection points that turn rebuilds into legitimate playoff pushes a year earlier than expected.
Next week preview: Must-watch matchups that will move the needle
The beauty of the NFL is that the story never stops. Next week’s slate is loaded with games that will redraw the NFL League Position map, especially in the wild card race and NFL playoff picture.
Ravens vs. a top AFC challenger is circled in red. That game has No. 1 seed implications and will be another referendum on Lamar Jackson’s MVP case. If he shreds another high-level defense, the conversation might shift from "Is he in the race?" to "Who else even belongs on the same line?"
The Chiefs face a desperate opponent clawing to stay alive in the wild card chase. That kind of matchup often turns into a four-quarter slugfest: the contender trying to reassert control, the underdog throwing every trick in the book. Kansas City’s receivers will be under the microscope; another high-profile drop or busted route will escalate concern heading toward the stretch run.
In the NFC, 49ers vs. a physical playoff hopeful feels like a January dress rehearsal. Can anyone bully San Francisco at the line of scrimmage, or will McCaffrey and that front seven once again slap the "no fly zone" sign on another Sunday? The Eagles also dive back into prime time against a team that can challenge their secondary vertically, which is exactly the kind of stress test defensive coordinator meetings tend to dread.
Where the NFL League Position stands now: Contenders, climbers and pretenders
As we roll out of this game week, the tiers are starting to take shape. At the very top of the NFL League Position board sit the Ravens, 49ers, Chiefs and Eagles, with the Lions pushing to stay in that inner circle. Those franchises feel like the most trustworthy NFL Super Bowl contenders, capable of winning with multiple formulas and absorbing adversity.
The next tier features dangerous but flawed teams: the Cowboys with their boom-or-bust profile, the Dolphins with a track-meet offense that still needs to prove itself against elite defenses, and a handful of AFC squads driven by top-10 defenses and just-enough quarterback play. These are the teams that can knock off anyone on a given Sunday, but you still hesitate to pencil them into a conference title game.
Below them is a cluster of scrappy wild card hunters living week to week. A single tipped pass, a missed field goal or a questionable flag will swing their seasons. For those teams, the NFL playoff picture does not leave room for error. They are one bad quarter from seeing their postseason probability numbers crash.
The margin is brutal, the stakes are rising and the schedule only gets nastier from here. If you care about where your team really stands in the NFL League Position hierarchy, the next few weeks will tell you everything you need to know. Buckle up, clear your Sundays and do not miss a snap the rest of the way.
