NFL Standings shake-up: Mahomes, Hurts and Lamar Jackson ignite wild playoff picture
19.01.2026 - 07:10:09
The NFL Standings have turned into pure chaos again as Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts and Lamar Jackson dragged their teams through a wild slate of games that felt every bit like January football. With every drive rewriting the playoff picture and Super Bowl contender debate, this week delivered statement wins, painful collapses and a fresh round of questions about who really owns the AFC and NFC right now.
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From Mahomes orchestrating another late-game clinic in the red zone, to Jalen Hurts bullying his way through would-be tacklers on QB sneaks, to Lamar Jackson slicing up defenses with MVP-caliber pocket presence, the top tier of the league reminded everyone why the road to the Lombardi Trophy still runs through their huddles. At the same time, the middle class of hopefuls in the NFL Standings tightened, with wild card hopefuls trading blows and leaving virtually no margin for error the rest of the way.
Mahomes and the Chiefs look like a Super Bowl contender again
The defending champs answered a lot of noise with the kind of performance that re-centers the entire AFC playoff picture. Patrick Mahomes spread the ball around, worked through his progressions patiently and then turned ruthless once he sniffed field goal range. Multiple scoring drives in the two-minute drill showcased why defensive coordinators still lose sleep over his off-script creativity.
Kansas Citys offense looked far more in rhythm, leaning on quick-game concepts early before attacking downfield when coverages crept up. A clean pocket for long stretches allowed Mahomes to climb, reset and fire strikes over the middle. The stadium erupted when he converted a third-and-long on a broken play, flipping his shoulders and dropping a dart that felt like a vintage Chiefs moment in a season full of questioned firepower.
On the other side of the ball, the Chiefs defense again played like a unit built for January. Timely sacks, disguised coverages and a red zone stand that forced a field goal instead of a touchdown changed the entire flow of the game. It was the kind of complementary football that screams Super Bowl contender status more loudly than any early-season blowout.
Jalen Hurts and the Eagles win another heartbreaker-style thriller
Jalen Hurts once again proved why teammates talk about his calm as if it is a superpower. In a back-and-forth duel that swung on every possession, Hurts took over late, punishing defenders on designed QB runs and extending plays long enough for his receivers to uncover. Every time the opponent thought they had him bottled up, he slipped out of the pocket, reset his feet and lasered a throw into a tight window.
The now-iconic short-yardage sneak kept drives alive, demoralizing a defense that actually won on first and second down but kept failing in the trenches on third-and-short and at the goal line. Hurts demeanor never changed, even after a costly mistake early; he came back firing, hitting in-breaking routes and deep overs that stretched the secondary thin.
What stood out was how playoff-ready the environment felt. The crowd responded to every hit as if it were win-or-go-home. It felt like a playoff atmosphere long before the final whistle, and the Eagles responded like the heavyweight they believe they are in the NFC playoff picture.
Lamar Jackson turns the MVP race into his personal showcase
Lamar Jacksons performance this week will be clipped, rewatched and debated in every MVP race conversation for days. His stat line jumped off the page: he piled up passing yards with efficient, rhythm throws and added chunk gains on the ground whenever the defense dared to turn its back in man coverage. One red zone scramble, where he froze a linebacker with a subtle head fake and glided into the end zone, looked like vintage Lamar at his electrifying best.
More important than the highlight runs, though, was his pocket presence. He stayed disciplined, slid away from edge pressure and hit his backs and tight ends underneath when deeper routes were covered. That kind of maturity in the passing game, married with his game-breaking speed, is exactly why coaches around the league quietly admit that stopping Jackson for four full quarters is one of the toughest asks in football.
In the MVP race, he now sits squarely in the top tier with Mahomes and Hurts, with each of them logging "Heisman moment"-style drives in this latest week. Every snap they take from here on out will be framed around who can carry their team to the No. 1 seed and the all-important first-round bye.
How the NFL Standings look after a wild week
The latest shuffling of the NFL Standings tightened both conferences. Several division leaders held serve with clutch wins, but the wild card race in particular became a logjam. Upset victories by teams sitting around .500 blew open doors that seemed to be closing just a week ago.
Here is a compact look at how the top of each conference is shaping the current playoff picture and the wild card race:
| Conference | Seed | Team | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| AFC | 1 | Chiefs | Division leader, inside track to first-round bye |
| AFC | 2 | Ravens | Surging, pushing in the MVP race with Lamar Jackson |
| AFC | 3 | Key contender | Firm grip on division, still chasing No. 1 seed |
| AFC | WC | Wild Card mix | On the bubble, every game now feels like an elimination |
| NFC | 1 | Eagles | Top seed, grinding out one-score wins |
| NFC | 2 | Top NFC contender | Defense-driven, lurking for a slip-up above |
| NFC | 3 | Another NFC threat | Home-field still in play |
| NFC | WC | Wild Card chase | Multiple teams tied, tiebreakers looming large |
While the exact ordering can still flip on a single Sunday, a few truths are already clear. The Chiefs, Ravens and Eagles have positioned themselves not just as playoff locks, but as true Super Bowl contender threats that control their own destiny. Behind them sits the chaos: teams living week to week, trying to avoid the kind of late-season collapse that haunts franchises for years.
For the wild card hopefuls, losing now is lethal. One bad turnover in the red zone, one busted coverage in the final two-minute warning, and an entire season of work can slip out of field goal range in the standings. Coaches are already talking about playoff urgency, even if there are still weeks left on the schedule.
Game highlights that flipped the playoff picture
This weeks slate delivered several moments that will be replayed all season. A clutch fourth-quarter drive by Mahomes, capped by a touchdown throw threaded between two defenders, swung not just the game but the AFC seeding. On another field, a defense flipped momentum with a pick-six right as the opponent had entered scoring territory, turning a potential two-score deficit into a sudden lead.
Special teams also had their say. A long, pressure-packed field goal drilled as time expired triggered a swing in the NFL Standings that could ultimately decide a tiebreaker for wild card positioning. Those are the hidden plays that define a season: not just the highlight-reel catches, but the clean snap, hold and kick under bright lights and maximum pressure.
Coaches afterward leaned into the playoff feel of it all. One veteran head coach summed it up simply: "You could feel it in the locker room before kickoff. Nobody had to say it, but everybody knew this one counted double in the standings." Players echoed the same message: the margin for error is gone.
Injury report: how health is reshaping Super Bowl chances
The injury report may end up deciding as much of the playoff race as any box score. Several key stars appeared on this weeks list, with some already ruled out for upcoming games and others fighting through nagging issues. Offensive lines in particular are getting stretched thin, forcing backups into the spotlight against elite pass rushers.
For at least one contender, a skill-position injury has changed the way they operate on offense. Without their top target at full speed, the passing game leaned more on checkdowns and shallow crossers, limiting the explosive-play potential that used to terrify defenses. The coaching staff got creative, using motion and bunch formations to manufacture separation, but the absence of a true WR1 presence showed up in tight red zone sequences.
Defensively, a banged-up secondary was tested repeatedly by vertical shots, with one backup corner surrendering a deep touchdown that flipped a game and, in turn, tightened the playoff picture. That single breakdown now sits as a pivot point in the teams quest to stay in the Super Bowl contender tier instead of falling back to the wild card pack.
MVP radar: who owns the race right now?
The MVP race at this stage feels like a weekly referendum on Mahomes, Hurts and Lamar Jackson. Each logged the kind of performance that, in a normal season, would headline the conversation by itself. This week, all three posted big numbers, clutch plays and signature drives.
Mahomes peppered the stat sheet with multiple touchdown passes and efficient yardage, avoiding the kind of reckless turnover that had crept into his game earlier in the year. Hurts, meanwhile, combined for multiple total touchdowns, mixing bruising goal-line runs with intermediate strikes that moved the chains and bled the clock late.
Lamar Jackson might have posted the flashiest tape of the trio, ripping off chunk plays with his legs and piling up passing yards against a defense that came in ranked highly. At one point, he engineered a near-perfect drive that never even reached third down, slicing the defense on first and second with quick decisions and accurate ball placement.
Beyond the star quarterbacks, a handful of non-QB standouts made their presence felt. A pass rusher who finished with multiple sacks and constant pressure single-handedly wrecked a game plan, while a workhorse running back crossed the 100-yard mark and iced a win with tough yards after contact. Their names will slide into the fringes of the MVP and Offensive/Defensive Player of the Year conversations, even if the quarterbacks still dominate the headlines.
Looking ahead: must-watch games and Super Bowl storylines
The next week on the schedule is loaded with matchups that will directly impact the NFL Standings and the still-fluid playoff picture. A prime-time showdown between two current playoff seeds has tiebreaker implications written all over it. Another game features a desperate fringe wild card team facing a conference powerhouse; win, and they stay in the hunt, lose, and they are essentially on life support.
Fans should circle every clash between division rivals from here on out. These are the contests where a single turnover, a single coaching decision on fourth-and-short, or a single missed assignment in coverage can swing both a game and an entire division race. The tension ramps up with each snap, because everybody in the building understands what is at stake.
Right now, the Super Bowl contender tier still centers on the usual suspects: Chiefs, Ravens, Eagles and one or two lurking threats that have the defense and quarterback play to crash the party. But with injuries mounting and schedules tightening, nobody is safe. A short week, a cross-country flight, or a rough weather game could turn a comfortable favorite into an upset victim.
For fans, the directive is simple: do not miss the big-time kickoffs coming up, especially the Sunday night and Monday night showcases that will help decide seeding. Every prime-time snap from Mahomes, Hurts and Lamar Jackson brings fresh fuel to the MVP race, and every final score redraws the NFL Standings you checked just hours before.
As the league barrels toward the stretch run, the margins are razor-thin, the wild card race is a traffic jam and the path to the Lombardi Trophy is as wide open as it has been in years. Buckle up, because the next few weeks will separate true Super Bowl contenders from teams that simply had a hot month.
