NFL Standings shake-up: Mahomes, Hurts and Lamar Jackson reshape playoff picture
11.02.2026 - 01:22:46
The NFL Standings took another wild turn this week as Patrick Mahomes, Jalen Hurts and Lamar Jackson each put their stamp on a playoff race that is getting nastier by the snap. From late-game thrillers to brutal injuries and season-defining drives, the latest slate of games rewrote the Super Bowl Contender hierarchy and tightened an already chaotic wild card race.
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The new-look NFL Standings do not just tell us who is on top; they reveal who is peaking at the right time, who is hanging on in the wild card hunt and which supposed giants suddenly look vulnerable. Sunday felt like a mini playoff round: Mahomes carving up coverages, Hurts grinding out red zone drives and Lamar Jackson extending plays that had no business turning into first downs.
Mahomes turns Arrowhead into a reminder, not a museum
Anytime the noise around the Chiefs gets too loud, Mahomes usually answers it between the lines. Against a defense that had been touted as a playoff-level unit, he coolly operated from the pocket, slid away from pressure and ripped chunk plays on third down. It was not just the box score that mattered; it was the timing. Multiple scoring drives came in the two-minute situations where Kansas City has built its modern dynasty.
Travis Kelce again served as the security blanket, uncovering quickly against bracket coverage and forcing linebackers into impossible leverage. With the Chiefs offense finally cutting down on drive-killing drops, Kansas City looked closer to the ruthless machine fans expect when they scan the NFL Standings and instinctively pencil them in as a top AFC seed.
Defensively, Steve Spagnuolo dialed up timely blitz packages that generated pressure without consistently selling out the secondary. A late sack in the red zone forced a field goal instead of a touchdown, flipping the game script and the momentum in a stadium that already felt like January.
Hurts and the Eagles win another street fight
Jalen Hurts did not put up the flashiest stat line of the week, but his fingerprints were all over a grinding, field-position heavy win that will loom large when tiebreakers hit in December. The Eagles offense leaned on its identity: physical run game, quarterback sneaks in short yardage and layered concepts that punished single-high looks.
On a pivotal drive late in the fourth quarter, Hurts converted multiple third downs with his legs and his patience in the pocket. A back-shoulder connection with A.J. Brown along the sideline energized the sideline and silenced a hostile crowd. It was the kind of possession that will be replayed when fans argue about the MVP Race and whether Hurts belongs in the same breath as Mahomes and Lamar Jackson this season.
Defensively, Philadelphia blended zone-match principles with selective man coverage, using disguised shells to bait an interception in the red zone. That pick flipped the field and, in effect, the game. In a tightly packed NFC, every such swing matters when the final NFC playoff picture is drawn up.
Lamar Jackson keeps the Ravens in the Super Bowl Contender tier
Lamar Jackson once again showcased why defensive coordinators dread seeing his name on the schedule. Even when the timing with his receivers is not perfect, his dual-threat ability forces safeties to stay honest and linebackers to hesitate for a split second. Those micro-delays open cutback lanes and deep-crossing routes that gash defenses at the worst possible time.
On a second-half scoring drive that felt like peak Lamar, he eluded a free rusher in the pocket, rolled to his right, reset his feet and dropped a dime over the underneath coverage. Two plays later, he kept the ball on a zone read, cutting inside a crashing edge defender for a touchdown that broke the game open.
Ravens players described the atmosphere afterward as "playoff-level" and it looked that way on the field. The win keeps Baltimore solidly in the tier of true Super Bowl Contender teams and preserves their positioning near the top of the AFC portion of the NFL Standings.
How the latest results reshaped the playoff picture
Beyond the eye test and the highlight reels, the biggest story is how the weekend reshuffled seeding, tiebreakers and wild card leverage. Division leaders extended slim cushions, while bubble teams saw their margin for error shrink to a razor's edge.
Here is a compact look at the updated landscape, focusing on the top seeds and the thick of the wild card race in each conference:
| Conference | Seed | Team | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| AFC | 1 | Chiefs | Inside track for home-field, Mahomes surging |
| AFC | 2 | Ravens | Lamar Jackson keeps pressure on top seed |
| AFC | 5 | Wild Card | High-powered contender nobody wants to face |
| AFC | 7 | Wild Card Bubble | Multiple teams tied, tiebreakers crucial |
| NFC | 1 | Eagles | Hurts grinding out statement wins |
| NFC | 2 | Top Challenger | Neck-and-neck, eyeing bye week |
| NFC | 6 | Wild Card | Defense-driven team built for cold-weather games |
| NFC | 7 | Wild Card Bubble | In the hunt, but needs help down the stretch |
The exact seeding may still fluctuate week to week, but the tiers are getting clearer. At the top, the Chiefs, Ravens and Eagles are building resumes that scream Super Bowl Contender, with their quarterbacks delivering in high-leverage spots and their coaching staffs winning the chess match before the snap.
In the wild card lane, it is chaos. One-score games are determining who stays above .500 and who drifts toward "on the bubble" status. Teams that once looked like locks are now forced to watch the scoreboard in the late window, knowing a single blown coverage or missed field goal could torpedo tiebreaker math they thought would favor them.
MVP Race: Mahomes, Hurts, Lamar and the chasing pack
The MVP Race is tightening just as the calendar tips toward the cold-weather phase of the season, where reputations are often made. Mahomes has reasserted his claim with a run of turnover-free football and classic off-script brilliance in the red zone. His efficiency on third down was clinical this week, especially against disguised pressures and late safety rotations.
Hurts is building a different kind of case. His raw numbers might not match the gaudiest stat lines of other years, but his impact in short-yardage, the red zone and late in the fourth quarter is undeniable. Every time Philadelphia faces a third-and-short, the defense knows the sneak is coming and still cannot stop it. That kind of inevitability shapes how opponents call games and what they risk in the box.
Lamar Jackson remains the ultimate outlier. His passing numbers spike in key moments, and his ability to turn a broken play into a first down keeps the Ravens on schedule when most offenses would be punting. When voters and fans debate the MVP Race, they will have to weigh conventional pocket stats against the chaos Lamar prevents just by being on the field.
Behind that trio, a second wave of candidates is lurking. A couple of explosive young quarterbacks are padding their stat sheets with huge yardage totals and multi-touchdown outings, but the gap between "fantasy star" and true MVP is often defined by what happens in the last five minutes, not the first fifty-five.
Injury Report: contenders holding their breath
The most sobering part of this week was the Injury Report. Multiple playoff hopefuls lost key starters, especially along the offensive line and in the secondary. One top receiver exited with a lower-body injury after landing awkwardly on a sideline catch, immediately changing how his offense attacked downfield.
Coaches were predictably cautious in their postgame comments, offering variations of "we will know more after the MRI," but the impact on the Super Bowl Contender landscape is obvious. A franchise quarterback without his WR1 or left tackle is a different animal, especially once the pass rushers crank up in December and January.
Defensively, a couple of premier edge rushers appeared on the Injury Report with nagging issues that could limit snaps in the coming weeks. For teams that rely on a four-man rush to stay flexible in coverage, even a small drop-off in pressure can expose the back end and tilt tight games.
Depth charts will be tested. Practice-squad elevations and next-man-up stories will shape not just box scores but the entire NFL Standings board as coaches try to patch together winning game plans on short weeks.
Game highlights that felt like January
This week delivered a slate of Game Highlights that had the intensity and desperation of a wild card weekend. One matchup turned on a pick-six just before the two-minute warning, when a disguised robber coverage baited a late throw over the middle. The stadium erupted as a defensive back jumped the route and cruised into the end zone, turning a tense one-score game into a celebration.
Another contest swung on special teams: a long field goal drilled from beyond typical field goal range as time expired. The kick not only sealed a win but also kept that team in the thick of the wild card race, turning what could have been a crushing loss into a season-saving moment the fan base will remember if they sneak into the postseason.
In a different time slot, a young quarterback authored a signature drive, marching his offense down the field with no timeouts, hitting sideline throws and back-shoulder fades like a seasoned veteran. Even in defeat, performances like that tend to echo into future seasons, shaping how front offices view their long-term plans under center.
Looking ahead: must-watch games and Super Bowl angles
With the latest NFL Standings tightening across both conferences, the schedule makers look prophetic. The coming week is loaded with must-watch games that will carry massive tiebreaker implications and could tilt the Super Bowl odds in real time.
A marquee showdown featuring Mahomes against another high-profile quarterback will dominate the headlines. Any slip from the Chiefs could reopen the race for the AFC No. 1 seed, while another clinical outing would further cement their status as the conference's measuring stick.
In the NFC, Hurts and the Eagles face a brutal stretch that will either validate their grip on the top seed or drag them back into a dogfight with the next tier. Prime-time lights, hostile crowds and short weeks will stress-test their depth and play-calling versatility.
Do not sleep on Lamar Jackson's next outing either. The Ravens have a chance to stack wins against physical, playoff-style opponents, a perfect barometer for whether their offense has truly evolved into a January-ready unit instead of a regular-season highlight machine.
For fans, this is the stretch where every snap feels loaded. A single misread in the red zone or a blown coverage on third-and-12 can alter not just one game, but the entire playoff picture. If you care about seeding, the MVP Race or just pure chaos in the wild card race, you will want to lock in from Thursday night all the way through Monday.
The NFL Standings will look different again in a week. That much we know. The only question is which contender will deliver the next statement win and which team will look back at this stretch as the moment their Super Bowl dream started to slip away.
