NFL playoff picture: Browns hold on to final seed after loss, AFC North battle

The Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers lost in Week 8 of the 2023 NFL season but still hold the final two spots in the AFC playoff picture. The NFL playoff seedings are a bottleneck at this point in both conferences but the AFC North continues to reign supreme despite two of its teams losing Sunday.

With Monday Night Football in the books, the Baltimore Ravens are tied with three other teams for the best record in the AFC and just one game behind the Philadelphia Eagles for the best record in the NFL.

The Cincinnati Bengals have bounced back with four straight wins, all against the NFC West, after starting the season 0-3.

Nine teams have winning records in the AFC while just six can say the same in the NFC.

For the Browns, the loss in Week 8 didn’t knock them out of the playoff hunt as they won enough tiebreakers (more on that in a future piece) against the New York Jets and Bengals. The Steelers have the sixth seed currently over Cleveland due to their head-to-head victory.

A full look at the AFC playoff picture according to the NFL’s official media page:

Due to tiebreaker rules, the Browns loss to an NFC opponent is not as important as the Steelers loss to an AFC one. If Cleveland can knock off Pittsburgh in their next matchup, conference records could become even more important.

That the Bengals are already back within a tiebreaker of being a playoff team in Week 8 should be scary for everyone in the conference.

It would be very difficult but the AFC North has a chance to get all four teams into the playoffs this year. Currently, they are the only division with all four teams having a winning record.

Are you surprised that the Browns are still seeded in this week’s AFC playoff picture?