Mafe played 16 defensive snaps and one on special teams in the win over the 49ers to clinch th NFC’s #1 seed in the playoffs and the fist round bye. He recorded three tackles, two of them solo and a pass defense.

The NFL playoff picture has largely come into focus, leaving the clinching scenarios for Week 18 relatively straightforward.

The NFL Week 18 schedule is headlined by the 49ers and Seahawks to decide the NFC's No. 1 seed. See the NFL schedule for Week 18 in Nashville here.

Every year, the NFL waits as long as possible before releasing the Week 18 schedule and that announcement finally came on Sunday night.

The 2025-26 NFL regular season will officially wrap up on Sunday, January 4, with the final two playoff spots on the line. The NFC South will be determined by a game that wouldn't even include the division winner because of a tiebreaker,

The NFL playoff picture cruises into Week 18, where four divisions are up for grabs. On Jan. 3, Panthers-Bucs could decide the NFC South. If Carolina wins, the Panthers clinch the division. If Tampa Bay wins, the Bucs need a Saints win over Atlanta to secure another division crown.

It’s been 17 weeks of high drama, highlights and hijinks. Now, we cruise into the final Sunday of the NFL’s regular season. Take, take me home (has anyone else noticed this Phil Collins banger in every Monday night broadcast?).

Via NBC Sports research, the Panthers are the fifth team in NFL history to make the playoffs with a losing record in a non-strike-shortened season.

A brutally ugly game to decide, or sort of decide, the NFC South headlines the list of winners and losers from week 18.