{"id":261792,"date":"2026-01-06T08:30:37","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T13:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=261792"},"modified":"2026-01-06T08:30:41","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T13:30:41","slug":"nfl-biggest-takeaways-for-every-afc-team-in-week-18","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2026\/01\/06\/nfl-biggest-takeaways-for-every-afc-team-in-week-18\/","title":{"rendered":"NFL: Biggest Takeaways for Every AFC Team in Week 18"},"content":{"rendered":"

We have officially closed the 2025-2026 NFL regular season, but it was not without high drama to end the season with playoff spots and seeding position on the line. Coaches and general manager jobs are beginning to open up, while others have already been deemed safe. What a great season this was as we enter postseason play! Here is your Week 18 AFC wrap-up.<\/p>\n

Week 18 Takeaways from the AFC<\/h2>\n

AFC East<\/h3>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Buffalo Bills<\/strong><\/a> – Mitch Trubisky balled out on the Jets, throwing four touchdown passes and securing a 35-8 win as well as a 12-5 record for the Bills, moving into the playoffs.<\/p>\n

New England Patriots<\/strong><\/a> – Rhamondre Stevenson and TreVeyon Henderson totaled five touchdowns to help the Pats win 38-10 over the Dolphins. The Patriots secured the second seed in the AFC, finishing with a 14-3 record.<\/p>\n

Miami Dolphins<\/strong><\/a> – The Dolphins finished with a 7-10 record and a loss to the Patriots to end the season. Many questions will be raised about Miami this offseason. Maybe Troy Aikman can really help?<\/p>\n

New York Jets<\/strong><\/a> – HC Aaron Glenn\u2019s first season ends with a drubbing by Mitch Trubisky and the Bills, just three wins, no quarterback of the future, and zero interceptions from the defense.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

AFC South<\/h3>\n

\"Week<\/p>\n

Jacksonville Jaguars<\/strong><\/a> – The Jags jumped all over the Titans to leave no doubt they are the AFC South Champions. Jacksonville finishes its regular season with a 13-4 record in a giant turnaround with first-year HC Liam Coen.<\/p>\n

Houston Texans<\/strong><\/a> – The Texans rested some of their starters as other starters, including C.J. Stroud, played just one half, but Houston got the W over the Colts 38-30. Houston will head to the playoffs boasting a 12-5 record after starting 0-3 on the season.<\/p>\n

Tennessee Titans<\/strong><\/a> – Cam Ward injured his shoulder after rushing for a touchdown, and the Titans lost yet again to end with a 3-14 season. The Titans will go full force into their head coaching search now that personnel has been appointed to do so.<\/p>\n

Indianapolis Colts<\/strong><\/a> – Riley Leonard gave his best effort, totaling three touchdowns, but the Colts ended their season with seven-straight losses to end the season at 8-9. There will be plenty of questions surrounding this franchise this offseason. The first of which might involve cutting one of their star players<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

AFC North<\/h3>\n
\"Tyler
Photo Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Baltimore Ravens<\/strong><\/a> – The Ravens had to win to get in the playoffs, and a missed Tyler Loop 44-yard field goal as time expired was the difference in a 26-24 loss to the Steelers. Baltimore finished the season with an 8-9 record, and there are questions being raised about John Harbaugh\u2019s job security.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Steelers<\/strong><\/a> – Mike Tomlin does it again, leading Pittsburgh to the playoffs with a 10-7 record. The Steelers pulled off an incredible, thrilling victory over the Ravens in a back-and-forth second half.<\/p>\n

Cleveland Browns<\/strong><\/a> – It was a defensive day in Cleveland as the defense scored two touchdowns, and Myles Garrett breaks the single-season sack record. Shedeur Sanders led the Browns\u2019 final drive to win the game 20-18 on a game-winning field goal to finish their season 5-12.<\/p>\n

Cincinnati Bengals<\/strong><\/a> – Joe Burrow threw three touchdowns, but two key Bengal turnovers were the difference in the loss to Cleveland. The Bengals suffer another lost season as they end with a 6-11 record.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

AFC West<\/h3>\n

Denver Broncos<\/strong><\/a> – The Broncos cruised to a 19-3 victory over the Chargers behind the foot of Wil Lutz and a pick-six by Ja\u2019Quan McMillan to capture the top seed in the AFC. Denver won their last 13 of 14 games to finish the regular season with a record of 14-3.<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Chargers<\/strong><\/a> – The Chargers decided to rest many of their key guys, including Justin Herbert, to stay healthy for the postseason, and they fell to the Broncos to end their regular season with an 11-6 record.<\/p>\n

Kansas City Chiefs<\/strong><\/a> – The Chiefs lost to the lowly Raiders by a score of 14-12 to end their disastrous season and potentially Travis Kelce\u2019s career. Kansas City ended up at 6-11 as they anxiously await Patrick Mahomes to come back next season.<\/p>\n

Las Vegas Raiders<\/strong><\/a> – The Raiders won twice today. They defeated the Chiefs in a game where no touchdowns were scored, and their regular-season record of 3-14 is good enough for the top pick in this year\u2019s NFL Draft.<\/p>\n

For more great football analysis, check out DrRoto.com<\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We have officially closed the 2025-2026 NFL regular season, but it was not without high drama to end the season with playoff spots and seeding position on the line. Coaches and general manager jobs are beginning to open up, while others have already been deemed safe. What a great season this was as we enter […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5637,"featured_media":261798,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[39,2320],"class_list":["post-261792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-news","tag-afc","tag-nfl-schedule"],"modified_by":"Doug Henderson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5637"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=261792"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261792\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":261803,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/261792\/revisions\/261803"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/261798"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=261792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=261792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=261792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}