You know you’ve already thought about it.

Sure, there are seven weeks left in the NFL season -- countless unforeseen twists and turns still to come. But we are closer to the end than we are to the beginning, and you’re a stone-cold liar (or a Browns fan) if you say you haven’t thought about where your team stands in the playoff picture.

We’ve got you covered.

If the season ended right now, here’s how the NFL playoff picture would look:

AFC

1. New England Patriots (7-2): Tough home loss Sunday night in a potential Super Bowl preview. But they still hold the tiebreaker for the No. 1 seed over Kansas City due to conference record. And Tom Brady & Co. have three games left against teams that currently have winning records. And only one of them -- Dec. 18 at Denver -- looks like real potential trouble. The others are home against the Ravens and on the road in Miami in Week 17.

2. Kansas City Chiefs (7-2): With all due respect to the Broncos’ PAT-turnaround miracle, the Chiefs’ win was the win of the day. Down 17 points in Carolina, Kansas City got multiple game-changing plays from its defense and took advantage of a late fumble to steal one. Shouldn’t be a huge surprise that a team that’s won 18 of its past 21 found a way, but it still feels like folks are sleepin’ on the Chiefs.

3. Houston Texans (6-3): Houston’s victory in Jacksonville was big because the game was not in Houston, where the Texans are 5-0 this season. Their toughest remaining “road” game may be next Monday night against the Raiders in Mexico City. And their closest division competitors are the 5-5 Titans. The Texans are in nice shape.

4. Baltimore Ravens (5-4): Their Week 9 victory over the Steelers looms large right now in the tiebreaker zone, especially with the AFC West teams clamping down on the wild-card spots. But this team still has to go to Dallas, New England, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati before it’s all over. If the Ravens hold this spot, they’ll have earned it.

5. Oakland Raiders (7-2): Down a tiebreaker thanks to their Week 6 home loss to the Chiefs, the Raiders get a shot at revenge in Kansas City on Dec. 8. Long way to go in a three-team race that also features the ...

6. Denver Broncos (7-3): Yes, the defending champs stole one in New Orleans on Sunday and head into their bye in very good shape considering what they have at quarterback. Of their six remaining games, two are against the Chiefs and one is against the Raiders. It’s still anyone’s game out west.

Surging: The Miami Dolphins have won four games in a row to improve to 5-4. Their problem is that they have four road games left and will need someone else to slip up. If Houston slips up, Tennessee at 5-5 looks like a team that’s doing some sustainable things.

Slipping: Philip Rivers gave one away against those Dolphins on Sunday, and that’s one too many fourth-quarter losses for a San Diego Chargers team that’s 4-6 and three games out of third place in its division.

Worth noting: The Cincinnati Bengals (3-5-1) have made the playoffs five years in a row. Only New England and Green Bay have longer such streaks. The Bengals are lucky no one has run away from them in the AFC North, and Monday night's loss to the Giants was another step back.

NFC

1. Dallas Cowboys (8-1): I had questions about whether Dallas was built to come back. The Cowboys came back over and over, on the road in Pittsburgh, to win their eighth in a row. Ezekiel Elliott is an unstoppable machine running behind five other unstoppable machines, and, sorry, Tony Romo, but there's no reason to rock this boat right now with a quarterback change.

2. Seattle Seahawks (6-2-1): They are 4-0 at home and three of those were late escapes. But Sunday night, they won as tough a road game as there is. Russell Wilson looks healthy for the first time all season, Thomas Rawls is on his way back to help the run game and Seattle is hitting the gas as the second half starts. What else is new?

3. Atlanta Falcons (6-4): Tough loss in Philly, but no one in the division is really pressing the Falcons. They get a bye and then a couple of tough-looking home games against the Cardinals and Chiefs to show their playoff-worthiness.

4. Detroit Lions (5-4): The best thing you could do in the NFC North this week was not play. The Lions executed that game plan to perfection, sitting at home and watching the Vikings and Packers go down to defeat. The only winning teams left on the Lions’ schedule are the Giants, Cowboys and the Vikings, though they haven’t won in a month and a half.

5. New York Giants (6-3): This is a team that hasn’t made the playoffs since 2011, has a minus-8 turnover differential and has allowed more points than it has scored. In some ways, the same “house money” principle in Seattle’s case applies here too. The difference is the track record. Monday night's win over the Bengals makes them easier to believe in.

6. Washington (5-3-1): It was a playoff team last season and it doesn't seem to want to go away. But its remaining schedule is a rough one, including three straight road games in Dallas, Arizona and Philadelphia in late November/early December.

Surging: The Philadelphia Eagles are 5-4, right behind the wild-card mix in their division. Though head-to-head losses to the Giants and Washington could come back to haunt them. ... Not sure if what Arizona is doing can be called "surging," but its escape against the Niners moved the Cardinals to 4-4-1 and kept their hopes alive.

Slipping: What a horrendous loss for the defending conference champ Carolina Panthers, who had a 17-point lead at home on Kansas City and gave it away with killer late turnovers. At 3-6, it's hard to see the Panthers getting back into this year's playoffs unless they run the table or the Falcons fall apart.

Worth noting: The NFC East hasn't had more than one playoff team in the same season since 2009, when the Cowboys and the Eagles each finished 11-5.