The Seattle Seahawks have inched closer to a playoff spot after its game against the Bears in Chicago.
In the Seahawks’ ugly 6-3 win over the Bears on ‘Thursday Night Football,’ Seattle closed the gap on the red-hot Los Angeles Rams, who currently lead the NFC West. After starting the season 2-4, the Rams have won seven of their last nine games, rocketing them to the top of the division.
On the other hand, the Seahawks started the season winning three straight before dropping to 3-3 in their first six games. Since then, Seattle has gone 6-4 to pull within a game of Los Angeles, with the final game of the season being a battle between the Seahawks and the Rams.
Considering how close the matchup is between the two teams, the simplest path for the Seahawks to make the playoffs is for the Rams lose or tie against the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday and for Seattle to win in Los Angeles in Week 18. Of note, the Seahawks cannot make the playoffs as a wild card.
For Seattle to be eliminated from playoff contention, the Rams must beat the Cardinals and for four of the following teams to win their respective matchups: Washington Commanders, Minnesota Vikings, San Francisco 49ers, Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, or the Cleveland Browns.
If the Rams and Seahawks both finish the season with the same record – with Seattle winning in Week 18 – advanced tiebreaker rules would then be applied. “A Seahawks Week 18 win would leave both teams with the same record, a head-to-head split, the same NFC West record, the same record in common games, and the same conference record,” the Seahawks team website began.
“The fifth tiebreaker after all of that is strength of victory, and heading into Week 17, the Rams have the edge there, thanks largely to the fact that they have wins over the Bills and Vikings.
“And thanks to that strength of victory lead, the Rams could clinch this week with a win even if the Seahawks also win, doing so if they get 3.5 or more wins from the Vikings (vs. Packers), Bills (vs. Jets), 49ers (vs. Lions), Commanders (vs. Falcons), Bengals (vs. Broncos) and Browns (vs. Dolphins).
“So basically for the Seahawks, to still be in the NFC West race after Sunday, they need either a Cardinals win over the Rams, in which case Week 18 is for the division title no matter what, or if the Rams win Saturday, the Seahawks need to win, and they need four wins from Packers, Jets, Lions, Falcons, Broncos or Dolphins out of the above six games.”
Even with their backs against the wall, Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith admitted after the game that it didn’t matter how Seattle won, as long it won. “I thought the defense was tremendous,” he told Amazon Prime Video. “At this point, we don’t care how we get wins. We just want to win games. I don’t care if it was 5-4; We got the dub.”
Also, the 34-year-old shared he would not be watching the Rams’ game Saturday and will just wait for the dust to settle. “I’m not going to watch it, man,” he explained. “I’ll hear about it. You know, we shouldn’t be in this position, but hey, it is what it is. You know, hopefully good things happen and we’ll see what happens, you know, Week 18.”
**Want to watch more live sports? Peacock has your favorite sports, shows, and more all in one place. **Peacock offers plans starting at $7.99** so you can stream live sports like NFL, Premier League, and Big Ten Football.**
Leave a Reply