Field Gulls
The Detroit Lions gave the Dallas Cowboys 44 reasons to start thinking about the offseason, winning 44-30 on Thursday Night Football to send Brian Schottenheimer’s team to 6-6-1 and with less than a 10 percent chance to make the playoffs. Detroit has effectively saved itself by improving to 8-5, albeit unable to get into a playoff spot no matter what happens in Week 14.
As was discussed earlier in the week, the Seahawks could’ve clinched a playoff berth as soon as Week 15 if certain results broke their way. This included the Cowboys beating the Lions, but that’s already gone by the wayside. Detroit losing twice + the Cowboys beating the Lions but losing to the Minnesota Vikings in Week 15 + the Seattle Seahawks winning versus the Atlanta Falcons and Indianapolis Colts would’ve been the golden ticket to the postseason.
While the Cowboys loss means the Seahawks are two wins (or a win and another Cowboys loss) away from leaving Dallas out of sight, it does mean Seattle still has to be watchful of the Lions in case of any slip-ups that drag them further away from the NFC West race and toward Wild Card scrapping.
There is no reason for the Seahawks to pay attention to the Carolina Panthers in the Wild Card chase, as Carolina winning out would be enough for them to win the NFC South. If the Seahawks win their next two games and the Detroit Lions lose to the Los Angeles Rams in Week 15, Seattle still could be caught by the Lions on the NFC record tiebreaker.
What Thursday’s result just did was up the stakes for the Seahawks vs. Rams. Not only is it potentially for first place, if not the No. 1 seed in the NFC, it could be a playoff-clinching win for Seattle. Week 16 is now the new earliest point for the Seahawks to punch their postseason ticket.
Meanwhile, it’d sure be cool if the Lions saved some of those points for next week…
