Field Gulls
Looking at the four scenarios for the Seahawks as they look to get past the Rams in the NFC West title race.
It’s a tight finish in the NFC West between the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams for the division title. The Arizona Cardinals are lurking at 7-7 but not in a great position for a miracle finish, whereas the 6-8 San Francisco 49ers could be eliminated from the playoffs this weekend.
With the Seahawks throwing away their slender division lead last week, the Rams hold first place on the head-to-head tiebreaker despite having an identical 8-6 record. Not ideal!
This week, the Seahawks host the 12-2 Minnesota Vikings while the Rams travel to New Jersey to take on the 4-10 New York Jets. Again, the odds do not look favorable for Seattle. But in the interest of completeness, let’s look at the four main scenarios from the Seahawks’ perspective. I’m not including ties because, well, they almost never happen and I don’t want to make things more convoluted.
Seattle can win the NFC West in Week 17.
Seriously.
Beat the Chicago Bears on Thursday and hope the Los Angeles Rams lose at home to the Arizona Cardinals and that would make the Seahawks’ NFC West lead unassailable. They’d be at least two games clear of their rivals and Week 18 becomes only meaningful for No. 3 vs. No. 4 seeding purposes.
It doesn’t get any simpler than that.
Week 17 is almost meaningless for both teams. Neither can be eliminated from the NFC West title and neither can clinch. If Seattle loses in Week 17 and the Rams win, the Seahawks can still win the division in Week 18 through the strength of victory tiebreaker. If Seattle wins in Week 17 and the Rams lose, Los Angeles can still get the head-to-head tiebreaker by sweeping the Seahawks in Week 18.
However, if the Washington Commanders (9-5) slip up in the Wild Card race, the Seahawks could have an alternate path to the playoffs open up, so I wouldn’t just waste Week 17 just because of the divisional situation.
Beside potentially putting the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers back in the division mix, this outcome is similar to if both the Seahawks and Rams win. Neither can be eliminated nor mathematically clinch the NFC West. It would create some possible three-way tie scenarios at the end of the season and those would not be kind to Seattle. The Wild Card would also be all but unattainable for the Seahawks.
Another way to say this: A Rams loss would give Seattle one massive lifeline before it even kicks the Vikings game off.
Incidentally, this is the only scenario of the four in which the San Francisco 49ers are not...
