With a victory on Saturday that was much more dominant than the final score indicated, the Seahawks won their first NFC title since 2020 and earned their first playoff berth since 2022. With the win, they also earned the top seed in the NFC, a feat they had not accomplished since their last Super Bowl appearance in the 2014 season.
History is on Seattle’s side: the only times in franchise history when they earned the top seed in the conference, they advanced to the Super Bowl (2005, 2013, 2014). There is an image circulating online about a new Pope being elected in some but not all of the times Seattle has advanced to the Super Bowl, so I’m not sure who that is for. Still, a little help from the all-powerful being upstairs or their main contact on this planet never hurts, even if it doesn’t quite line up with all timelines.
Seattle’s win this weekend sent the San Francisco 49ers to the 6th seed and the LA Rams to the 5th seed. Killing two birds with one stone never looked better, but both teams are alive in the postseason, so Seattle will need to have an even better game plan if they face either team again with somehow even higher stakes than before.
The Seahawks get the weekend off this round and will wait to see how the other six teams play in the tournament before finding out who they will face in the divisional round once Super Wild Card weekend concludes on Sunday. There is a game on Monday night, but since it’s two AFC teams, it has zero impact on Seattle’s potential playoff matchups.
Seattle and their fans can sit back and watch the games this weekend stress-free, and even hate-watch the 49ers and Rams, hoping both teams get knocked out so they don’t have to deal with the stress of seeing them again later.
The Rams are playing at Carolina, where they lost at the end of November. While it’s not likely a Sean McVay team will be unprepared for a trap game in the playoffs, especially against an opponent they overlooked a month ago, it’s the playoffs, so anything is possible. The Rams are expected to get star receiver Davante Adams back in the lineup this week, but he played against Carolina a few weeks ago, so we can’t assume his return this week will produce different results. The hope is that Carolina pulls off the upset, even though they are the home team, because of the NFL’s insistence on rewarding bad division winners. And no, the irony of saying that while discussing Seattle (who is one of only five teams in league history to advance to the playoffs despite a losing record) is not lost on me.
Carolina has the dubious honor of being the first team to accomplish the feat twice, so it would be hilarious if they won a game this time around, as it would only bode well for Seattle. The last time Carolina won their division with a losing record was in 2014, when they defeated an NFC West team in the wild-card round before playing Seattle in the second round. History seems to be on Seattle’s side this year, at least advancing to the Super Bowl. After that, let’s hope they go off-trend and do something different, since the end of their 2014 season wasn’t ideal. So let’s assume this is their redemption arc, not just another chapter of retribution.
San Francisco is traveling to Philadelphia to face the Eagles. While they have had a heated rivalry in recent years, they didn’t play each other this season, so we don’t have a recent game to exploit for data. We know these teams don’t like each other and will battle for the win, so whoever emerges will likely be beat up. I’m not sure how many more injuries San Francisco can sustain before they have to start asking fans to warm up, but we may be approaching that point soon. They just announced they lost linebacker Tatum Bethune for the playoffs, and Fred Warner is still out with no chance to return if the 49ers don’t win at least a couple of games. QB Brock Purdy dodged a more dangerous bullet as he has a stinger in his non-throwing shoulder. There is some chance LT Trent Williams and WR Ricky Pearsall will return this week, and both would be huge gains for the offense that struggled to do much of anything against the Seahawks and will face a similar type of attacking and swarming defense against the Eagles.
Seattle will face the lowest remaining seed next week, and right now, their most likely opponents are the seventh-seeded Green Bay Packers, the sixth-seeded 49ers, or the 5th seeded Rams. If all three host teams win this weekend, it would pit Seattle against 4th fourth-seeded Carolina for the right to play in the NFC Championship game, and that would be just spooky since that’s precisely what happened in 2014.
LA travels to play Carolina this Saturday afternoon, then Chicago hosts Green Bay for the Saturday evening matchup. If Green Bay wins, Seattle knows for sure who they will be playing next week, no matter how the Sunday games shake out. If Green Bay loses, the Seahawks have to see which lower seed survives. If the Rams win and are the only visiting team to do so, Seattle would host the Rams next week, while the Bears host the Eagles. If the 49ers win regardless of whether the Rams do or not, Seattle would host the 49ers next week. If the Rams and 49ers both win, Seattle would host the 49ers, while the Rams would travel to Chicago. If the Packers, Rams, and 49ers all win, next weekend would feature Seattle hosting the Packers and the Rams hosting the 49ers, which would be a very bizarre scenario.
Viewing guide
(5) LA at (4) Carolina – Seattle fans should be cheering for a Carolina upset, as the Panthers traveling to Seattle would be a weaker opponent. The Rams gave Seattle their best haymakers of the season and narrowly missed out on sweeping Seattle, and are arguably the most complete team in the conference, or at least equals with the Seahawks. Seattle should be able to beat either team, but if you were given the chance to choose one, you would definitely choose Carolina.
(7) Green Bay at (2) Chicago – Seattle should be cheering for a Green Bay upset, as the injury-riddled Packers would be a better matchup for Seattle, especially having to travel two weeks in a row in harsh weather. The Bears have their own share of injuries, but their ability to pull unlikely victories out of a hat would worry me even if they don’t appear to be a team capable of beating Seattle. Green Bay has a more than capable offense. Still, their defense can’t stop the most basic of plays right now so if forced to choose between the two you would want to play the Packers as the Bears have a very creative offense that can always seem to find a way to get points just when you stop expecting anything from them and a defense that doesn’t quit no matter how hurt they are. It makes for a frantic and very stressful experience, especially since they give you the impression they will lose for three quarters before pulling the rug out and laughing at you on their way out. Playing a team like the Bears in the NFC Championship would not be fun, and they are built for bad weather so that the Seattle mystique would be lost on them.
(6) San Francisco at (3) Philadelphia – Seattle should be cheering for a San Francisco upset, as the beaten-up, beyond recognition 49ers would be a fun playoff matchup. As opposed to the defending champion Eagles who still have plenty of star power on both sides and have been so very close to figuring out how to get back to who they were last season and you would hate for them to finally click while playing for a spot in the Super Bowl on the line as Seattle would only be play the Eagles in the NFC Championship. It would be an incredible moment to punch your ticket for the Super Bowl while defeating last year’s champ, but that’s a ton of pressure. The Eagles would love to send a bunch of pass rushers after Seattle QB Sam Darnold, who is not easy to disrupt, but has proven he can be had if the moment gets too big for him or the pressure is constant. Seattle can beat any team in the NFC side of the bracket, but they should want to play the teams with a pulse that don’t have the best chance of upsetting them.
No matter who wins or loses this weekend, Seattle and its fans can put their feet up and wait to find out who they get to play next week. It’s likely the only stress-free slate of games you will get the rest of the playoffs, so make sure you enjoy it. Just because your team is not taking part, don’t ignore it. You can learn a lot about your next opponent by watching them beat one of the six best teams remaining.
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