Seattle is currently a half-game behind the division and conference-leading LA Rams. And as fate would have it, just in time for the holidays, Seattle has a chance to pull into first in the NFC West and, more importantly, first in the conference with a win this week.
If they manage to beat the Rams this week, Seattle would control their own destiny heading into the playoffs for the first time since the 2014 season. Winning their final two games would guarantee them home-field advantage throughout the playoffs; the only time they would have to travel would be for the Super Bowl.
Seattle will have their work cut out for it, as it follows up its showdown with LA by travelling to Carolina to face the Panthers in the early window on December 28th, then finishes out its season at San Francisco (with game time currently TBD).
The NFC playoff picture is such a log jam that every win counts so much to the extent that no team can afford to slip up more than once, or they might be on the outside looking in once the regular season concludes on January 4th. It’s that tight of a race.
Securing a playoff spot is goal number one, and Seattle can punch their ticket on the postseason train with a win this week. Once they accomplish that, they will be in first place in the conference standings, with two weeks to go and a difficult but very realistic chance to stay there.
If Seattle wins this week, they don’t need to rely on any team but their own roster to clear their way to playing their playoff games at home. But if, for some reason, LA wins this week, Seattle could have some trouble climbing back to the very top.
LA and Seattle are 11-3; Chicago is 10-4; Philadelphia is 9-5; and Tampa Bay is 7-7. With three games remaining, the Seahawks don’t need to worry about Tampa Bay challenging them for the conference top seed, but with just two games separating Seattle and any of the other division leaders, they will need to be near perfect to stay at the top.
San Francisco is a game back in the NFC West at 10-4, and they can clinch their own playoff spot this week with a win over Indianapolis. With a full game of film on 44-year-old Colts QB Philip Rivers to study, 46-year-old 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh should be able to put together a solid plan to keep the guy two years his junior from putting too many points together. You might be wondering how Seattle’s head coach and defensive guru, who is six years younger than Rivers, managed to let Rivers score just enough to keep pace with Seattle. Well, no one had any film on Rivers since the 2020 season; it wasn’t much to work with. Now there is a film of current plays and a structure to work from. Perhaps a guy who used to be faster and didn’t know the offense well would have struggled more, but Rivers knows the offense well and never had mobility, so being a statue in the pocket was not odd for him, and the larger body style he adopted while being retired likely helped cushion his fall when defenders got to him.
LA has already locked in its playoff spot, but it is the only NFC team to do so to this point.
Four teams in the playoff hunt hold the keys to their playoff destiny this week. Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco, and Philadelphia can clinch their spots this week just by winning their games. Philadelphia can clinch its division and host at least one playoff game by beating Washington.
Green Bay would need Detroit to lose, and the Packers would need to beat the Bears if they want to clinch this week. Actually, if Detroit loses this week, Seattle and San Francisco are automatically in the playoffs regardless of how their own games turn out, and if Green Bay wins, coupled with a Detroit loss, most of the NFC playoff teams would be locked in with only seeding to work out over the final two weeks. The NFC South winner would be the last domino to fall.
It’s worth mentioning that Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara is the site of Super Bowl LX taking place in February, and more importantly, it’s the home of the 49ers. If San Francisco somehow sneaks in, they could join Tampa Bay in 2020 and LA in 2021 as the only teams in league history to play the Super Bowl in their home stadium. Tampa and LA both won their home Super Bowl, so it’s only fitting that San Francisco would likely have to play one or both of them if they manage to fight their way in.
There is a lot that can change in the next few weeks, but if Seattle can manage to go 2-1 or better over their final three games and their only loss coming at Carolina, they should be able to sneak into the one seed – as long as the Rams also suffer a second loss along the way. If Seattle loses any two of their next three games, it will likely be traveling the rest of the season. But going 3-0, they would lock in the top seed with history on their side to make the Super Bowl.
Seattle can win the division without taking first in the conference, but it’s more likely that those two go hand in hand at this point, barring a massive collapse by at least two teams with similar records. By winning the division, they will host a playoff game for the first time since the 2020 season, and could get their first postseason victory since the 2019 season. A win in the divisional round would be their first since the 2014 season, when they last appeared in the Conference Championship or the Super Bowl.
Deep playoff runs for Seattle are locked in with their seasons with Super Bowl aspirations; they aren’t a team that sneaks into the championship round. Seattle has made only three championship-round appearances in its time in the NFC, and it punched its ticket to the Super Bowl each time. Seattle’s only loss in the conference championship came during their time in the AFC during the 1983 season, so we don’t need to really count that one.
The Seahawks were the top seed in the NFC all three times they reached the NFC conference championship game, and they made it to the Super Bowl each time, so earning the number one seed this season would bode well for them, at least historically. They are 1-2 in the Super Bowl all-time, so unfortunately, it’s not as simple as showing up for them.
It’s been 20 years since Seattle’s first Super Bowl appearance, and that was Super Bowl XL. It would be fitting for Seattle to earn their way back for the first time in over a decade when the game is known as LX this year. Their lone championship came in Super Bowl XLVIII, and they also appeared in Super Bowl XLIX. Seems like XL marks the spot when it comes to Seattle and their best seasons in one manner or another, so why not this season?
Every Seattle fan should have a victory over the Rams as their first wish this holiday season, not just so Sam Darnold can avenge his strange loss to them a few weeks ago, but also to put them at the top of the heap with just two weeks left in the season. That puts them in the playoffs and gives them the chance to take care of business on their own. Next, they need to put down the Panthers in Carolina, then go to the site of this season’s Super Bowl and put one last nail in the 49ers’ chances to host any playoff games. Once that mission is accomplished, Seattle will slot into the top seed in the conference and will have the opportunity to get rested up before a well-deserved and hard-earned deep playoff run – their first in over a decade.
It’s time for Seattle to put their best game of the season together with the highest stakes against arguably the only team in the NFC that can hang with them when they play their best, and they get to do it on their home field in weather that suits their style of play.
Seattle has fought to get here, but being an elite team is not enough. They now need to put the pressure to 50 and make it painfully clear to their rivals they aren’t playing with their food anymore. They are hungry for a return to the playoffs, to host all of their playoff games, and to go 7-0 when it has never mattered more.
Happy holidays, Seattle. Here’s to hoping they win this week and by the time the season ends, they have no game to play during Super Wild Card Weekend.
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