NFC Playoff Picture: Seahawks currently out of the playoffs at midway point of the season

Week 9 honestly could not have played out worse for the Seattle Seahawks. Not only did they play undisciplined, ghastly football on their way to a stunning 17-14 home defeat against the Washington, but pretty much all of their immediate playoff rivals won, including the NFC West-leading Los Angeles Rams, who thwacked the hapless new York Giants 51-17.

As it stands, and I know we still have a half-season worth of football left to play, the Seahawks have gone from leading the NFC West to out of the playoffs altogether.

NFC Playoff Standings

#1 - Philadelphia Eagles (8-1)

#2 - Minnesota Vikings (6-2)

#3 - New Orleans Saints (6-2)

#4 - Los Angeles Rams (6-2)

——

#5 - Carolina Panthers (6-3)

#6 - Dallas Cowboys (5-3)

——

#7 - Seattle Seahawks (5-3)

#8 - Green Bay Packers (4-3)

#9 - Atlanta Falcons (4-4)

#10 - Washington (4-4)

#11 - Arizona Cardinals (4-4)

#12 - Detroit Lions (3-4)

#13 - Chicago Bears (3-5)

#14 - Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2-6)

#15 - New York Giants (1-7)

#16 - San Francisco 49ers (0-9)

The Packers and Lions play each other on Monday night, and a Packers win would bump Seattle down to 8th by virtue of Green Bay’s head-to-head tiebreaker advantage.

Seattle’s record vs. NFC teams is 3-2, so Dallas has the edge at 4-2, but those two play in Dallas on Christmas Eve, so really we’re only worried about the eventual head-to-head tiebreaker. As for Carolina, they are 6-3 but their record is 4-3 vs. the NFC, so that’s something in Seattle’s favor as it stands. When talking division race, the Rams are playing the Deshaun Watson-less Houston Texans next week, so the odds of a slip-up there are fairly remote. Of importance is the Rams at Vikings on November 19th, and it’s really desirable for Minnesota to win that one.

The Seahawks have had a lot of close games this season, but this loss against Washington is hard to swallow because the Seahawks are now at 57% probability to make the playoffs, having been at 82% the week before. At this point, a first-round bye does not seem terribly realistic to think about.