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Remember when I said “greediness can backfire in a big way” when referring to which teams to root for in week 14? I was fully aware of all of the fantasies about getting a first-round bye, even though it was almost completely impossible for it to actually materialize.
Not only did the Seahawks lose to the Jacksonville Jaguars, but every single result except one failed to break in their favor. Atlanta won on Thursday night, Carolina upset Minnesota, Green Bay, Dallas, and Detroit all prevailed, buuuuuut the Philadelphia Eagles (who will be without Carson Wentz due to a feared torn ACL) beat the Los Angeles Rams in a 43-35 thriller to provide some semblance of hope for the Seahawks on a truly terrible day.
The NFC standings are as follows:
#1 - Philadelphia Eagles (11-2)
#2 - Minnesota Vikings (10-3)
#3 - Los Angeles Rams (9-4)
#4 - New Orleans Saints (9-4)
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#5 - Carolina Panthers (9-4)
#6 - Atlanta Falcons (8-5)
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#7 - Seattle Seahawks (8-5)
#8 - Detroit Lions (7-6)
#9 - Green Bay Packers (7-6)
#10 - Dallas Cowboys (7-6)
#11 - Arizona Cardinals (6-7)
It’s fairly simple. Seattle beats the Los Angeles Rams next week and they lead the NFC West, and would be in prime position to still make the playoffs. A loss and the season is quite conceivably over, as they’d be two games back of the Rams and potentially a game behind the Atlanta Falcons depending on how they perform against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. If Seattle loses and Atlanta wins, playoff chances drop to 18%. A win and an Atlanta loss puts them up at 81%.
Last week’s win over Philadelphia was great, but this week was a return to reality, and the reality is that the Seattle Seahawks might miss the playoffs. The first-round bye dreams got squashed today, and if not for the Eagles’ dramatic win in Los Angeles, this would be as bad a week as the Seahawks have ever had in the Russell Wilson era.