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The Seattle Seahawks were looking for some help to increase their playoffs odds on Sunday, and they got it. The Seahawks can’t do much other than keep themselves alive by beating the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, but their road is a little less rocky now that one NFC team has been eliminated and another took one of the two Ls Seattle needed them to take.
But the Seahawks can no longer dream of the division.
LA needed a fourth quarter comeback win to beat Tennessee, but they pulled ahead and held on to clinch the NFC West. They’re 11-4 and host the San Francisco 49ers next week, most likely playing for the three seed vs the four seed. This keeps Seattle playing for the six seed. There’s indeed a scenario where the 3-seed Rams host the 6-seed Seahawks.
Atlanta needed to win to secure a playoff berth and to put themselves out of reach of the Seahawks, but they lost and dropped to 9-6. Seattle can now match their record and will need two wins + a Falcons loss in Week 17 to beat out Atlanta for a wild card berth. The Falcons host the Panthers next Sunday.
Detroit needed to win to stay alive in the NFC wild card races, but they blew a fourth quarter lead on the road to Cincinnati and had a bit of a meltdown at the end to lose by nine. The Lions are not going to the playoffs this season and are one less object in front of Seattle.
Panthers 22, Bucs 19
Tampa Bay led 19-15 with under a minute to go but the defense couldn’t hold off Cam Newton’s first fourth quarter comeback win in over two years. The Panthers clinched a playoff berth with the victory. Them and the Saints are into the postseason, while the final wild card will go to one of the Falcons, Seahawks, or Cowboys.
Seattle’s postseason odds following the Week 16 morning games:
12% to make playoffs
31% to make playoffs, if they win
0% to make playoffs, if they lose
77% to make playoffs, if they win and the Falcons lose to the Panthers in Week 17