We are gearing up for a wild final three weeks of the season, as the NFC playoff picture could not possibly be any more wide open than it is. The Seattle Seahawks are currently an 11-3 team, yet remain trapped in the Wild Card round if the season were to end today. Fortunately, it does not! The margin for error in the NFC is razor thin and can shake up in an instant. As it stands, here is what the current NFC playoffs would look like:
- No. 1 – Los Angeles Rams 11-3
- No. 2 – Chicago Bears 10-4
- No. 3 – Philadelphia Eagles 9-5
- No. 4 – Tampa Bay Buccaneers 7-7
- No. 5 – Seattle Seahawks 11-3 (Wild Card)
- No. 6 – San Francisco 49ers 10-4 (Wild Card)
- No. 7 – Green Bay Packers 9-4-1 (Wild Card)
Once the dust of Week 15 settled, the only team that clinched a playoff spot was the LA Rams. No matter what happens for the remainder of the season, the Rams are guaranteed to be playing in the postseason this winter. However, their grip on the NFC West is of course going to be challenged this Thursday night as they will travel to Lumen Field for a rematch with the Seahawks in prime time. Seattle can jump from the top Wild Card spot to the No. 1 seed with a win over the Rams. At this point, both the Seahawks and Rams control their own destiny to have home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
Had the Seahawks lost on Sunday, they would have fallen to third place in the NFC West and into the No. 6 seed, being leapfrogged by the San Francisco 49ers due to a head-to-head tiebreaker the Niners have from their Week 1 victory. Fortunately, Seattle kept San Francisco at bay (pun intended) for at least another week by defeating the Colts.
Not far behind this grouping of teams are the 8-6 Detroit Lions, the 7-7 Carolina Panthers and the somehow not-dead-yet 6-7-1 Dallas Cowboys. Carolina is only in it because they still have a chance to win the NFC South due to the fact they play the division leading 7-7 Buccaneers twice over the final two weeks.
The Vikings, Falcons, Saints, Commanders, Cardinals and Giants have all been eliminated from postseason contention.
This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: NFC playoff picture: where do the Seahawks stand?
