Seahawks lock up playoff spot. Now, what comes next?
Dear Seattle, welcome to the playoffs. Better yet, the No. 1 seed at this point.
How did it happen? Well, it was a spoonful of the Rams getting blown out by the Cowboys and the 49ers losing to the Falcons in dramatic fashion.
Pair that with Seattle’s win over Carolina and you’ve got the Seahawks IN the 2019-20 NFC playoffs.
So what does this mean for the Seahawks and their playoff hopes? We know they’re in but here’s what the outlook is entering week 16.
Seahawks current seed: No. 1
There are a large number of Seahawks fans that are just begging for the NFL season to end at this point. Why? If the season ended today, the Seahawks would be staying at home for the entire playoff run.
A week off and you don’t leave Seattle until a potential trip to Super Bowl 54 in Miami. Sounds like a good deal to me.
Projected playoff opponent
The cool part about being a projected top two seed at this point of the season is that you’re going to have a bye week during wild card weekend. The downside is you don’t know who you’d be playing.
If you use the current playoff standings, any of the following could be the Seahawks’ opponent in the divisional round.
3. New Orleans
4. NFC East Champion (Dallas or Philadelphia)
5. San Francisco
6. Minnesota
A positive for Seattle is that they’re familiar with all of them, even the Cowboys, who the Seahawks saw in last year’s wild card round. Only this time, if the Cowboys were to win their first playoff game they’d travel to Seattle.
Scoreboard watching in Week 16
Los Angeles Rams at San Francisco 49ers (Saturday): The scoreboard watching begins on Saturday night with the Rams and 49ers going at it in Santa Clara. A win/tie by the Rams keeps Seattle in the first-place spot, a win by San Fran coupled with a Seattle loss drops the Seahawks from the No. 1 seed. The Seahawks and Niners would actually swap spots.
Dallas Cowboys at Philadelphia Eagles: If the Seahawks were to drop from the No. 1 seed to the No. 5 seed, they will be playing the NFC East champs, who occupy the No. 4 seed. The Cowboys clinch the division with a victory. If the Eagles win, we delay the NFC East drama another week.
New Orleans Saints at Tennessee Titans: Let’s say Seattle falls to Arizona, a team that could slip into the No. 1 seed is the New Orleans Saints. That only happens with Arizona, Minnesota, and LA winning.
Green Bay Packers at Minnesota Vikings (Monday): Speaking of the Vikings, a Seahawks loss turns Monday night’s game into an interesting affair. The Seahawks could potentially see one of these two teams as the No. 3 seed if they lose one of their last two games and the NFC North champion were to grab the No. 1 or No. 2 seed in the playoffs.
This story was originally published December 17, 2019 at 6:00 AM.
