The Seattle Seahawks have been eliminated from the playoffs for the second consecutive year. It’s not what fans were expecting, in year one under head coach Mike Macdonald but there was still some good to take away from it. Even if the Seahawks aren’t in the playoffs they can still have an impact on them in Week 18.
Seattle will travel to Los Angeles to face the Rams, who currently hold the number three seed in the NFC playoff race. As it’s currently set, the Rams would host the Washington Commanders in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. While that will be a challenging matchup itself, the Seahawks could bump the Rams down in seeding with a win.
The Seattle Seahawks Can Still Impact the Playoff Race
If the Seahawks beat the Rams in Week 18, they could force the Rams to drop from the No. 3 spot to the No. 4 spot in the NFC. This would also require a win by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (currently the No. 4 seed) over the New Orleans Saints, which considering how well the Buccaneers are doing, is a very likely scenario.
If the Rams were to drop one spot in the playoff standings, they would either host the Minnesota Vikings or Detroit Lions, depending on which team wins the No. 1 seed in Week 18 and which will drop to the fifth seed. The Lions have been the favorites to win the division and even the conference for a while now. I don’t think anyone expected the Vikings to be 14-2 at this point, especially with Sam Darnold at quarterback, but here they are, on the verge of potentially bumping the Lions out of the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
The Lions and the Vikings are two of the top teams in the NFL right now. If the Seahawks were to beat the Rams and force them to drop to the number four spot, Los Angeles would have a tough task ahead of them. The one advantage for the Rams would be getting to host either Detroit or Minnesota. The disadvantage is the Lions are 8-0 as the away team while the Vikings are 6-1.
The Seahawks may not be playing for a playoff spot this week, but they still have a chance to make the season’s final game meaningful. Aside from potentially screwing over their division rival, Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith has the opportunity to earn a few extra million dollars per contract incentive. He will earn an extra $2 million each if he passes for 4,282 yards, 30 touchdowns, has a completion percentage of 69.755%, a passer rating of 100.874, and 10 wins (or a playoff berth).
With one game remaining, Smith can reach three of these milestones (pass yards, completion percentage, and 10 wins). He was eligible to make another $5 million if he hit all five categories this season but that’s not going to happen.
Main Photo: Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images
The post The Seattle Seahawks Can Still Impact the Playoff Race appeared first on Last Word on Pro Football.