Seattle needs help anywhere it can get, plus it must help itself by winning again.
The Seattle Seahawks need to start winning games again in order to make the playoffs, and they will need assistance in order to get a wild card spot. No, I’m not entertaining “Seahawks can still win the division” because I live in the real world, and even an upset win over the San Francisco 49ers puts them two games back with four to go, with no tiebreaker in hand. The 49ers have games against the Arizona Cardinals and Washington Commanders to play, so you can figure out the rest from there.
For the Week 14 playoff rooting guide, let’s revisit the NFC standings and then you’ll understand why the teams to pull for are as simple as can be.
NFC Playoff Standings
1. Philadelphia Eagles (10-2)
2. San Francisco 49ers (9-3, 7-1 NFC)
3. Detroit Lions (9-3, 6-2 NFC)
4. Atlanta Falcons (6-6)
Wild Card
5. Dallas Cowboys (9-3)
6. Minnesota Vikings (6-6, 6-3 NFC)*
7. Green Bay Packers (6-6) *
Everyone Else
8. Los Angeles Rams (6-6, 4-4 NFC) *
9. Seattle Seahawks (6-6, 5-4 NFC) *
10. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-7, head-to-head over NO)
11. New Orleans Saints (5-7)
12. New York Giants (4-8, 3-4 NFC)
13. Chicago Bears (4-8)
14. Washington Commanders (4-9)
15. Arizona Cardinals (3-10)
Eliminated
16. Carolina Panthers (1-11)
There are five teams at 6-6 and one of them leads the NFC South. You also have two teams at 5-7 and only a game back of a wild card spot. I do not consider any of the Giants, Bears, Commanders, or Cardinals threats for a miraculous playoff push.
With that in mind, these are the five games to focus on in the playoff hunt:
Top priority
Baltimore Ravens over Los Angeles Rams
Las Vegas Raiders over Minnesota Vikings
New York Giants over Green Bay Packers
Preferred but not necessary
Atlanta Falcons over Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Carolina Panthers over New Orleans Saints
There’s nothing else to explain! All the 6-6 teams (other than the Seahawks) losing is preferred. If the 5-7 teams win then it’s not a huge deal but it’s not absolutely urgent. If the Seahawks get an upset win over the 49ers, then they’ll have achieved the best possible outcome and their postseason chances would be substantially increased.
Again, this is the playoff rooting guide. If none of these results hit and the Seahawks lose, then I guess it increases Seattle’s top-10 draft pick probability, so maybe it isn’t all that bad if you’re someone who doesn’t want to make the postseason but clicked on this article anyway.
Go Ravens, go Raiders, go Giants, go Falcons, and go Panthers!