What the Seahawks need to stay in the NFC West race

If the Seahawks had lost on Thursday, the Rams, who host the Cardinals on Saturday night, would have clinched the NFC West with a win, but they avoided that scenario by beating the Bears.

If the Rams lose to the Cardinals, the Week 18 game will be between the Seahawks and Rams for the NFC West, regardless of the Seahawks’ win over the Bears. Because if both teams lost, the Seahawks would be one game behind the Rams in Week 18, and if they won that game, they would again win the tiebreaker with the better NFC West record, assuming a Rams loss to the Cardinals.

However, if the Rams win alongside the Seahawks this week, it won’t be so easy, because in this scenario, a Seahawks win in Week 18 would result in both teams having the same record, a head-to-head matchup, and the same NFC West record have , the same record in shared games and the same conference record. The fifth tiebreaker after all of this is the strength of the win, and entering Week 17 the Rams have the edge there, thanks largely to the fact that they beat the Bills and Vikings.

And thanks to that strength of the win margin, the Rams could even clinch a win this week with the Seahawks’ win in Chicago if they get 3.5 or more wins from the Vikings (vs. Packers), Bills (vs. Jets), 49ers (vs . Lions), Commanders (vs. Falcons), Bengals (vs. Broncos) and Browns (vs. Dolphins).

In order for the Seahawks to still be in the NFC West race after Sunday, they basically need either a Cardinals win over the Rams, in which case the division title will definitely be on the line in Week 18, or, if the Rams win on Saturday, the Seahawks need four wins from the Packers, Jets, Lions, Falcons, Broncos or Dolphins from the aforementioned six games.