Updated Playoff Picture

I know what you’re thinking: “Playoffs?… Playoffs!?… Pla?Playoff!? Are you kidding me? Playoffs?” (Be sure to read that in your best Jim Mora Sr. voice) But before you give yourself whiplash shaking your head in disbelief, here me out for a second. The Seahawks currently sit 9th in the NFC, just 3 spots out of the playoffs. The Seahawks also have an easy schedule ahead of them, and play 4 of their remaining 6 games at home.

Now, I should add that I don’t expect the Seahawks to make the playoffs. I’m just wanting to point out that it’s clearly not out of the question yet. Here’s the current standings:

1 Green Bay

10-0-0

2 San Francisco

9-1-0

3 New Orleans

7-3-0

4 Dallas

6-4-0

5 Detroit

7-3-0

6 Chicago

7-3-0

7 Atlanta

6-4-0

8 NY Giants

6-4-0

9 Seattle

4-6-0

The Seahawks aren’t technically eliminated from winning the division, but lets put that to bed. It isn’t going to happen. SF would have to lose every game remaining on their schedule, and the Seahawks would have to win every remaining game. And before you ask, yes the Seahawks would win the tiebreaker in that scenario, but it doesn’t matter. It isn’t going to happen.

So the only way the Seahawks make the playoffs is in the wildcard. To do so, they have to pass 3 teams. They also have to make up 3 games in the standing just to catch #6 team. Clearly the odds are still stacked against them.

Obviously the vulnerable team here is the Chicago Bears. With Jay Cutler now out for the remainder of the regular season, It should be expected that they’ll struggle to win more than 1-2 more games. Seattle plays the Bears week 15, so if this miracle is going to happen Seattle will have to win that game. That will also give Seattle the tiebreaker with the Bears, which will make this easier.

The problem is that the Seahawks will have to finish a full game better than Atlanta and possibly Dallas because both of those teams beat the Seahawks earlier this year. Either that, or the Seahawks will need a 3-way tie for the final playoff spot so that head to head isn’t the tiebreaker used, but even that isn’t a guarantee. (Though Dallas seems to have a clear road to the division title now, so maybe it will only matter with the Falcons)

Clearly the odds are against them, but it’s fun to believe that the Seahawks are still in the hunt for a playoff berth.