Seattle Seahawks: Updated playoff scenarios
By Keith Myers
The Seattle Seahawks have had a rough season, but are still in position to make the playoffs.
The Seattle Seahawks got themselves back to .500 with their 29-13 win over San Francisco on Sunday. They also got some help in other games, and now currently sit just outside of the playoffs.
They still need some help, but if Seattle can get to 10 wins, they should have no problem qualifying for the playoffs.
NFC West Standings
| W | L | T | Pct | |
| Arizona Cardinals | 8 | 2 | 0 | .800 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 |
| St. Louis Rams | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 3 | 7 | 0 | .300 |
At this point it would take an epic collapse for Arizona to not win the division. They have a three game lead with six games remaining.
Seattle needed Cincinnati to beat the Cardinals last night, but that didn’t happen. The Seahawks’ only reasonable path to the playoffs now is as a Wild Card team.
Wild Card Standings
| Seed | Div | W | L | Div | Conf | |
| 5. | Minnesota Vikings | NCN | 7 | 3 | 3-1 | 4-2 |
| 6. | Atlanta Falcons | NCS | 6 | 4 | 0-2 | 4-3 |
| 7. | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | NCS | 5 | 5 | 2-1 | 4-3 |
| 8. | Seattle Seahawks | NCW | 5 | 5 | 2-2 | 5-4 |
The Seahawks currently sit in the 8th spot, two spots out of the playoffs. They are just one game back of Atlanta for the 6 seed.
Catching the Falcons should not be difficult though. Atlanta still has to play the undefeated Carolina Panthers twice. They also have games against the Vikings and Buccaneers.
Besides, the Falcons have lost 4 of their last 5 and no longer look like they will be able to turn their hot start into a trip to the playoffs.
The Vikings also have a brutal remaining schedule. The have games against Atlanta, Seattle, Arizona, and Green Bay remaining. Two losses in those four games is definitely a possibility.
Tampa’s schedule is much easier, though they do also play Carolina in Week 17 along with their matchup with Atlanta.
With so many of the teams above Seattle playing each other, the Seahawks will be able to make up the ground necessary to get into the playoff.
The only for for all of this to matter is for the Seahawks to keep winning. If they cannot get to 10 wins, then they almost certainly won’t get into the playoffs.
That begins this week against Pittsburgh. The Seahawks must take care of business at home or none of this matters.