Seahawks can clinch 5th seed with win today

The Seattle Seahawks can ensure they face the Washington Redskins in the first round of the playoffs with a win over the Rams today.

So now we know…..

After all the speculation about who would win the NFC East the Washington Redskins erased all doubt last night by crushing the Philadelphia Eagles. The stage is now set. With a win at home today over the St. Louis Rams the Seahawks have a chance to lock down the #5 seed, booking them a trip to Landover, MD to face the ‘Skins in the wild card round.

The game would be either Saturday, January 9th or Sunday the 10th, depending on what the networks decide next weekend.

So this is what we’ve wanted, right? The winner of the “NFC Least!”

Are we so sure?

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At one point it looked like that division would be won by a team with a losing record, but Washington has a chance to finish 9-7 with a win over Dallas on the final Sunday (although with the division locked up, they may not play at full strength.) But the Redskins have now won four out of five games and are clearly on a roll. And the more they grow, the more they look like a possible match up challenge for Seattle. In particular, the Kirk Cousins to Jordan Reed connection might be cause for concern. It’s no secret the Seahawks have had their troubles covering good QB/TE combinations this year (think Dalton/Eifert or Newton/Olson). Cousins has made everyone in Maryland forget about RGIII, and he gets better with each week. He’s topped 300 yards passing in 3 straight games and Reed is the biggest benefactor, reeling in five of Cousins nine TD passes over that stretch.

We will dig deeper into this match up once Wild Card Week arrives. But think twice before you assume the Hawks are going to have an easy go of it in their first playoff game. It might just be tougher than you care to believe.

Next: Is Seahawks O-line Ready For Rams?

First things first. Seattle needs to take care of business and dispatch an upset-hungry Rams team today to avoid having to play next week in Arizona for keeps. A win today to clinch the 5th seed, and next week’s game becomes irrelevant.