Seahawks in good shape in NFC playoff seedings after week 11

The Seahawks started week 11 in third place in the NFC West.

The Seahawks had a very good week 11 as they defeated the Arizona Cardinals. This means Seattle, with four games against bad teams, should be in an excellent position once week 16 rolls around. But what about stuff through week 12?

Well, first, it helped that Seattle defeated the Cardinals to start the week. This evens the season matchup at 1-1 and Seattle has a leg up on losses. Sure, Seattle lost to the Rams too but also have a chance to beat them in week 16 in Seattle. (Maybe 12s will be back in stands by then? Probably not, but better safe than sorry.)

Seattle also has a relatively easy schedule the rest of the way compared to outer-division NFC potential playoff rivals, the Saints, Buccaneers and Packers. (The NFC East also has teams but they all stink and will have no bearing on Seattle’s playoff seeding other than taking a spot by whichever NFC East team wins their division.)

So, the bad part. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Tom Brady lost to the Rams on Monday Night Football in week 11. This means two things. First, the Rams are a lot better than most people expected prior to the beginning of the season. Secondly, Tom Brady is still decent but not great and so the Bucs aren’t as good as they could be if they had a quarterback like Russell Wilson.

Entering week 12, Seattle is the fifth seed in the NFC. This is no good. The Rams need to lose. And the Seahawks could take care of that in week 16 if both teams go undefeated until then which is possible. Seattle has four straight games before the Rams in week 16 that are all – and should be – winnable. Los Angeles plays the 49ers, Cardinals, Patriots and Jets. So the Rams could win out too.

The Saints, who are the current 1-seed in the NFC, have a tougher schedule. They still have to play the Kansas City Chiefs and Minnesota Vikings. New Orleans plays the Eagles as well. The Saints could win out, or without quarterback Drew Brees, lose a couple of games. So the NFC is still a toss-up.

Basically, if the Seahawks win the rest of their games, they will likely get home-field advantage. If not, they won’t. Home-field advantage may not be as important this season as is recent years due to COVID-19 and fewer fans in stadiums, but it still exists. So the Seahawks continuing to win is extremely important.