NFL clinching scenarios for Week 18: Seattle Seahawks need a bit of help

There could be a lot riding on what the Seattle Seahawks do in Week 18. That could be more far-reaching than what Seattle does with the rest of the season, too. While it is unlikely head coach Pete Carroll would step down from coaching, defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt and offensive coordinator Shane Waldron could be replaced. But not if Seattle wins in Week 18, most likely.

That is because Seattle still has a decent chance of making the playoffs this year. Whereas other teams might have a lot of moving pieces in their way of making the postseason, the Seahawks have a relatively simple path. But the most important part is they need to beat the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday.

With that victory, Seattle would still need the Chicago Bears to travel to Green Bay and beat the Packers. Easy enough, right? Seattle wins and Green Bay loses and the Seahawks are postseason-bound.

What needs to happen for the Seattle Seahawks to make the playoffs?

The issues with that simplicity, however, are that Seattle has been horrible against the run in the last 11 games and the Cardinals run the ball really well. Nothing we have seen recently screams, "The Seahawks defense will be much better in Week 18!" More likely, expect to be disappointed again.

The other problem is that while the Bears' defense has been playing well over the last half of the season, Chicago's offseason does not score that many points. Green Bay might need to only score 17 points to win. Plus, Packers quarterback Jordan Love has thrown 16 touchdown passes and just one interception in his last seven games. That is frighteningly efficient.

But let's look on the bright side. At least the Seahawks are once again in the playoff hunt. Pete Carroll's teams have made the playoffs in 10 of the previous 13 years. Even if Seattle makes it 10 of 14 after this season (by, obviously, not making the playoff this year), many other fanbases would take that in a second.

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