Ravens give Seahawks a Christmas gift by defeating the 49ers in Week 16

The Seattle Seahawks currently sit at number 7 in the NFC playoff standings. That is good enough, if the season were to end today, to make the postseason. The problem is the Seahawks have a very tough game coming up in Week 17 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Should Seattle lose that game, the team could still make the playoffs but would need some help.

Currently, the Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Atlanta Falcons, and New Orleans Saints are 7-8 while the Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 8-7. The Packers and Vikings still have to play one another and the loser will likely be canceled out. The same can be said of the Falcons and Saints and both teams have a worse conference record than Seattle currently.

This is why the Baltimore Ravens defeating the San Francisco 49ers could help Seattle. Had San Francisco beaten the Ravens, the 49ers would be 12-3 with a one-game lead in home-field advantage for the NFC playoffs. While the 49ers do have the tie-break against the team they are tied with atop the NFC overall standings, the Philadelphia Eagles, the 49ers still likely need to win out to hold on to the top spot.

Seahawks could lose another game and make the playoffs thanks to the Ravens

The Eagles have two extremely winnable games left against the Arizona Cardinals and New York Giants. They are very likely going to end up 13-4. Had the 49ers beaten the Ravens, San Francisco could have lost another game and still finished at number one in the NFC because they hold the tie-break against the Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys and neither of those teams would probably have finished with a better record than the 49ers.

But because the Ravens hammered the 49ers 33-19, and San Francisco quarterback Brock Purdy threw 4 interceptions (3 of them in the span of four drives - MVPs don't do that, by the way), San Francisco cannot afford to lose again. The 49ers finish the season against the 8-7 Los Angeles Rams. Had the 49ers gone into that game 13-3, they could rested a bunch of players and the Rams would have had potentially an easy win.

The Rams finish the season on the road in their final two games. Before they play the 49ers, they travel to play the feisty New York Giants. Los Angeles should be favored in the game, but New York is 3-2 in its last five games so the Rams likely won't have an easy time. Should they lose to New York, they probably will lose to the 49ers. That would make Los Angeles 8-9 and out of the playoffs.

This makes Seattle potentially losing to the Steelers in Week 17 a bit easier to swallow. The Seahawks would no longer have to worry about the Rams holding a tie-break advantage against Seattle because the Rams would have a worse record. Many of the other teams a game back of Seattle would be canceled out by other teams with the same record. Because the Ravens beat the 49ers, they now must win their final two games to remain atop the NFC and this means Seattle could lose another game and still be in a decent position for the playoffs.

Things are looking up for Seattle and FanDuel Sportsbook is giving you a $150 bonus if the Seahawks beat the Steelers! Sign up, deposit at least $10 and bet $5 or more on the Seahawks to win and you'll get $150 in bonus bets if they do. Keep the good news coming - sign up for FanDuel today!

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