Seattle Seahawks Playoff Scenarios: Opponent For Seahawks Could Be Packers, Vikings, Or Redskins
Seattle Seahawks playoff scenarios include three possible opponents in the NFL postseason. The Seattle Seahawks playoff scenarios aren’t in the control of the team any longer, though, after a meltdown against the St. Louis Rams in Week 16. The 23-17 loss by the Seahawks dropped the team into the No. 6 seed in the NFC playoff standings. A win would have kept the team as the No. 5 seed with a scheduled game against the Washington Redskins in the wild card round of the playoffs.
At 9-6, the Seahawks have already clinched a spot in the 2016 NFL Playoffs. Depending on how the Week 17 game goes against the Arizona Cardinals, the Seahawks could become the No. 5 seed again or remain in the No. 6 slot. The other teams already in the NFC Playoffs are the Carolina Panthers (14-1), Arizona Cardinals (13-2), Green Bay Packers (10-5), Minnesota Vikings (10-5), and Washington Redskins (8-7). The only team that has an official seed is Washington at No. 4. Everything else is up in the air for Week 17.
Two Week 17 games are very important for the Seattle Seahawks’ playoff scenarios. They are the Seahawks vs. Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings vs. Green Bay Packers. As coincidence would have it, the Seahawks and Cardinals play at 1:25 p.m. PT, followed by the Vikings and Packers at 5:30 p.m. PT. If Minnesota wins this game, it doesn’t even matter how the Seahawks game turns out, because the seeding will be set based on the results against the Packers.
The Vikings and Packers are tied for first place in the NFC North at 10-5. It means that the winner of the Week 17 match-up will win the division and the No. 3 seed in the 2016 NFC Playoffs. The loser of the game will become one of the wild card teams. The lowest the Packers can fall is the No. 5 seed, as the team holds a head-to-head tie-breaker with the Seahawks. The Vikings could fall to the No. 5 seed if Seattle loses to Arizona but would drop to the No. 6 seed if the Seahawks win in Week 17.
The official Seattle Seahawks playoff scenarios are as follows. If the Seahawks and Packers win in Week 17, then the Seahawks become the No. 5 seed and play the Washington Redskins in the wild card round. If the Seahawks and Vikings win in Week 17, then the Seahawks become the No. 6 seed and play the Vikings in the wild card round. If the Seahawks lose to the Cardinals, the team becomes the No. 6 seed and would play the winner of the Vikings-Packers game in the first round. It could mean a rematch of the 2015 NFC Championship Game against the Packers.
The Seahawks have already played two of the possible playoff opponents in the regular season. In Week 2, the Seahawks lost to the Packers 27-17 on the road. In Week 13, the Seahawks beat the Vikings 38-7 on the road. The Seahawks played the Redskins in Week 5 of the 2014 NFL season, winning 27-17 on the road. During that season, the Seahawks also beat the Packers 36-16 in the regular season and then 28-22 in the playoffs. These recent results show that the team could match up well with any of the three possible opponents.
When the Seahawks take the field against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, January 3, both teams could have a lot on the line. The Cardinals can still become the No. 1 seed in the NFC Playoffs by winning in Week 17 and having the Carolina Panthers lose to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Both games start at 1:25 p.m. PT, so there could be a lot of scoreboard watching. Even with a victory, though, the Seattle Seahawks playoff scenarios won’t be settled until the results of the Packers vs. Vikings game are in. No matter the outcome, the Seahawks will play on the road this postseason.
[Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images]
