The Seattle Seahawks hit Thanksgiving at 8-3, chasing the Rams in the NFC West and jostling for position in a crowded NFC playoff race. With Seattle off the holiday slate, a full day of games â plus Fridayâs Bears-Eagles showdown â could quietly swing the Seahawksâ postseason path depending on how the results break.
Hereâs who Seahawks fans should root during the holiday slate.Â
Where the Seahawks Sit in the NFC Playoff Picture
Coming into the holiday slate, the Rams lead the NFC West at 9-2, with the Seahawks right behind at 8-3 and the San Francisco 49ers close at 8-4. In the North, the Chicago Bears and Philadelphia Eagles are both 8-3, while the Green Bay Packers (7-3-1) and Detroit Lions (7-4) are battling just behind them. Tampa Bay tops the NFC South at 6-5.
That leaves Seattle holding one of the NFC wild-card spots and still within striking distance of the conferenceâs top record. Any extra losses by the Bears, Eagles, Packers, Lions or Cowboys would give the Seahawks more breathing room in the wild-card race and a clearer shot at climbing into a higher seed.
Who Seahawks Fans Should Root for on Thanksgiving
Packers at Lions (morning game)
Both teams are behind Seattle right now, but theyâre close enough to matter. Green Bay is 7-3-1 and Detroit is 7-4. From a pure Seahawks perspective, the ideal outcome is a tie, which would give both another blemish. Short of that, many Seahawks fans may lean toward the Lions winning, handing the Packers a fourth loss and pushing a 7-3 team a bit further back in the pack.
Either way, Seattle benefits: one NFC contender has to pick up another loss, and the Seahawks are already ahead of both in winning percentage.
Chiefs at Cowboys (afternoon game)
This one is straightforward. Kansas City is in the AFC, so the result doesnât affect the NFC standings directly. The Dallas Cowboys, however, are 5-5 and trying to claw back into the wild-card picture. A Cowboys loss would push them to 5-6 and give Seattle more margin for error in the race for the final spots. From Seattleâs point of view, a Chiefs win is the cleanest outcome.
Bengals at Ravens (night game)
Both teams are in the AFC, so this matchup has almost no direct impact on the Seahawksâ playoff positioning. Fans can simply enjoy the game without worrying about the NFC implications.
Bears-Eagles Black Friday Showdown Is Huge for NFC Seeding
The biggest non-Seahawks game of the weekend might actually be Fridayâs Bears-Eagles clash. Both teams enter at 8-3, matching Seattleâs record and sitting in that cluster right behind the Rams in the NFC pecking order.
A tie would be the dream scenario for Seattle, saddling both teams with an extra non-win. Barring that, the Seahawks gain as long as one of them picks up a fourth loss and drops to 8-4. That would give Seattle a chance to move ahead of the loser in the race for a top-two or top-three seed, especially if the Seahawks can stack more wins over the next few weeks.
Seahawks Still Need to Handle Business vs. Vikings
All of the scoreboard watching only matters if Seattle keeps winning. The Seahawks host the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, November 30, in a game that doubles as both a conference matchup and another chance to keep pressure on the Rams in the NFC West race.
Beating Minnesota would move Seattle to 9-3 and ensure that whatever happens on Thanksgiving and Black Friday breaks as favorably as possible for their playoff push. A loss, on the other hand, could drag them back into the crowded wild-card mix with teams like the Packers, Lions and Cowboys lurking.
For now, Seahawks fans can enjoy the holiday football marathon with a clear rooting guide: look for NFC contenders to stack losses, especially in Detroit, Dallas and Philadelphia, while Seattle gets ready for its own critical matchup on Sunday.
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post Seahawks Playoff Picture: Thanksgiving Rooting Guide & NFC Stakes Explained appeared first on Heavy Sports.