Last night on Thursday Night Football, it was a showdown between a pair of 7-7 teams. The Los Angeles Rams hosted the New Orleans Saints in a rematch of the infamous 2018 NFC Championship. Unfortunately, the team from the Big Easy did nothing to cool down the red hot Rams.
Los Angeles handled business like they were expected to do so, defeating New Orleans to the tune of 30-22. It was never even that close, either. The Rams led the Saints at one point 30-7 in the fourth quarter.
So what does this mean for the Seattle Seahawks? Well, it is a bit of a mixed bag. The bad news is the Rams continuing to win puts a considerable road block for Seattle to overcome. Los Angeles only has two games remaining: at the Giants, and at the 49ers – who could very well be resting key starters with their playoff positioning locked up.
Should San Francisco play their reserves, the path to 10-7 for the Rams is quite favorable. Since Los Angeles swept the Seahawks this year, they hold the direct tiebreaker for Wild Card positioning.
However, there is a silver lining. Going into this weekend, the Rams, Saints, Seahawks and Vikings were all log-jammed with identical 7-7 records. By nature of the Rams winning, the Saints fall to 7-8 and the No. 9 seed right behind Seattle. The Seahawks are now tied with the Minnesota Vikings at 7-7, but remain behind them in the standings. Seattle is No. 8, the Vikings are at No. 7 – the final Wild Card spot.
Minnesota’s final three games go as follows: vs Detroit, vs Green Bay, at Detroit. When it comes to divisional matchups, you never know what could happen. But certainly defeating the Lions – who are desperate to win their division for the first time since 1993 – will be no small task.
Seattle is in a unique position where they need help, but somewhat control their fate. If they go 3-0 in these final three games, finishing with a 10-7 record should be good enough to secure one of the final two Wild Card spots, presuming either Dallas or Philadelphia do not have epic meltdowns down the stretch.
Of course, the 12th Man is certainly going to be scoreboard watching the Lions, Packers, Giants and even the loathsome 49ers over the next few weeks to see what kind of help they can get along the way.
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