With a one-game lead in the NFC West, the Los Angeles Rams are in complete control of their playoff fate. If they win their last two games, they clinch the division and punch their ticket to the postseason.
The good news is they don’t have to win out in order to make it. They can win one of their last two and still get into the dance. The Rams can even clinch the NFC West as early as Saturday night when they host the Arizona Cardinals.
The NFL released official clinching scenarios for each team in Week 17 and there are three ways the Rams can lock up the division this week. The easiest method? A Bears win over the Seahawks and a Rams tie or win against the Cardinals.
There’s also a more complex scenario that involves a strength of victory tiebreaker.
- LAR win + SEA loss or tie
- LAR win + LAR clinches strength of victory tiebreaker over SEA (see below)
- LAR tie + SEA loss
In order for Scenario 2 to happen, the Rams need 3.5 or more wins from the six teams. So excluding ties, four of them need to win this week.
- Vikings (vs. GB)
- Bills (vs. NYJ)
- 49ers (vs. DET)
- Commanders (vs. ATL)
- Bengals (vs. DEN)
- Browns (vs. MIA)
Although the Seahawks losing on Thursday night would certainly clear a path to the playoffs for the Rams, it’s not required. As long as the Rams beat the Cardinals, they can lock up a playoff berth if four of the Vikings, Bills, 49ers, Commanders, Bengals and Browns win.
It’s not completely unreasonable, either. The Vikings, Bills, Commanders and Bengals are all favored in their games, so if they take care of business, the Rams will clinch the West and knock the Seahawks out of contention – even if Seattle wins on Thursday night.