Sports blog information from USA TODAY.
The Seahawks now have sole possession of first place in the West after beating the Eagles and seeing both the Cardinals and Rams lose in Week 12.
The NFC West again has a new leader. After Week 12, the Seattle Seahawks are in control of the division. They hold a one-game lead over the Los Angeles Rams and a two-game lead over the Arizona Cardinals, both of whom lost their games over the weekend.
Here are the current standings:
What happened in Week 12?
Because all the teams around them in the playoff race also lost, they didn’t lose ground.
The Arizona Cardinals hurt their playoff chances on Sunday with a 20-17 loss to the New England Patriots. However, despite the loss, they didn’t really lose ground because teams around the league helped them.
What happened in Week 13?
The Los Angeles Rams, who were in first place in the NFC West, lost to the San Francisco 49ers 23-20 on the last play of the game. The 7-4 Rams come to town next week to face the 6-5 Cardinals. A win by the Cardinals will give them the same record as L.A. but put them ahead in the standings.
The Chicago Bears, the team in the NFC behind the Cardinals in the conference standings, also lost on Sunday, getting blown out 41-25 by the Green Bay Packers. At 5-6, they remain a game behind Arizona and out of the postseason right now.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who entered the week half a game ahead of the Cardinals in the playoff race, also lost on Sunday, falling 27-24 to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Essentially, the Cardinals might have lost and certainly did hurt their chances for the postseason, but they did not lose ground at all because everyone else around them also lost.
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The Seattle Seahawks can still finish with the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC depending how Green Bay and New Orleans do in Week 17.
The Seattle Seahawks game against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 17 will not only determine the winner of the NFC West, it will have ramifications for multiple NFC teams and their seeding in the playoffs.
Fortunately for Seattle (and San Francisco) they will know exactly what they are playing for before their game, win or loss, by virtue of playing the final game of the regular season on Sunday night at 5:20 p.m. PT.
As of now, Seattle could still be as high as the No. 1 overall seed and as low as the No. 5 seed, depending on how the rest of their competition does next week.
Here is a look at how things will look in each potential playoff scenario for Seattle:
Seahawks get a one seed (and a first round bye): win vs. San Francisco + Green Bay loses to Detroit and New Orleans loses to Carolina.
Seahawks get a two seed (and a first round bye): win vs. San Francisco + Green Bay loses to Detroit and New Orleans beats Carolina.
Seahawks get a three seed: win vs. San Francisco + Green Bay wins (doesn’t matter what New Orleans does).
Seahawks get a five seed: lose to San Francisco (nothing else matters).
Seattle still has two opportunities to earn a first round bye, but they are both dependent on the 12-3 Packers losing on the road to the 3-11-1 Lions.
Otherwise, they’ll either end up with the three seed and a home date with the Vikings, (if they win) or on the road at either Philadelphia or Dallas if they lose.
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The Jacksonville Jaguars’ playoff hopes officially went down the drain Week 14 as they were one of six teams eliminated from the 2019 playoff picture. With a current record of 4-9, there is no way the Jags can land the a wild-card spot or better, …
The Jacksonville Jaguars’ playoff hopes officially went down the drain Week 14 as they were one of six teams eliminated from the 2019 playoff picture. With a current record of 4-9, there is no way the Jags can land the a wild-card spot or better, which means all that is left to do in 2019 is to at least try and finish strong for the season.
Eliminated today from @NFL playoff contention:
Jets
Chargers
Jaguars
Redskins
Panthers
BuccaneersEvery team with a possible Week 14 elimination scenario got bounced EXCEPT the Broncos.
— Andrew Siciliano (@AndrewSiciliano) December 9, 2019
The Jags’ loss to the Chargers also guaranteed the team would have its 10th losing season in 12 years. However, if there are any positives there is the fact that the Jags still have a chance to finish with a higher win total than last season and winning out could give them seven wins on the season.
For those who would prefer better draft positioning and more losses to ensure a new front office and staff, the Jags could have a 4-12 record at the least. With the Cincinnati Bengals having just one win, however, the Jags mathematically can’t get the first overall pick but the second pick (held by the 2-10 New York Giants) and beyond are within reach.
At this point, the Jags are likely to go through sweeping changes although Shad Khan has yet to fire anyone or tip his hand. However, the product on the field speaks for itself and indicates the Jags are one of the least talented teams in football.
With Tom Coughlin currently in his third year as executive vice president of football operations and general manager Dave Caldwell in his seventh season, there looks as though there is no way Khan can keep the pair, which also would likely mean the end for head coach Doug Marrone, too.
The Jags playoff chances took year another big hit Sunday and they should now focus on being respectable in their next few games.
The Jacksonville Jaguars entered their bye week with a lot of optimism as they were just a game below .500, on the verge of getting veteran Nick Foles back and the rest of the team was getting healthy, too. As a result, FiveThirtyEight had them down with nearly a 20% chance to make the playoffs, but what a difference two weeks makes.
Since, the Jags haven’t handled their business, and despite having Foles, they’ve been outscored 75-33 within the past two weeks. Of course, the defense hasn’t helped much either, allowing 483 total rushing yards. It also didn’t help that they suffered two division losses in the process, too, and they’ve now found themselves with a 1% chance in the latest projections by FiveThirtyEight.
With such slim playoff chances, the Jags need to more so focus on looking respectable on a week-to-week basis. They certainly have the schedule to achieve that feat as they have just two remaining opponents with records of .500 or better in the Indianapolis Colts and Oakland Raiders. Their other opponents in the Tampa Bay Bucs, Atlanta Falcons, and Los Angeles Chargers aren’t even at the .500 mark at the moment. Then again, at the rate the Jags are playing, those are even 50/50 crapshoots, so they could find themselves with the same record as last year (5-11) or slightly better.
