In an instant, the Seattle Seahawks playoff hopes went from being within range to on instant life support. The best chance for Seattle to find a way back into controlling their own destiny was for the Arizona Cardinals to find a way to defeat the Los Angeles Rams.
It was close! But alas, no cigar. When your fate is left to someone else’s hands, they might fumble it away. Or in the Cardinals’ case, throw it away on a bizarre interception.
Los Angeles defeated the Cardinals 13-9 on Saturday night. with yet another narrow victory. The Rams looked like they had for the last three weeks, terrible, for most of the game, barely squeezing out 13 points. LA is on a stretch where they have only scored 12, 19 and 13 points respectively. But ultimately, those 13 points last night were enough. Los Angeles’ defense held though in the final two possessions, snagging interceptions away from Kyler Murray both times.
The final nail in the coffin for Arizona came at the end when the Cards were tantalizingly close to scoring a go-ahead touchdown with under a minute left to play. Arizona had made it all the way to LA’s 5-yard line when this happened on first down.
Trey McBride caught 12 balls tonight just for the most important ball to doink off his helmet and Akhello Witherspoon to make an improbable grab
I’d be so hot if I was a Seahawks fan pic.twitter.com/emuvWHyW4m
— Nico (@elitetakes_) December 29, 2024
The sound you heard last night was the collective heart of the 12th Man sinking in unison when this interception occurred. Had the Cardinals managed to actually score here, it would have set up a winner-take-all showdown between the Rams and Seahawks in Week 18. Instead, LA now is potentially hours away from clinching their fourth NFC West title in the last eight seasons.
Hope is not lost entirely for the Seahawks, not yet at least. What it comes down to now is strength of victory tiebreaker. Seattle needs some help, but this time, from multiple teams. The Seahawks fate lies not just in defeating the Rams in Week 18, but hoping for other victories today and Monday.
Seattle needs at least three wins from the following scenarios:
- Jets beat the Bills
- Dolphins beat the Browns
- Packers beat the Vikings
- Falcons beat the Commanders
- Lions beat the 49ers
If three or more of these games go the opposite way, then the Rams become NFC West champions regardless of what happens next week.
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