How Week 17 will decide Seahawks’ first-round playoff opponent

The Seahawks are guaranteed a playoff berth.

But then we already knew that. Just where the Seahawks will be playing, however, remains very much up in the air after their six-point loss to St. Louis. In fact, Sunday’s games didn’t eliminate any potential sites for Seattle’s wild-card game.

There are three possibilities that will be depend on the outcome of two games in Week 17: Seattle (9-6) at Arizona (13-2), 1:25 p.m. and Minnesota (10-5) at Green Bay (10-5), 5:30 p.m.

Scenario one: Seattle at Minnesota

This happens if:

• Minnesota beats Green Bay. That’s it. The outcome of Seattle’s game at Arizona would have no bearing on the Seahawks’ seeding.

The rationale: The Vikings would win the NFC North by virtue of a better division record than the Packers and be seeded No. 3. The Seahawks would be seeded No. 6 regardless of the outcome of their game in Arizona. Even if the Seahawks were to beat the Cardinals, they would lose a tiebreaker with Green Bay for playoff seeding by virtue of the Packers’ head-to-head victory over Seattle in Week 2.

Scenario two: Seattle at Washington

This happens if:

• Green Bay beats Minnesota
• And Seattle defeats Arizona

The rationale: The Packers would win the NFC North and be the No. 3 seed. The Seahawks and Vikings would finish tied at 10-6 for the two wild-card berths, but Seattle would win the tiebreaker because of Seattle’s head-to-head victory over Minnesota in Week 13. Seattle would then be seeded No. 5 and play at Washington while Minnesota would be seeded No. 6 and play at Green Bay.

Scenario three: Seattle at Green Bay

This happens if:

• Green Bay beats Minnesota
• And Seattle loses to Arizona.

The rationale: The Packers win the NFC North and earn the No. 3 seed while the Seahawks would be seeded No. 6 because they would have one fewer win than Minnesota. The Vikings would therefore be the No. 5 seed and play at Washington.

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