For Seahawks to make playoffs, an NFC South team needs to tank

The Atlanta Falcons’ three-point victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night did not help the Seahawks’ playoff chances.

It did make Seattle’s playoff scenarios a whole lot simpler, though.

O’Neil: What we learned from Seahawks’ loss to Rams

First, the Seahawks can win the division by going 2-0 while the Los Angeles Rams go 0-2, losing at Tennessee and then to San Francisco.

Or the Seahawks can earn a wild-card berth. For that, the Seahawks need to win their final two games and get some help:

1) The Seahawks need one of the top three teams in the NFC South to lose its final two games. Any one of the three teams will do: Atlanta (9-5), New Orleans (10-4) or Carolina (10-4). Atlanta is the most likely because it has the toughest schedule, playing first the Saints and then the Panthers;

2) AND Detroit (8-6) must also lose one of its final two games, which are against Cincinnati and Green Bay. The Lions would have a tiebreaker advantage over the Seahawks should the two teams finish tied because Detroit will have a better record in games against common opponents.

The other wild-card scenario for Seattle is for the Seahawks to go 2-0 and have both the Saints and the Panthers lose their final two games. In that case, the Seahawks would earn a wild-card berth regardless of what Detroit does in its final two games.

Atlanta’s victory over Tampa Bay on Monday did one more thing: It eliminated the possibility (which was remote) that the Seahawks could earn a wild-card berth with a record of 9-7. That chance no longer exists.

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