Rost: How the Seahawks fit into the NFC postseason picture

The Seattle Seahawks (7-5) face the Arizona Cardinals (6-6) in Glendale, Ariz., on Sunday for a rematch of Week 12. Seattle was victorious in that meeting, and the game itself was the second of two wins in a row against divisional opponents — a streak that kickstarted the Hawks’ rise back to the top of a close divisional race.

So how important will Week 14 be?

It’s monumental.

Related: The next game is Seahawks’ most important — here’s why

The Seahawks have the best odds to win the NFC West right now, but only by a slight margin over the Cardinals. Earlier losses to the Lions, Giants, Rams, and 49ers mean Seattle’s conference record is just 3-4 and their divisional record 2-2, so a win over the Cards pushes Arizona’s records there to 3-6 and 2-2 and gives Seattle some potential tiebreakers.

The Seahawks’ odds of making the postseason (courtesy NFL.com’s playoff picture) are hovering just below 50% (48%) but would jump to 76% with a win. With a loss, their chance to make the postseason falls to 26%, in part because of so many strong teams from the NFC North and East are dominating the wild card standings.

What does the NFC playoff picture look like right now?

The Lions are the No. 1 seed at 11-1 and unlikely to let up their hold on that with how they’ve been playing, though record-wise the No. 2 seed Eagles (10-2) and No. 5 seed Vikings (10-2) are just a game back. Worth noting: the Vikes have a slightly easier remaining schedule than the Lions, who they will meet in a Week 18 matchup that should absolutely, positively be flexed into primetime or bumped to a Saturday game (but that’s just me).

There’s still time for any team, really, in the NFC West to make a push to leapfrog Seattle (particularly Arizona), but the NFC West teams have been cannibalizing one another and it’s unlikely any will finish with more wins than the Vikings (currently 10-2), Packers (9-3) or Commanders (8-5).

See the full NFL standings

Win the division and — given how weak the NFC South is looking — you’re the No. 3 seed, but lose and you’re probably on the outside looking in.

Speaking of those three teams in current wild card spots — the Vikes, Packers and Commanders — Seattle will have games against both Green Bay and Minnesota in Weeks 15 and 16, which could be a potential wild card round preview if Seattle holds its spot atop the division.

So when Seahawks players spoke about how all of the remaining games are like playoff games… they meant it.

Buckle up.

More Seattle Seahawks news and analysis

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• Three things NFL analyst says are making Seahawks’ D dominant
• Bump: The candidates to fill Seahawks’ kick returner opening
• A statistical look at Seahawks’ dramatic defensive turnaround
• Seattle Seahawks Check-In: Path to first in NFC West has been bumpy

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