Seattle Seahawks clinch NFC West; earn playoff berth
By Josh Sanchez
The Seattle Seahawks were dominant in their Week 13 Monday Night Football match up against the New Orleans Saints as they showed the rest of the NFC that they are the team to beat, but there was also something to celebrate for the team and their fans after the big win.
By beating the Saints on Monday night, the Seahawks have clinched the NFC West title and become the first team to earn a postseason berth.
The next step for Seattle will be to secure home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, which would spell trouble for the rest of the NFC. Quarterback Russell Wilson has never lost a game at home since joining the team and the team’s advantage at CenturyLink Field is like no other home-field advantage in the league.
Here is a look at how the rest of the NFC playoff picture currently looks, via ESPN:
| National Football Conference | ||||||||||
| CONF RK | NFC | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | SOS | SOV | REASON |
| 1 | x – Seattle | 11 | 1 | 0 | .917 | 3-0-0 | 8-0-0 | .455 | .436 | NFC West Champ |
| 2 | New Orleans | 9 | 3 | 0 | .750 | 3-0-0 | 7-1-0 | .500 | .435 | |
| 3 | Detroit | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 4-1-0 | 6-3-0 | .441 | .417 | |
| 4 | Dallas | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 4-0-0 | 6-2-0 | .503 | .387 | |
| 5 | Carolina | 9 | 3 | 0 | .750 | 3-0-0 | 7-2-0 | .469 | .421 | |
| 6 | San Francisco | 8 | 4 | 0 | .667 | 3-1-0 | 5-3-0 | .503 | .370 | |
| 7 | Philadelphia | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 3-2-0 | 6-2-0 | .462 | .363 | |
| 8 | Arizona | 7 | 5 | 0 | .583 | 0-3-0 | 4-5-0 | .521 | .417 | |
| 9 | Chicago | 6 | 6 | 0 | .500 | 2-3-0 | 3-6-0 | .469 | .458 | |
| 10 | Green Bay | 5 | 6 | 1 | .458 | 2-2-1 | 3-5-1 | .472 | .392 | |
| 11 | NY Giants | 5 | 7 | 0 | .417 | 2-3-0 | 4-5-0 | .542 | .383 | |
| 12 | St. Louis | 5 | 7 | 0 | .417 | 1-3-0 | 2-6-0 | .535 | .433 |