How the Seahawks can make the playoffs this season, explained

The Seahawks have impressed the world this season. Here’s how they can close their impressive first year without Russell Wilson with a playoff appearance.

Most expected the Seattle Seahawks to start the year getting punched in the mouth by their former star quarterback and languishing the rest of the year.

Instead, the Seahawks beat Russell Wilson and the Denver Broncos 17-16 in Week 1 and gave Wilson a bad start to a nightmare season. The Seahawks have gone on to tally an impressive string of victories, including wins over the Chargers and Giants.

They’ve been competitive in other big games that ended as losses, too.

At 7-7, they’re a solid middle-of-the-road team. In most seasons, it wouldn’t be a very legitimate possibility that they could make the postseason, but in this NFC economy, virtually any team is still in the running.

Here’s how the Seattle Seahawks can qualify for the postseason

Here’s a look at the full NFC playoff picture today. The Seahawks, at 7-7, are tied with the Detroit Lions, both of whom are right on the playoff bubble. They need to keep their record better than or as good as Detroit while also getting ahead of the Washington Commanders (7-6-1) in order to qualify for the postseason.

For a longer-shot, they could also leap-frog the Giants, who are 8-5-1.

The Seahawks, if they were to tie with the Lions for the final best record in the NFC Playoff slots, would win the tiebreaker since they beat the Lions earlier this season. That’s why they only need to be as good as the Lions so long as they finish better than the Commanders. Technically, the Lions can keep winning as long as the Seahawks do, too.

The remaining games Seattle has are against Kansas City Chiefs, the New York Jets, and Los Angeles Rams. The latter two are winnable games and the Texans taking the Chiefs to overtime should give Seattle hope.

FiveThirtyEight’s model gives the Seahawks a 30% chance of qualifying for the postseason now.

If Seattle wins its final two games, all else equal, those chances increase to 65%. If they win all three games, those chances increase to 98%.

If you want the Seahawks in the playoffs, root for Seattle to win as many of their final three games as possible. Root against the: Washington Commanders, Detroit Lions, and Green Bay Packers.

Here is the Lions’ path to the playoffs. 

Here is the Packers’ path to the playoffs.