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I don't know how many of you have connected the dots ... but by virtue of the Saints losing today ... they have officially been eliminated from the #1 Seed. The very best they can get to is 12-4 ... and of course Seattle holds the tiebreaker, which means Seattle would win the #1 Seed if for some reason they lose the final 2 home games.
The same thing is true with Carolina -- Seattle also owns the tiebreaker there as well.
The ONLY NFC team that could possibly pose a threat to the #1 Seed ... is San Francisco. Next Seahawks win OR San Francisco Loss and the #1 Seed and HFA throughout the playoffs is Seattle's. Simple as that. Just FYI for those who haven't realized that yet. :mrgreen:
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Edit to Add:
OK, now that I’ve finally got a few minutes to myself, I’ll go ahead and spell out where things stand currently as far as the Seahawks and the #1 Seed is concerned.
Heading into today’s game, here were the top teams in the NFC and the contenders for the #1 Seed …
1) Seattle Seahawks … (11-2)
2) New Orleans Saints . (10-3)
3) Carolina Panthers…. (9-4)
4) San Francisco 49ers .(9-4)
So let’s take a look at what happened today and how ties are broken as far as the playoffs are concerned. According to the NFL’s official website ...
In other words, if a situation ever presented itself where 2 teams in the same conference (who were not in the same division) ever tied for the conference’s best record, we would use the Wild Card tie breakers in order to decide who ends up with the #1 Seed. The NFL’s official Wild Card tie breakers are as follows …
NFL Tiebreaking Procedures
If two teams are tied and in the same division however, the tiebreaking procedures are a bit different. In this case, it would fall under the “To Break a Tie Within a Division” rules, which are as follows …
NFL Tiebreaking Procedures
So, let’s take a look at what happened today as far as the #1 Seed is concerned by taking a look at each of the Seahawks top competitors …
Carolina Panthers (10-4)
Week 1 – vs. Seattle Seahawks [12-2] (Loss 7-12)
Week 2 – at Buffalo Bills [5-9] (Loss 23-24)
Week 3 – vs. New York Giants [5-9] (Win 38-0)
Week 4 – BYE
Week 5 – at Arizona Cardinals [9-5] (Loss 6-22)
Week 6 – at Minnesota Vikings [4-9] (Win 35-10)
Week 7 – vs. St. Louis Rams [6-8] (Win 30-15)
Week 8 – at Tampa Bay Buccaneers [4-10] (Win 31-13)
Week 9 – vs. Atlanta Falcons [4-10] (Win 34-10)
Week 10 – at San Francisco 49ers [10-4] (Win 10-9)
Week 11 – vs. New England Patriots [10-4] (Win 24-20)
Week 12 – at Miami Dolphins [8-6] (Win 20-16)
Week 13 – vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers [4-10] (Win 27-6)
Week 14 – at New Orleans Saints [10-4] (Loss 13-31)
Week 15 – vs. New York Jets [6-8] (Win 30-20)
Remaining Schedule (with current record)
Week 16 – vs. New Orleans Saints [10-4]
Week 17 – at Atlanta Falcons [4-10]
Record of Remaining Opponents 14-14 (.500)
Strength of Victory … 61-78 (.4388)
If Carolina wins the its last 2 games, they would finish the season 12-4.
Seattle’s win against the Giants today was HUGE, as it eliminated the Panthers from the #1 Seed. Even if Seattle LOST its final 2 games and finished up the season at 12-4 as well … the Seahawks would beat out Carolina for the #1 Seed based upon tiebreakers ...
Tiebreaker #1 – Head to Head (Best Win/Loss% Between 2 Clubs) …
Seattle Won 12-7 in Week 1
Because Seattle won against the Panthers clear back in Week 1, the Seahawks would win the tiebreaker and be the #1 Seed. Who would have ever thought that win would become as significant as it’s become.
How about the Saints? Let’s take a look at them and what happened today ...
New Orleans Saints (10-4)
Week 1 – vs. Atlanta Falcons [4-10] (Win 23-17)
Week 2 – at Tampa Bay Buccaneers [4-10] (Win 16-14)
Week 3 – vs. Arizona Cardinals [9-5] (Win 31-7)
Week 4 – vs. Miami Dolphins [8-6] (Win 38-17)
Week 5 – at Chicago Bears [8-6] (Win 26-18)
Week 6 – at New England Patriots [10-4] (Loss 27-30)
Week 7 – BYE
Week 8 – vs. Buffalo Bills [5-9] (Win 35-17)
Week 9 – at New York Jets [6-8] (Loss 20-26)
Week 10 -- vs. Dallas Cowboys [7-7] (Win 49-17)
Week 11 – vs. San Francisco 49ers [10-4] (Win 23-20)
Week 12 – at Atlanta Falcons [4-10] (Win 17-13)
Week 13 – at Seattle Seahawks [12-2] (Loss 7-34)
Week 14 – vs. Carolina Panthers [10-4] (Win 31-13)
Week 15 – at St. Louis Rams [6-8] (Loss 16-27)
Remaining Schedule (with current record)
Week 16 – at Carolina Panthers [10-4]
Week 17 -- vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers [4-10]
Record of Remaining Opponents 14-14 (.500)
Strength of Victory … 69-71 (.4928)
The Seahawks win against the Giants … coupled with the Saints loss to the Rams was huge. Now, if the Saints were to win out the rest of their games, the best record they could get to is 12-4. If Seattle somehow, some way were to lose its 2 remaining games, they would also finish up at 12-4 and be tied with the Saints.
Each of the teams would finish at 12-4. Again, the tiebreaker would be broken by Head to Head competition …
Tiebreaker #1 – Head to Head (Best Win/Loss% Between 2 Clubs)…
Since Seattle beat the Saints in Week 13, the Seahawks would beat out New Orleans for the #1 Seed. So by virtue of today’s loss, New Orleans has been eliminated from the #1 Seed, as there is no scenario by which they would beat out Seattle for it.
Let’s take a look at the last threat to the Seahawks and the #1 Seed ...
San Francisco 49ers (10-4)
Week 1 – vs. Green Bay Packers [7-6] (Win 34-28)
Week 2 – at Seattle Seahawks [12-2] (Loss 3-29)
Week 3 – vs. Indianapolis Colts [9-5] (Loss 7-27)
Week 4 – at St. Louis Rams [6-8] (Win 35-11)
Week 5 – vs. Houston Texans [2-12] (Win 34-3)
Week 6 – vs. Arizona Cardinals [9-5] (Win 32-20)
Week 7 – at Tennessee Titans [5-9] (Win 31-17)
Week 8 – at Jacksonville Jaguars [4-10] (Win 42-10)
Week 9 – BYE
Week 10 – vs. Carolina Panthers [10-4] (Loss 9-10)
Week 11 – at New Orleans Saints [10-4] (Loss 20-23)
Week 12 – at Washington Redskins [3-11] (Win 27-6)
Week 13 – vs. St. Louis Rams [6-8] (Win 23-13)
Week 14 – vs. Seattle Seahawks [12-2] (Win 19-17)
Week 15 – at Tampa Bay Buccaneers [4-10] (Win 33-14)
Remaining Schedule (with current record)
Week 16 – vs. Atlanta Falcons [4-10]
Week 17 – at Arizona Cardinals [9-5]
Record of Remaining Opponents 13-15 (.4642)
Strength of Victory … 58-81 (.4172)
Alright, let’s say that the 49ers win out … and the Seahawks somehow lose both of their remaining home games.
In that scenario, the Seahawks and 49ers would both end the season at 12-4 and end up tied for the division lead. Here is how the tie would be broken ...
Tiebreaker #1 – Head to Head (Best Win/Loss% Between 2 Clubs) …
San Francisco and Seattle are 1-1, having won against each other. We move on to the next tiebreaker.
Tiebreaker #2 -- Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the division.
49ers …
Seattle Seahawks (Loss 3-29)
St. Louis Rams (Win 35-11)
Arizona Cardinals (Win 32-20)
St. Louis Rams [4-6] (Win 23-13)
Seattle Seahawks [12-2] (Win 19-17)
Arizona Cardinals [6-4] (WIN in this scenario)
The 49ers Would Be 5-1 Against the NFC West
Seahawks …
San Francisco 49ers [6-4] (Win 29-3)
Arizona Cardinals [6-4] (Win 34-22)
St. Louis Rams [4-6] (Win 14-9)
San Francisco 49ers (Loss 17-19)
Arizona Cardinals (LOSS in this scenario)
St. Louis Rams (LOSS in this scenario)
Seahawks would be 3-3 vs. the NFC West.
So because the 49ers would have a better record within the division, they would win the NFC West (and the #1 Seed if the Saints lose again) … and the Seahawks would instead fall all the way down to the #5 Seed and open up the playoffs on the road (probably in Soldier Field against the Bears).
If Seattle, San Francisco, and the Saints all end up at 12-4, it would be the Saints getting the #1 Seed (by virtue of their head to head matchup win over the 49ers in Week 11) ... and the 49ers claiming the #2 Seed.
But if Seattle just wins 1 of their 2 remaining home games … or if the 49ers lose either of their 2 remaining games … then it’s all over. Seattle would win the NFC West and the #1 Seed.
With a win against either the Cardinals or Rams, the Seahawks would get its 13 win … a feat that would obviously be impossible for the 49ers.
With a 49er loss in either of their 2 remaining games … the Seahawks would win as well, as the 49ers at best could only finish at 11-5. The worst Seattle can possibly finish now is 12-4.
Given that these next 2 games are at Century Link Field (where the Seahawks just flat out don’t lose), it’s a virtual certainty that Seattle will end up with the #1 Seed. And when that happens, watch out NFL 'cause here come the Hawks.
The same thing is true with Carolina -- Seattle also owns the tiebreaker there as well.
The ONLY NFC team that could possibly pose a threat to the #1 Seed ... is San Francisco. Next Seahawks win OR San Francisco Loss and the #1 Seed and HFA throughout the playoffs is Seattle's. Simple as that. Just FYI for those who haven't realized that yet. :mrgreen:
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Edit to Add:
OK, now that I’ve finally got a few minutes to myself, I’ll go ahead and spell out where things stand currently as far as the Seahawks and the #1 Seed is concerned.
Heading into today’s game, here were the top teams in the NFC and the contenders for the #1 Seed …
1) Seattle Seahawks … (11-2)
2) New Orleans Saints . (10-3)
3) Carolina Panthers…. (9-4)
4) San Francisco 49ers .(9-4)
So let’s take a look at what happened today and how ties are broken as far as the playoffs are concerned. According to the NFL’s official website ...
In other words, if a situation ever presented itself where 2 teams in the same conference (who were not in the same division) ever tied for the conference’s best record, we would use the Wild Card tie breakers in order to decide who ends up with the #1 Seed. The NFL’s official Wild Card tie breakers are as follows …
Source:
NFL Tiebreaking Procedures
If two teams are tied and in the same division however, the tiebreaking procedures are a bit different. In this case, it would fall under the “To Break a Tie Within a Division” rules, which are as follows …
Source:
NFL Tiebreaking Procedures
So, let’s take a look at what happened today as far as the #1 Seed is concerned by taking a look at each of the Seahawks top competitors …
Carolina Panthers (10-4)
Week 1 – vs. Seattle Seahawks [12-2] (Loss 7-12)
Week 2 – at Buffalo Bills [5-9] (Loss 23-24)
Week 3 – vs. New York Giants [5-9] (Win 38-0)
Week 4 – BYE
Week 5 – at Arizona Cardinals [9-5] (Loss 6-22)
Week 6 – at Minnesota Vikings [4-9] (Win 35-10)
Week 7 – vs. St. Louis Rams [6-8] (Win 30-15)
Week 8 – at Tampa Bay Buccaneers [4-10] (Win 31-13)
Week 9 – vs. Atlanta Falcons [4-10] (Win 34-10)
Week 10 – at San Francisco 49ers [10-4] (Win 10-9)
Week 11 – vs. New England Patriots [10-4] (Win 24-20)
Week 12 – at Miami Dolphins [8-6] (Win 20-16)
Week 13 – vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers [4-10] (Win 27-6)
Week 14 – at New Orleans Saints [10-4] (Loss 13-31)
Week 15 – vs. New York Jets [6-8] (Win 30-20)
Remaining Schedule (with current record)
Week 16 – vs. New Orleans Saints [10-4]
Week 17 – at Atlanta Falcons [4-10]
Record of Remaining Opponents 14-14 (.500)
Strength of Victory … 61-78 (.4388)
If Carolina wins the its last 2 games, they would finish the season 12-4.
Seattle’s win against the Giants today was HUGE, as it eliminated the Panthers from the #1 Seed. Even if Seattle LOST its final 2 games and finished up the season at 12-4 as well … the Seahawks would beat out Carolina for the #1 Seed based upon tiebreakers ...
Tiebreaker #1 – Head to Head (Best Win/Loss% Between 2 Clubs) …
Seattle Won 12-7 in Week 1
Because Seattle won against the Panthers clear back in Week 1, the Seahawks would win the tiebreaker and be the #1 Seed. Who would have ever thought that win would become as significant as it’s become.
How about the Saints? Let’s take a look at them and what happened today ...
New Orleans Saints (10-4)
Week 1 – vs. Atlanta Falcons [4-10] (Win 23-17)
Week 2 – at Tampa Bay Buccaneers [4-10] (Win 16-14)
Week 3 – vs. Arizona Cardinals [9-5] (Win 31-7)
Week 4 – vs. Miami Dolphins [8-6] (Win 38-17)
Week 5 – at Chicago Bears [8-6] (Win 26-18)
Week 6 – at New England Patriots [10-4] (Loss 27-30)
Week 7 – BYE
Week 8 – vs. Buffalo Bills [5-9] (Win 35-17)
Week 9 – at New York Jets [6-8] (Loss 20-26)
Week 10 -- vs. Dallas Cowboys [7-7] (Win 49-17)
Week 11 – vs. San Francisco 49ers [10-4] (Win 23-20)
Week 12 – at Atlanta Falcons [4-10] (Win 17-13)
Week 13 – at Seattle Seahawks [12-2] (Loss 7-34)
Week 14 – vs. Carolina Panthers [10-4] (Win 31-13)
Week 15 – at St. Louis Rams [6-8] (Loss 16-27)
Remaining Schedule (with current record)
Week 16 – at Carolina Panthers [10-4]
Week 17 -- vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers [4-10]
Record of Remaining Opponents 14-14 (.500)
Strength of Victory … 69-71 (.4928)
The Seahawks win against the Giants … coupled with the Saints loss to the Rams was huge. Now, if the Saints were to win out the rest of their games, the best record they could get to is 12-4. If Seattle somehow, some way were to lose its 2 remaining games, they would also finish up at 12-4 and be tied with the Saints.
Each of the teams would finish at 12-4. Again, the tiebreaker would be broken by Head to Head competition …
Tiebreaker #1 – Head to Head (Best Win/Loss% Between 2 Clubs)…
Since Seattle beat the Saints in Week 13, the Seahawks would beat out New Orleans for the #1 Seed. So by virtue of today’s loss, New Orleans has been eliminated from the #1 Seed, as there is no scenario by which they would beat out Seattle for it.
Let’s take a look at the last threat to the Seahawks and the #1 Seed ...
San Francisco 49ers (10-4)
Week 1 – vs. Green Bay Packers [7-6] (Win 34-28)
Week 2 – at Seattle Seahawks [12-2] (Loss 3-29)
Week 3 – vs. Indianapolis Colts [9-5] (Loss 7-27)
Week 4 – at St. Louis Rams [6-8] (Win 35-11)
Week 5 – vs. Houston Texans [2-12] (Win 34-3)
Week 6 – vs. Arizona Cardinals [9-5] (Win 32-20)
Week 7 – at Tennessee Titans [5-9] (Win 31-17)
Week 8 – at Jacksonville Jaguars [4-10] (Win 42-10)
Week 9 – BYE
Week 10 – vs. Carolina Panthers [10-4] (Loss 9-10)
Week 11 – at New Orleans Saints [10-4] (Loss 20-23)
Week 12 – at Washington Redskins [3-11] (Win 27-6)
Week 13 – vs. St. Louis Rams [6-8] (Win 23-13)
Week 14 – vs. Seattle Seahawks [12-2] (Win 19-17)
Week 15 – at Tampa Bay Buccaneers [4-10] (Win 33-14)
Remaining Schedule (with current record)
Week 16 – vs. Atlanta Falcons [4-10]
Week 17 – at Arizona Cardinals [9-5]
Record of Remaining Opponents 13-15 (.4642)
Strength of Victory … 58-81 (.4172)
Alright, let’s say that the 49ers win out … and the Seahawks somehow lose both of their remaining home games.
In that scenario, the Seahawks and 49ers would both end the season at 12-4 and end up tied for the division lead. Here is how the tie would be broken ...
Tiebreaker #1 – Head to Head (Best Win/Loss% Between 2 Clubs) …
San Francisco and Seattle are 1-1, having won against each other. We move on to the next tiebreaker.
Tiebreaker #2 -- Best won-lost-tied percentage in games played within the division.
49ers …
Seattle Seahawks (Loss 3-29)
St. Louis Rams (Win 35-11)
Arizona Cardinals (Win 32-20)
St. Louis Rams [4-6] (Win 23-13)
Seattle Seahawks [12-2] (Win 19-17)
Arizona Cardinals [6-4] (WIN in this scenario)
The 49ers Would Be 5-1 Against the NFC West
Seahawks …
San Francisco 49ers [6-4] (Win 29-3)
Arizona Cardinals [6-4] (Win 34-22)
St. Louis Rams [4-6] (Win 14-9)
San Francisco 49ers (Loss 17-19)
Arizona Cardinals (LOSS in this scenario)
St. Louis Rams (LOSS in this scenario)
Seahawks would be 3-3 vs. the NFC West.
So because the 49ers would have a better record within the division, they would win the NFC West (and the #1 Seed if the Saints lose again) … and the Seahawks would instead fall all the way down to the #5 Seed and open up the playoffs on the road (probably in Soldier Field against the Bears).
If Seattle, San Francisco, and the Saints all end up at 12-4, it would be the Saints getting the #1 Seed (by virtue of their head to head matchup win over the 49ers in Week 11) ... and the 49ers claiming the #2 Seed.
But if Seattle just wins 1 of their 2 remaining home games … or if the 49ers lose either of their 2 remaining games … then it’s all over. Seattle would win the NFC West and the #1 Seed.
With a win against either the Cardinals or Rams, the Seahawks would get its 13 win … a feat that would obviously be impossible for the 49ers.
With a 49er loss in either of their 2 remaining games … the Seahawks would win as well, as the 49ers at best could only finish at 11-5. The worst Seattle can possibly finish now is 12-4.
Given that these next 2 games are at Century Link Field (where the Seahawks just flat out don’t lose), it’s a virtual certainty that Seattle will end up with the #1 Seed. And when that happens, watch out NFL 'cause here come the Hawks.
