It was a good all-around day for the Seattle Seahawks.

For starters, the Seahawks stomped the Minnesota Vikings 26-0 and improved to 9-3 with their first shutout since 2015. Seattle also got a major assist from the Carolina Panthers, who upset the NFC West-leading Los Angeles Rams 31-28.

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Those two results moved the Seahawks (9-3) back into a first-place tie with the Rams (9-3) atop the NFC West. Los Angeles still holds the head-to-head tiebreaker by virtue of its 21-19 win over Seattle two weeks ago, but the Seahawks have a chance to nullify that when the Rams come to town for a Week 16 rematch next month.

Meanwhile, the San Francisco 49ers (9-4) are still right in the thick of the razor-tight NFC West race, sitting just a half-game behind the Rams and Seahawks after beating the lowly Cleveland Browns 26-8 on Sunday.

Here’s a closer look at where the Seahawks now stand – both in their division and the NFC as a whole.

The NFC playoff picture

The Seahawks’ first order of business, of course, is to win the NFC West. If they don’t win the division, the best they could do in terms of playoff positioning would be the NFC’s No. 5 seed, since the conference’s top four seeds go to the four division winners.

But if the Seahawks can win their first NFC West title since 2020, they also would be right in the mix for the NFC’s top seed and the first-round bye that comes with it. That’s because Seattle is currently tied with the Rams and the Chicago Bears (9-3) for the NFC’s best record.

Five other teams are also within of the NFC’s best record: The Green Bay Packers (8-3-1), the 49ers, the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles (8-4), the Detroit Lions (7-5) and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are (7-5).

If the playoffs started today, the NFC North-leading Bears would be the NFC’s top seed. The NFC West-leading Rams would be the No. 2 seed, the NFC East-leading Eagles would be the No. 3 seed and the NFC South-leading Buccaneers would be the No. 4 seed.

The Seahawks would be the No. 5 seed as the top wild card team, followed by the Packers as the No. 6 seed and the 49ers as the No. 7 seed.

That would send Seattle to Tampa Bay for the wild-card round of the playoffs, despite the Seahawks currently holding a better record than the Bucs. But of course, plenty can (and likely will) over the final five weeks in the tightly packed NFC.

What the odds say

According to The Athletic’s NFL Playoff Simulator, the Rams have a 59% chance to win the NFC West, followed by the Seahawks at 23% and the 49ers at 17%.

The Seahawks’ odds would jump to 43% if they beat the Rams in Week 16, but would drop to 4% if they lose that rematch with Los Angeles. If the Seahawks beat both the Rams in Week 16 and the 49ers in Week 18, their division title odds would surge to 66%.

Meanwhile, the Seahawks have a 17% chance at claiming the NFC’s top seed. The only NFC team with higher odds is the Rams at 42%.

Seattle’s odds to reach the playoffs are 93%.

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