The Seattle Seahawks will face one of their bitter NFC West rivals – either the Los Angeles Rams or the San Francisco 49ers – in next weekend’s Divisional Round.
They’ll have to wait a bit longer to find out which one.
With the dust settled from a crazy doubleheader of wild-card action on Saturday, Seattle’s Divisional Round opponent now depends on the result of Sunday afternoon’s wild-card matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and the 49ers. Kickoff is at 1:30 p.m. in Philadelphia.
If the Eagles win, it’ll be Seahawks-Rams.
If the 49ers win, it’ll be Seahawks-49ers.
Either way, it’ll be a rubber match, as the Seahawks split their regular-season matchups with both the Rams and the 49ers.
As the NFC’s top seed, the Seahawks are off this weekend with a first-round bye. The NFL playoff format pits the top seed against the worst remaining seed in the Divisional Round.
If the Eagles win
Here’s what next weekend’s NFC Divisional Round matchups would look like if the Eagles beat the 49ers on Sunday. Included are teams’ seeds and regular-season records.
• No. 5 Los Angeles Rams (12-5) at No. 1 Seattle Seahawks (14-3)
• No. 3 Philadelphia Eagles (11-6) at No. 2 Chicago Bears (11-6)
This would set up a heavyweight Seahawks-Rams showdown between what many believe are the two best teams in the entire NFL.
The Rams won these teams’ first matchup in Week 11, intercepting Sam Darnold four times in a 21-19 win at SoFi Stadium. The Seahawks then returned the favor in improbable fashion in Week 16, rallying from a 16-point fourth-quarter deficit for a stunning 38-37 overtime victory at Lumen Field.
If the 49ers win
Here’s what the NFC Divisional Round matchups would be if the 49ers beat the Eagles.
• No. 6 San Francisco 49ers (12-5) at No. 1 Seattle Seahawks (14-3)
• No. 5 Los Angeles Rams (12-5) at No. 2 Chicago Bears (11-6)
This would be a rematch of the Seahawks’ suffocating 13-3 win over the 49ers in last weekend’s regular-season finale, which was a showdown for both the NFC West title and the NFC’s top seed. The 49ers rallied for a 17-13 victory over Seattle all the way back in Week 1, but San Francisco has suffered a barrage of injuries since that initial matchup more than four months ago.
How we got here
Saturday’s two NFC wild-card games were both crazy affairs.
In the afternoon game, the Rams needed a go-ahead touchdown in the final minute to escape Charlotte with a 34-31 win over the fourth-seeded Carolina Panthers, who were heavy underdogs as an 8-9 team that squeaked into the playoffs by winning the woeful NFC South.
The nightcap was even crazier. The seventh-seeded Green Bay Packers raced to a 21-3 halftime lead over the Bears – at which point it looked like the Packers, as the lowest seed in the NFC, would be headed to Seattle next weekend regardless of Sunday’s Eagles-49ers game. But the Bears roared back, rallying for a dramatic 31-27 win that forces the Seahawks to wait a bit longer.
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