Saturday’s NFL tripleheader draws to a close when the Arizona Cardinals take on the Los Angeles Rams in an NFC West showdown at SoFi Stadium.
While the Cardinals have already been eliminated from playoff contention, the Rams can clinch the NFC West — and eliminate the Seattle Seahawks from the postseason — with a win over Arizona, and then a lot of help.
Let’s break it all down.
Rams playoff picture
Entering Week 17, the Rams had three pathways to clinching the NFC West title. The first two required the Seahawks to lose on Thursday night against the Chicago Bears, but Seattle’s 6-3 victory erased those two pathways for Los Angeles.
They still have a way they can clinch the division, but it gets us deep into the tiebreakers.
If the Rams lose on Saturday night, the Week 18 game between Seattle and Los Angeles is for the division title.
However, if the Rams win, Seattle winning on Thursday night — and again in Week 18 — may not be enough to clinch the division title for the Seahawks. Why? A Seahawks Week 18 win in this scenario would have both teams at 10-7. They would have split the season series (the first tiebreaker), they would have the same division record (the second tiebreaker), they would have the same records in common games (the third tiebreaker), and the same record in NFC games (the fourth tiebreaker).
That would leave the fifth tiebreaker, the uncommon “strength of victory” tiebreaker.
At the moment, the Rams have the edge in that fifth tiebreaker, thanks to wins over the Buffalo Bills and the Minnesota Vikings. They can clinch that fifth tiebreaker — and the division — if they get 3.5 wins from these teams over the rest of Week 17: The Vikings (against the Green Bay Packers), the Bills (against the New York Jets), the San Francisco 49ers (against the Detroit Lions), the Washington Commanders (against the Atlanta Falcons), the Cincinnati Bengals (against the Denver Broncos) and the Cleveland Browns (against the Miami Dolphins).
If a combination of four of those teams win, and the Rams win on Saturday night, Los Angeles has won the NFC West and the Seahawks are eliminated. However, a Rams loss, or a Rams win plus three or less of those teams winning above, and the Week 18 game between Seattle and Los Angeles is for the NFC West.
It is also worth noting that under tiebreaker procedures, a tie counts as a half-win. So technically Los Angeles needs three wins and a tie to clinch the fifth tiebreaker.
What Rams-Cardinals means for other NFC playoff hopefuls
The only other team with a vested interest in Rams-Cardinals is Seattle. A Rams loss means Seattle can win the NFC West in Week 18 with a win over the Rams. A Los Angeles win then puts those other games — and the fifth tiebreaker — into play.
Tiebreaker implications
The main tiebreaker implication from this game relates to the potential fifth tiebreaker scenario between the Rams and the Seahawks.
