How Seahawks' Win Over Bears in Week 17 Impacts NFL Playoff Picture

A tight race in the NFC West is heating up.

Geno Smith threw for 160 yards on 17-of-23 passing in Chicago. / Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

The Seattle Seahawks remain in the mix to win the NFC West and clinch a playoff spot.

In an ugly game at Soldier Field, the Seahawks defeated the Chicago Bears 6–3 on Thursday night to improve to 9–7.

According to NFL.com, the Seahawks had a 15% chance to make the playoffs entering the night—and remained at 15% after the win. In order to clinch the division and punch their ticket to the postseason, the Seahawks need the Los Angeles Rams to lose to the eliminated Arizona Cardinals on Saturday at SoFi Stadium combined with a Seattle win over those Rams in a potential win-and-in Week 18 matchup.

If the Rams beat the Cardinals on Saturday, however, things get a bit complicated. In that scenario, the Seahawks could still make the postseason by defeating Los Angeles in Week 18 but would need a lot of help around the NFL.

The Rams currently hold the strength of victory tiebreaker over Seattle, and they can clinch a playoff spot this weekend by defeating the Cardinals and officially securing the strength of victory tiebreaker. To do so, the Rams need 3.5 or more wins from the Vikings (over Packers), Bills (over Jets), 49ers (over Lions), Commanders (over Falcons), Bengals (over Broncos) and Browns (over Dolphins).

If the Rams beat the Cardinals on Sunday, the Seahawks need at least three wins from the other teams in that aforementioned group in the Packers, Jets, Lions, Falcons, Broncos and Dolphins—just to stay alive for Week 18.

The Bears, meanwhile, have been eliminated from NFL playoff contention for a while but now slide down from the No. 9 pick in the 2025 NFL draft to No. 7 with their 12th loss of the year.

Following the Seahawks' win Thursday evening, here's how the NFL playoff picture looks heading into Sunday (Note: teams with clinched playoff berths are in bold, and all playoff odds are provided by NFL.com):

NFC Playoff Picture

SEED	TEAM	PLAYOFF %
1	Lions (13–2)	100%
2	Eagles (12–3)	100%
3	Rams (9–6)	85%
4	Falcons (8–7)	57%
5	Vikings (13–2)	100%
6	Packers (11–4)	100%
7	Commanders (10–5)	95%
---	---	---
8	Buccaneers (8–7)	48%
9	Seahawks (9–7)	15%
---	ELIMINATED	---
10	Cowboys (7–8)	0%
11	Cardinals (7–8)	0%
12	49ers (6–9)	0%
13	Saints (5–10)	0%
14	Panthers (4–11)	0%
15	Bears (4–12)	0%
16	Giants (2–13)	0%

AFC Playoff Picture

SEED	TEAM	PLAYOFF %
1	Chiefs (15–1)	100%
2	Bills (12–3)	100%
3	Ravens (11–5)	100%
4	Texans (9–7)	100%
5	Steelers (10–6)	100%
6	Chargers (9–6)	95%
7	Broncos (9–6)	75%
---	---	---
8	Colts (7–8)	14%
9	Dolphins (7–8)	9%
10	Bengals (7–8)	7%
---	ELIMINATED	---
11	Jets (4–11)	0%
12	Browns (3–12)	0%
13	Jaguars (3–12)	0%
14	Titans (3–12)	0%
15	Raiders (3–12)	0%
16	Patriots (3–12)	0%

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