Seahawks Officially Eliminated From Playoff Contention

With only one game going the way they needed it to on Sunday, the Seahawks will play out the regular season next weekend without a shot at the postseason.

Oct 20, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald reacts with quarterback Geno Smith (7) after a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images / Dale Zanine-Imagn Images

While the Seattle Seahawks will have a chance to hit double digit wins for the first time in five seasons when they face the Los Angeles Rams next Sunday, they won't be returning to the postseason.

Going into Week 17 with slim odds of winning the NFC West, the Seahawks didn't receive much help in their pursuit of a division title this weekend, starting the Cardinals throwing a red zone interception and losing to the Rams 13-9 on Saturday night. Following that huge domino, three of the four teams that they needed to win on Sunday wound up losing, including the Falcons suffering an overtime loss to the Commanders after horrid clock management at the end of regulation led to a missed field goal.

Unable to close the gap in the strength of victory tiebreaker, Seattle will now go into offseason mode earlier than hoped, and though results this weekend didn't play out in their favor, the team can only blame themselves for not having a seat at the postseason table.

In the first year under coach Mike Macdonald, the Seahawks started off 3-0, only to lose five of their next six games to fall under the .500 mark. Rebounding from that dreadful stretch, they won four straight games, including three against the Cardinals and 49ers, to jump back into first place in the NFC West with four games to play.

Unfortunately, their season-long struggles at Lumen Field in front of their home crowd continued into December with tough losses to the Packers and Vikings, and they lost control of their own playoff destiny. Even with a win over the Bears on Thursday night, they needed a ridiculous amount of help to capture a division crown, and several losses stand out that ultimately prevented them from making a trip back to the playoffs.

Back in Week 5, Seattle scored just 13 points on offense in an inexcusable home loss to the New York Giants, who wound up winning one game the rest of the year and finished a dreadful 3-13, positioning themselves for a top three pick. Fast forwarding to Week 9, the Seahawks had a lead in the fourth quarter against the Rams, only for quarterback Geno Smith to throw a 103-yard pick six in the red zone and the visitors to steal the game in overtime.

Several other games also were within reach, as the Seahawks gave the Lions a battle in Detroit in Week 4 and had the Vikings on the ropes two weeks ago, only to come up short against both NFC North foes.

Winning just one or two of those games would have made Week 18 much, much different, as the Seahawks would have been in the driver's seat with 10 or 11 wins and would not have had to rely on other teams to help them try to get into the postseason. Instead, they will have the next couple of months to contemplate what went wrong as they failed to capitalize on a prime opportunity to return to the top of the division with the defending champion 49ers saddled by injuries and the Cardinals folding in the second half.

Of course, if Seattle does close out the season with a 10th win next week, this year shouldn't be viewed as a complete failure, as the team underwent significant personnel changes before and during the season. In fact, another free agency period and draft could go a long ways toward the franchise ascending back to contender status with several key pieces under contract for 2025 and beyond.

Still, there will be plenty of questions for the Seahawks to answer as well, including the future of Smith under center, looming contract negotiations with Ernest Jones and others, and whether or not offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb will be back for a second year. After missing the postseason for a second straight season and third time in four seasons, the heat will be on general manager John Schneider to elevate the roster to the next level while making some difficult decisions in the process.

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