Seahawks Reflecting on Losses as Playoff Fate Hangs in Balance

The Seattle Seahawks' losses are rearing their ugly head.

Dec 26, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith (7) looks to pass against the Chicago Bears during the second quarter at Soldier Field. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images / Daniel Bartel-Imagn Images

The Seattle Seahawks are victorious after a 6-3 bloodbath against the Chicago Bears, but they aren't celebrating quite yet.

The Seahawks are 9-7 with one game left to go, and they still need some help to get into the playoffs.

Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald was content with the win, but is still reflecting on the losses from earlier in the season that are coming back to bite them.

"First, I would say if you're not in charge of your own destiny, you're always going to think of moments that you felt like you could have taken advantage of better to put yourself in a better position," Macdonald said. "But, that's always going to be the case, otherwise, we'd be sitting here at 16-0 just thinking that we're the best thing since sliced bread. So, that's kind of where we're at, and it's not an ideal situation. But, I do feel that we probably wouldn't have won some games as well or put ourselves in this situation if we didn't learn, evolve, grow, stick together, and stick to the process of how we want to be as a team to be able to get through the ebbs and flows of the season. So yeah, absolutely, there are times throughout the year where we felt like we could have taken advantage of to put ourselves in a better position going into the last week."

The Seahawks started off 3-0, but then went on a skid where they lost five of six. They tried to recover with four consecutive wins, but losses in the last two weeks to the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings at home have put them in a tough spot with one week left to go.

"Any loss, you're going to think what you could have done throughout the game," Macdonald said. "So, name a loss and I can tell you what we could have done better and how we could have taken advantage of it. Anytime we take the field, we're going to expect to win the game, and we're going to try to do those things necessary to win. When we don't, that's when you have to learn from it. All of the losses you're really thinking, shoot, those sting. That's the fact of the reality." 

Going into the latter half of Week 17, the Seahawks would benefit most from a Los Angeles Rams loss against the Arizona Cardinals. If the Cardinals win, the Seahawks simply need to beat the Rams in Week 18 to win the NFC West.

If the Rams beat the Cardinals, then Los Angeles could clinch the division as early as this weekend with a strength of victory tiebreaker. If any four of the Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, Minnesota Vikings, Washington Commanders and San Francisco Giants win this weekend, the Rams clinch the division with a win.

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