Saturday’s NFL tripleheader attracts to a detailed with an NFC West showdown between the Arizona Cardinals and the Los Angeles Rams.
And the division title may very well be clinched in that recreation.
Whereas the Cardinals have already been eradicated from the playoffs, the Rams are on the doorstep of clinching the NFC West. Nonetheless, a win over Arizona alone is not going to be sufficient for the Rams to lock up the division title.
However they’ll nonetheless clinch the division in Week 17. Right here is how.
Rams division title clinching eventualities
The Rams had three theoretical methods they’ll clinch the NFC West in Week 17, however two of these relied on Seattle Seahawks dropping to the Chicago Bears on Thursday Night time Soccer. However Seattle’s 6-3 win rendered these pathways to the playoffs moot.
The third, nicely, is rather more difficult, however nonetheless in play even with Seattle’s win.
If the Rams lose on Saturday night time, the NFC West comes all the way down to the season finale between Los Angeles and Seattle.
But when the Rams win in Week 17, Week 18 just isn’t a “winner-take-all” recreation between the 2 groups, even with Seattle’s win on Thursday night time. The Seahawks’ web site outlined the explanation why forward of Week 17. “If each the Rams and Seahawks win this week, nevertheless, it’s not as easy, as a result of in that state of affairs, a Seahawks Week 18 win would depart each groups with the identical document, a head-to-head break up, the identical NFC West document, the identical document in widespread video games, and the identical convention document.”
The fifth tiebreaker would then come into play, which is power of victory:
The fifth tiebreaker in any case of that’s power of victory, and heading into Week 17, the Rams have the sting there, thanks largely to the truth that they’ve wins over the Payments and Vikings.
And due to that power of victory lead, the Rams might clinch this week with a win even when the Seahawks additionally win, doing so in the event that they get 3.5 or extra wins from the Vikings (vs. Packers), Payments (vs. Jets), 49ers (vs. Lions), Commanders (vs. Falcons), Bengals (vs. Broncos) and Browns (vs. Dolphins).
Because of this a Rams win over Arizona on Saturday night time, and 4 wins from this collections of groups — Minnesota, Buffalo, San Francisco, Washington, Cincinnati, and Cleveland — would clinch the NFC West for Los Angeles, as they might now have that power of victory benefit. It’s price noting {that a} tie recreation counts as a half-win, so three wins plus a tie can also be a risk.
So, yeah.
NFC standings up to date after Thursday Night time Soccer
1. x-Detroit Lions (13-2, win over MIN, 9-1 NFC)
2. x-Philadelphia Eagles (12-3)
3. Los Angeles Rams (9-6, win over SEA, 5-5 NFC)
4. Atlanta Falcons (8-7, wins over TB)
5. x-Minnesota Vikings (13-2, loss to DET)
6. x-Inexperienced Bay Packers (11-4)
7. Washington Commanders (10-5)
9. Seattle Seahawks (8-7, 5-6 NFC)
8. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (8-7, losses to ATL, 6-4 NFC)
10. Dallas Cowboys (7-8, 5-5 NFC) — eradicated
11. Arizona Cardinals (7-8, 3-6 NFC) — eradicated
12. San Francisco 49ers (6-9, win over DAL) — eradicated
13. New Orleans Saints (5-10) — eradicated
14. Carolina Panthers (4-11, loss to CHI) — eradicated
15. Chicago Bears (5-11, win over CAR) — eradicated
16. New York Giants (2-13) — eradicated
Groups with an x have clinched a playoff berth.