Week 17 of the 2024 NFL season began with the Seattle Seahawks squeaking out a 6-3 win over the Chicago Bears on the road, keeping them in the NFC West playoff race with the Los Angeles Rams.
With the victory, the Rams still have a path to clinching the division this weekend. First and foremost, they have to defeat the Arizona Cardinals at SoFi Stadium on Saturday night.
If the Rams are able to do so, they will then need to clinch the strength of victory tiebreaker over the Seahawks.
In order for this to happen, the Rams will need at least three wins and a tie from the Minnesota Vikings, Buffalo Bills, San Francisco 49ers, Washington Commanders, Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns.
On paper, that seems like a difficult task as only the Bills figure to be a lock to defeat the disappointing New York Jets.
The Vikings are facing the Green Bay Packers in what should be one of the best games of the week. The Packers need to win to keep pace with the Vikings and Detroit Lions in a tough NFC North.
The injury-plagued 49ers, who have already been mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, will host the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football.
The Commanders will host the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday Night Football. The Falcons, who recently benched Kirk Cousins in favor of rookie quarterback Michael Penix Jr., need to win to have any chance of knocking off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the NFC South.
The Bengals are also playing a must-win game against the Denver Broncos, while the Browns will host a Miami Dolphins team that needs to win to keep their playoff hopes alive.
Of the aforementioned teams, the Bills, Commanders, Vikings and Bengals are favored in their respective matchups. If all four win on Sunday, along with the Rams the night before, L.A. will capture the NFC West title.
If not, the division will come down to Week 18 when the Rams host the Seahawks. A win would clinch the division for L.A., although it can also happen due to other results around the league that would give the Rams the strength of victory tiebreaker.
Rob Havenstein could miss Rams’ game against Cardinals
The Rams could be without their starting right tackle on Saturday after Rob Havenstein sustained a shoulder injury in practice this week.
In that scenario, Joe Noteboom would get the start in Havenstein’s place. “I think Joe [Noteboom] would be the guy that’d be ready to go,” head coach Sean McVay said.
“Warren [McClendon] has done a lot of really good stuff this year, but Joe’s played in a lot of games for us, a lot of big-time games and has done a great job of being able to play on either side. It’s a good option. It’s a good problem to be able to have, but Joe would be the guy.”
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