The Seattle Seahawks can regain sole possession of first place in the NFC West if they can defeat the Philadelphia Eagles tonight.
The Seahawks find themselves in this position after the Los Angeles Rams and Arizona Cardinals sustained upset losses in Sunday. The Seahawks (7-3) can move full game ahead of the Rams (7-4) and the two games clear of the Arizona Cardinals (6-5) if they defeat the Eagles.
The Seahawks received a big boost from the San Francisco 49ers after Robbie Gould kicked a 42-yard field goal as time expired to give the 49ers a 23-20 win over the Rams. New England Patriots’ kicker Nick Folk booted a 50-yard field goal as time expired to five the Patriots a 20-17 win over the Cardinals.
The Rams and Seahawks had identical 7-3 records entering the weekend, but the Rams had the tiebreaker due to their 23-16 win over the Seahawks in Week 10.
The Seahawks are favored against the Eagles (3-6-1) who have lost two consecutive games as their offense struggles with Carson Wentz at quarterback. Rookie and backup quarterback Jalen Hurts reportedly worked with the first team during practice last week and is expected to see more time on the field tonight.
The Seahawks enter a critical stretch of games on their schedule. The Seahawks will face two teams from the NFC East in the next two weeks (Philadelphia, New York Giants in Week 13) before taking on the winless New York Jets in Week 14 and meeting Washington in Week 15. The combined record of the four teams is 11-31-1 (.244).
The Giants have won three consecutive games, but those wins have come against Washington, Philadelphia and Cincinnati. Washington has won two straight, the wins coming against Dallas and Cincinnati.
The Seahawks have a real opportunity to emerge from the upcoming four-game stretch with a stranglehold on the NFC West and potentially in position to secure the No. 1 seed in the conference.
-- Geoffrey C. Arnold | @geoffreyCarnold