If the Rams (9-6), who host Arizona on Saturday night, win this game, they would clinch the NFC West with a loss or a tie by the Seahawks (8-7).

If the Rams lose to the Cardinals, the Week 18 game will be between the Seahawks and Rams for the NFC West, regardless of whether the Seahawks win or lose on Thursday. Because if both teams lost, the Seahawks would be one game behind the Rams in Week 18, and if they won that game, they would again win the tiebreaker with the better NFC West record, assuming a Rams loss to the Cardinals.

However, if both the Rams and Seahawks win this week, it’s not that easy, because in that scenario, a Seahawks win in Week 18 would result in both teams having the same record, a head-to-head, the same NFC West have a balance sheet. the same record in shared games and the same conference record. The fifth tiebreaker after all of this is the strength of the win, and entering Week 17 the Rams have the edge there, thanks largely to the fact that they beat the Bills and Vikings.

And thanks to that strength of the win margin, the Rams could clinch victory with a win this week even if the Seahawks also win, namely if they get 3.5 or more wins from the Vikings (vs. Packers), Bills (vs. Jets), 49ers (vs. Lions), Commanders (vs. Falcons), Bengals (vs. Broncos) and Browns (vs. Dolphins).

In order for the Seahawks to still be in the NFC West race after Sunday, they basically need either a Cardinals win over the Rams, in which case the division title will definitely be on the line in Week 18, or, if the Rams win on Saturday, the Seahawks need to win, and they need four wins from the Packers, Jets, Lions, Falcons, Broncos or Dolphins from the aforementioned six games.