The Seattle Seahawks’ playoff hopes instantly went from reach to immediate life support. Seattle’s best chance to regain control of its own destiny was for the Arizona Cardinals to find a way to defeat the Los Angeles Rams.

It was close! But unfortunately no cigar. If your fate is placed in someone else’s hands, they may distort it. Or in the Cardinals’ case, they throw it away on a bizarre interception.

Los Angeles beat the Cardinals 13-9 on Saturday night. with another narrow victory. The Rams looked terrible for most of the game, as they have for the past three weeks, barely scoring 13 points. LA is on pace to score just 12, 19 and 13 points, respectively. But ultimately the 13 points last night were enough. However, Los Angeles’ defense held firm on the final two possessions, thwarting Kyler Murray’s interceptions on both occasions.

The final nail in the coffin for Arizona came at the end when the Cards came tantalizingly close to scoring a go-ahead touchdown with just under a minute to play. Arizona had made it to the LA 5-yard line when this happened on first down.

x.com

The sound you heard last night was the 12th Man’s collective heart sinking in unison as that interception occurred. Had the Cardinals managed to actually score here, it would have been a win-win showdown between the Rams and Seahawks in Week 18. Instead, LA may now be just hours away from claiming its fourth NFC West title in the last eight seasons.

All hope is not completely lost for the Seahawks, at least not yet. Now it comes down to the strength of victory tiebreaker. Seattle needs some help, but this time from multiple teams. The Seahawks’ destiny lies not only in defeating the Rams in Week 18, but also in hoping for more wins today and Monday.

Seattle needs at least three wins in the following scenarios:

If three or more of those games go the other way, the Rams will be NFC West champions regardless of what happens next week.

More breaking Seahawks news!

Seahawks fans: Here’s how to watch Rams vs. Cardinals today

The Seahawks make NFL history with their win against Chicago

Geno Smith had the first win of his career in the Seahawks’ Week 17 win over the Bears

For Seattle Sports, 6-3 appears to be a common stat this year

This article originally appeared on Seahawks Wire: Rams defeat Cardinals, significantly denting Seahawks’ playoff hopes