The Rams can clinch the NFC West this week. But it won’t be easy.
After the Seahawks’ win on Thursday night, the Rams’ only path to a Week 17 clinching scenario is both to beat the Cardinals on Saturday night, and to clinch the strength of victory tiebreaker over the Seahawks.
So how do the Rams clinch the strength of victory tiebreaker? They need at least 3.5 wins (i.e., at least three wins and a tie) from the following six teams: Vikings, Bills, 49ers, Commanders, Bengals, Browns.
Four of those teams are favorites: The Bengals are 3.5-point favorites to beat the Broncos, the Bills are 9-point favorites to beat the Jets, the Commanders are 4-point favorites to beat the Falcons and the Vikings are 1-point favorites to beat the Packers. The 49ers are 3.5-point underdogs against the Lions. The Browns are 6.5-point underdogs against the Dolphins.
So can the Rams get a win and four other games to go their way? If the betting odds are right, they can, and they’ll be celebrating an NFC West title on Sunday. If not, the NFC West will come down to Week 18, when the Seahawks will travel to Los Angeles to take on the Rams.
