When asked about his team’s NFL playoff chances, Seattle Seahawks special teams captain Nick Bellore practically pulled a Forrest Gump.
“I’m too dumb to know all the (playoff scenarios),” Bellore said. “I think ultimately we don’t gain anything thinking of the Lions and Packers. We just have to focus on the Rams.”
The Seahawks (8-8) will play host to the Los Angeles Rams (5-11) on Sunday afternoon and need a victory to maintain their hopes of gaining the NFC’s third and final wild-card berth. They would then need Green Bay to lose to visiting Detroit — or play to a tie — in Sunday night’s regular-season finale, to reach the postseason.
“We can’t really worry about (the Lions-Packers game). There’s nothing we can do but worry about ourselves,” Seahawks center Austin Blythe said.
The Seahawks kept their hopes alive with a 23-6 victory against the visiting New York Jets last Sunday as Geno Smith threw for a pair of first-half touchdowns and rookie Kenneth Walker III rushed for 133 yards.
The victory came at a price as linebacker Jordyn Brooks, who is third in the NFL with 161 tackles, suffered a torn ACL in his right knee and is done for the season.
Seattle’s top three running backs — Walker (ankle/illness), Travis Homer (ankle) and DeeJay Dallas (ankle) — all missed practice time this week, as did receiver Tyler Lockett (shin), tight end Noah Fant (knee), guard Phil Haynes (ankle), defensive ends Quinton Jefferson (illness) and Poona Ford (calf), linebacker Uchenna Nwosu (foot) and safety Ryan Neal (knee).
The NFL sometimes schedules games with playoff implications for simultaneous kickoffs, but the league instead opted to put the Lions-Packers game in prime time. That has created some concern in Seattle, as Detroit would be eliminated if the Seahawks win in the afternoon and have little to play for that evening.
“I know that there’s been maybe some question about the order of the games being played on Sunday or whatever, and that doesn’t mean anything to me,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “We don’t care about that one bit. It’s not going to change anything that we’re doing. We’re going for it. And then maybe there would be a pretty good party afterward to watch the next game.”
The Rams have lost eight of their last 10 games, including a 27-23 defeat to visiting Seattle on Dec. 4, and are wrapping up the worst season by a defending Super Bowl champion.
“I think what I used to refer to as adversity is a very different thing now,” Rams coach Sean McVay said.
The Rams are coming off a 31-10 defeat to Los Angeles Chargers — their eighth loss by a double-digit margin this season.
“You can feel in the locker room, guys are tired of losing,” Rams linebacker Earnest Jones said. “We came into this year expecting a totally different outcome than we’re getting, so I think there was a little bit of shellshock early on. I think over time, this is only going to make this organization and the players that are going to be here only hungrier.
“I think this is a learning experience, but it will benefit us in the end.”
The Rams have practiced without three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald (ankle) this week, as well as receiver Ben Skowronek (calf) and center Brian Allen (calf).
–Field Level Media
