The Seattle Seahawks almost got a massive lifeline courtesy of the Arizona Cardinals.

That is, until a former preseason Seahawks cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon made the biggest play of the Los Angeles Rams’ season.

Down 13-9 with under a minute to go, the Cardinals were at the Rams’ 5-yard line and poised to take a stunning lead after being down 10-0 at halftime. Kyler Murray threw the ball off of Trey McBride’s helmet, the ball popped into the air, and Witherspoon made a phenomenal diving grab for an interception. A game-ending, possibly division-clinching interception.

It was Murray’s second interception of the fourth quarter, and it seals a losing season for Arizona after a 6-4 start. The other INT was courtesy of Kamren Kinchens, the same promising rookie who had the pick-six and two interceptions in total off of Geno Smith in the Rams’ 26-20 win over the Seahawks back in Week 9. In other words, a safety named Kam and a cornerback named Witherspoon had clutch plays that hurt Seattle.

The Rams are 10-6 and still have a negative point differential on the season, yet their five-game winning streak has them on the cusp of the NFC West title. A loss would’ve meant a “winner take all” NFC West showdown between the Seahawks and Rams in Inglewood. Now it might be a meaningless game.

As if that wasn’t enough, the Cincinnati Bengals also won a chaotic 30-24 overtime classic over the Denver Broncos, which hurt Seattle’s already weak strength of victory. That means if Seattle has a few more results go against them over the next two days, it’s over before Week 18.

Seahawks are eliminated in Week 17 with any three of the following five results

Sunday: Minnesota Vikings over Green Bay Packers

Sunday: Buffalo Bills over New York Jets

Sunday: Washington Commanders over Atlanta Falcons

Sunday: Cleveland Browns over Miami Dolphins

Monday: San Francisco 49ers over Detroit Lions

The Rams also win the NFC West if they get two wins and a tie out of these games, aka 2.5 wins. Even if the Seahawks escape Week 17, they need a lot of help (more than they already need this week) to flip SOV in their favor.

This could be the second year in a row in which the Seahawks’ weak strength of victory costs them a playoff spot. Last season they were knocked out by the Green Bay Packers, who had a vastly superior SOV while the Seahawks had the third-worst out of any above .500 team across the entire NFL.

Depending on how the rest of the season goes, the Seahawks could have an SOV under .400 for the third year in a row. This is ordinarily not a tiebreaker we often see decide playoff spots, but the fact of the matter is that until the Seahawks start getting more wins against high-caliber opposition, something they’ve really not done a whole lot of since 2019, they won’t be taken seriously as playoff contenders.

Don’t leave it in the hands of other teams when you control your fate and you don’t have this problem. That’s the harsh lesson the Seahawks face for a second year in a row.