SEATTLE — Although the Seahawks were on a bye week, their spot atop the NFC West standings is no more.
The San Francisco 49ers beat the Arizona Cardinals 38-10 on Monday night, and due to having the head-to-head tiebreaker over Seattle after beating them in Week 2, now are in control of the division lead.
Going into Week 12, the Seahawks are the No. 7 seed in the NFC. If the season ended Tuesday, Seattle would take on the Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card round of the playoffs.
Just behind the Seahawks in the wild-card standings is the Washington Commanders, with a 6-5 overall record. If Seattle can overtake the 49ers in the division, they would slide back up into that No. 3 seed.
Here is the current playoff picture in the NFC:
1. Philadelphia Eagles (9-1)
2. Minnesota Vikings (8-2)
3. San Francisco 49ers (6-4)
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-5)
5. Dallas Cowboys (7-3)
6. New York Giants (7-3)
7. Seattle Seahawks (6-4)
Looking ahead to the remainder of the regular season, the Seahawks have seven games remaining on the schedule, as do the 49ers.
Seattle will host the Las Vegas Raiders, at the Los Angeles Rams, home against the Carolina Panthers, home against the 49ers, at the Kansas City Chiefs and finish up with home games against the New York Jets and Rams, respectively.
San Francisco, meanwhile, will host the New Orleans Saints, Miami Dolphins and Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the next three weeks before coming north to face the Seahawks on a Thursday night in mid-December. The 49ers then finish with a home game against the Washington Commanders, a road trip to face the Las Vegas Raiders and finish with a home game against the Cardinals.
The Seahawks have a slightly more favorable strength of schedule than the 49ers over the remainder of the season, based on combined win-loss records of remaining opponents.
The division title and the Seahawks' place in the playoff standings likely will ride heavily on that Week 15 matchup with the 49ers at Lumen Field.