txyesboy

It's VERY early to start thinking about this, but considering we lost to the
Seahawks earlier in the year, should we beat them in December, and possibly
finished tied with them for 1st place, the Rams are currently in control of
the tiebreakers.

First tiebreaker is head to head, and should we win vs. Seattle in December,
that one cancels out.

Second tiebreaker is record in division, and RIGHT NOW, they hold the edge,
going an undefeated 3-0, while we are 2-1. But, if we beat them in December,
and beat both SF and AZ on the road, we could do no worse than tie them at
5-1 in the division. This is why next week's game vs. the Niners is VERY
important. If we lose this game, and Seattle loses to us but BEATS AZ and SF
later this year, they'd take the division tiebreaker. But, we still control
our destiny here for the time being.

However, today's loss for Seattle puts a big hurt on the Seahawks in terms
of division tiebreakers, as the Third tiebreaker is record in "common
games". This *does* include head to head matchups, by the way, and all
divisional games as well. The Rams and Seahawks have 14 "common games", with
the Rams playing 2 games against the Giants and Falcons that the Seahawks
don't, while the Seahawks play the Saints and the Redskins that the Rams
don't.

Currently, the record vs. common opponents is
Rams 4-1
Seahawks 4-2

Should the Rams beat the Seahawks later this season, that would give them
the advantage there. The Rams play only "common games" the rest of the
season, while the Seahawks have one non-common game @ Washington two weeks
from now.

mike kohary

Hawks fan here - interesting information, and thanks for the post. Yes, I
feel this is going to be a race down to the wire, and these tiebreakers
could end up being very important. I don't see either team pulling way
ahead or falling far behind, so what happens within the division becomes
extremely important, and it could even come down to the third tiebreaker.

If anything, I see the Rams improving week to week, while the Hawks...well,
this is kind of new for them. They're still finding their direction and
trying to establish a team personality. They too are improving, but they're
also "practicing", if you will, at being winners, and trying to gain a
winning mentality. I'd say the Rams have the upper hand in these kinds of
intangibles, because they've been winners recently. But I hope I'm watching
a Hawks team that is becoming the new Rams/Pats/Bucs...et al.

With the loss to the Cards yesterday, I'd say the Niners are out of it
completely. I can't say that doesn't please me.

Mike

gaiares

Little premature to be talking about tiebreakers already, but step one is
definitely taking out the Hawks in the dome. That aside, I really think the
Hawks and Rams are in a good position right now for the playoffs. Looking at
the upcoming games for both teams I think 11 or 12 wins for both of us are a
distinct possibility. So as long as both our teams beat the ones they
should, it should be an easy road to the playoffs. I mean the other
divisions you've got 3 teams in the NFC East that'll beat each other up, the
Super Bowl champs are chasing a power running team with a strong D in the
South and the only threat in the Norris is the Vikings. As for our division,
the Cards are the Cards and I think T.O. has imploded the Niner's. I think
they caught that bad special teams disease from the Giants too. I think
either team wins 10 games and we're in the playoffs. Both of our teams need
the Vikings & Panthers to lose a game or two more so we have a shot a
homefield. The good news is we both get a shot a Minnesota, bad news is we
need a little help with Carolina.

johnnyv56

I wouldn't even look past the upcoming game with the 9ers.They're in
the role of the wounded animal right now...remember the Rams last
year.If the Rams beat them,then I'd agree you can put a fork in
them.The way for the Rams to win is basically doing everything they've
been improving on...balanced attack,no turnovers.The Rams need to
improve punt coverage and the defense has to limit the big plays.Those
were the 2 factors that kept the Steelers in the game until well into
the 4th quarter.The 9ers defense is another good one yardage-wise.Hard
to believe they're better than the Rams in that category( Rams D
giving up too many big plays).If/when the Rams win this one I might
start entertaining playoff thoughts.....!!!!GO RAMS!!!!!