The Seahawks’ chances of making the playoffs have dropped by more than 50% over the past four weeks, and Green Bay and Los Angeles look very capable of keeping them out.

Seattle has a 23% chance of getting in, down from 81% before its current three-game losing streak, per the New York Times’ projections. The Packers (70%), Rams (50%) and Vikings (42%) all have the statistical inside track on the NFC’s two last wild-card spots now (Dallas has the top spot).

Assuming the Hawks lose to the 49ers and Eagles over the next two weeks, they would need to win their final three – at Tennessee, vs. Pittsburgh and at Arizona – to finish 9-8 and have any shot of making it.

But they would have to ace out two of the three wild-card contenders mentioned above. And that could be pretty difficult.

The surging Packers (6-6) have beaten division leaders Detroit and Kansas City the past two weeks, and they have the fourth-easiest finish, with winnable games against Minnesota, Carolina, Chicago, the New York Giants and Tampa Bay. Nine wins seems to be their floor.

The Rams (6-6) have won three straight, starting with their 17-16 victory over Seattle, and they play contenders Baltimore and San Francisco plus Washington, New Orleans and the Giants. They look capable of nine wins as well.

The Vikings (6-6) have it roughest, with two games against Detroit still, plus contests vs. Green Bay, Cincinnati and Las Vegas. Nine wins look to be their cap.

Pete Carroll still thinks the Hawks will make it, and he is counting on winning one of the next two games  — as unrealistic as that certainly seems.

“The next couple of steps along the way are as difficult as they can be,” he told Seattle Sports 710.
“We’ve got to get some (wins) here. We almost picked one off (Thursday) night (in Dallas). We’ve got to pick one off this next week or the next week, and we’ve got to keep on going.”

Based on the 41-35 loss to the Cowboys, he apparently thinks the Hawks can be competitive against the NFC’s top two teams. The Hawks lost 31-13 to the 49ers on Thanksgiving, and the Niners just walloped the Eagles 42-19 in Philadelphia. There is no beating San Francisco right now.

Then it will come down to whether the Hawks have any shot to knock off the Eagles in Seattle on Monday Night Football. If they can’t, there really is no reason for them to make the playoffs. A first-round loss is worse than not making it because you simply draft lower than if you had not taken that bonus loss.

But, similar to previous playoff seasons, Carroll optimistically said this gantlet against Dallas, San Fran and Philly will help his team prepare to win in the postseason.

“When this team makes it (to) the playoffs, we will be ready,” he said, acknowledging that people might call him crazy for saying the Seahawks will make it. “We will have been through all of it. We will have seen everything you can see. We will have toughed our way through it. We will have learned the lessons. We will be as ready as you can possibly get.”

Of course, they first have to get there, and the odds of that do not look good.