Seattle Seahawks sit in the NFC standings From China Nicholas Scott Jersey , Monday night's matchup might as well carry a playoff title.NFC play-in game? NFC elimination game?"I think going on the road with that crowd and the type of football team that they are, I think yeah, a little bit. These next four games will determine what we do and where we go and how we perform in the clutch. Yeah, I guess you could say that," Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said.The Seahawks (7-5) host the Vikings (6-5-1) in a meeting filled with playoff implications. The Seahawks won't be able to catch the Los Angeles Rams in the NFC West, but their three-game win streak has them sitting in the No. 5 spot in the NFC playoff picture going into the final quarter of the season, with three of their final four games at home.It's far from a foregone conclusion Seattle is headed to the postseason after missing the playoffs last year. But a win over the Vikings would be a huge step in locking up a postseason berth."Keeping your head down and grinding is really what it's all about at this point," Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. "We're upbeat and we're positive. We know that we can win every game and we're going out to get that done."If the Vikings want a chance at catching Chicago in the NFC North race, a win in Seattle is almost a must. Far easier said than done, especially when it comes to night games. Seattle is 15-2 at home in Thursday, Sunday or Monday night games dating to Carroll's arrival in 2010.Minnesota is currently in the No. 6 spot in the NFC and its tie earlier this season against Green Bay could end up being a hindrance 鈥?or a benefit. The Vikings are a half-game ahead of Philadelphia Ndamukong Suh Jersey , Washington and Carolina entering the week."It's big. It's very big. It's a road game. We want to go out there and put a full game together as a whole team on the road," Vikings RB Dalvin Cook said. "This is another game to go out there and do that to show that we're still in this thing. We're still fighting. We've got to just put it together."Here's what else to watch as the teams face for the first time since the 2015 NFC wild-card game:RUSSELL'S ROLLIs anyone going to be able to slow down the efficiency of Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson?Through 12 games, Wilson has 29 touchdowns and just five interceptions. He's thrown at least two TD passes in eight straight games and 11 of 12 this season. Last week against San Francisco, Wilson had three touchdowns passes on four completions in the first half.And it's not just underneath throws or short passes that are turning into touchdowns. Wilson has six TD tosses of 30 or more yards."He is moving around a little bit. The guys take off. They are second in the league in red-zone touchdown percentage," Zimmer said. "A lot of that has been obviously they run the ball well. He moves in the pocket and guys get open. They've had some guys where they had been pretty open, too."PLAYING CATCHMinnesota's Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs are the only receiver duo in the NFC each with more than 80 catches. Thielen has 98 receptions and Diggs has 84. They'll be facing a pass defense that has been struggling of late, allowing 315 yards per game passing over the past three weeks.REVENGE GAMERevenge might be a strong word, but Minnesota defensive tackles Sheldon Richardson and Tom Johnson might have a little bit more incentive for the game. Richardson played for Seahawks last season before signing with Minnesota in free agency. Seattle couldn't match the money offered by the Vikings, so Richardson found a new home in Minnesota.Johnson's situation is a bit stranger. He signed as a free agent with Seattle during the offseason with the intent of being part of the defensive line rotation. He started Week 1 with Seattle, then was released before the Week 2 game at Chicago because of Seattle's need for a roster spot. The Seahawks believed they would be able to re-sign him the following week, but Johnson chose to return to Minnesota and rejoin the Vikings Brandin Cooks Jersey , the team he had spent the previous four seasons with.Johnson has played in nine games with the Vikings and has 3 陆 sacks.WINNING RECORDCarroll already owns the team record for most victories, regular season and playoffs combined. He can claim the franchise record for most regular-season wins with his next victory. Carroll is currently tied with Mike Holmgren for the top spot with 86 regular-season wins.Asked if he had a regular season win that stuck out, Carroll immediately went to a 2012 overtime victory at Chicago. It was the start of a five-game win streak to close the regular season that got Seattle into the playoffs."We haven't been the same since," Carroll said. The buzz around the Los Angeles Rams home playoff game against the Atlanta Falcons last year was pretty upbeat. Yes, the loss was painful and disappointing, but having turned around a franchise that hadn’t had a winning season for 13 years with a Coach of the Year effort, no one was calling for the head of Sean McVay. There was a very low amount of panicky “we need to blow up the roster” from Rams Twitter. Rams fans knew that this team could be better than that first-round playoff loss.They just needed another shot.Having spent over a decade in the shadows of other NFL teams more relevant to national attention, here we are about to host the Dallas Cowboys.Here come the CowboysPhoto by Sean M. Haffey/Getty ImagesThe Rams know what’s coming. Can they stop it? Skye’s scouting report looks at the Dallas Cowboys as they get set to head to LA.Let’s be honest with the expectations for Sunday’s game vs. the Cowboys. If we lose, the heat will be turned up. It may not lead to any coaches being fired, but it will play a significant role in how this team fits into the LA sports landscape. This win could be a defining victory that the city could get behind. And having been on a path to this point since back in March, it’s a win that many are demanding.The narrative for the Dallas Cowboys on the other hand was that they needed to beat the Seattle Seahawks for everyone to feel cool about trotting Jason “The Clapper” Garrett out again for his ninth season as the Cowboys’ head coach. That win was impressive and proved that this team can compete in the postseason.So if the Cowboys lose to the Rams on the road Aqib Talib Jersey , would that really be the end of the world for that team? For die-hard Cowboys fans over at Blogging the Boys, sure, but ESPN probably isn’t going to run any “what’s wrong with the Cowboys segments” in the offseason. Or not any more than they usually do.But if McVay loses his second career playoff game, if QB Jared Goff ends his third professional season with an 0-2 record in the playoffs, the 2018 season will be framed as a bust that will have a pretty disgusting taste all throughout the offseason.The Rams are on the upswing. We’re getting better every season. The expectation that it’s put up or shut up time — at least against a 10-6 team like the Cowboys — is pretty reasonable. The LA Rams are no longer untested in the postseason.Any excuses for a loss have grown pretty thin. This playoff matchup between the Rams and the Cowboys is the most important game so far in the Sean McVay era. So soak in the excitement this week, jerks.After Saturday, everything changes.For better or worse.