Live: Seahawks-Panthers: Live updates, scores, how to watch Week 17 game

Here are a few notes from observing pregame warmups:

—There didn’t appear to be any surprises to the starting lineups. As expected, Josh Jones worked with the starting offense at left tackle in place of the injured Charles Cross and Ty Okada worked as a starting safety in place of the injured Coby Bryant. Everything else appeared the same as the last few weeks.

—Rookie Connor O’Toole warmed up with the second-team defense at one rush end spot. He may have to get some snaps today with Derick Hall suspended.

—The center rotation remains the same with Jalen Sundell the starter, Olu Oluwatimi working with the twos and Christian Haynes snapping to third-team QB Jalen Milroe.

Here’s a rundown of the other games to watch for the Live:

While the Seahawks will be the game most fans are keeping their eye on today, there are several others that will help shape the NFC playoff picture taking place the next two days. 

Here’s a rundown of the other games to keep an eye on:

10 a.m. PT

Buccaneers at Dolphins – A win by the Bucs and a Seahawks win over the Panthers sets up an NFC South championship game next week between Tampa Bay and Carolina. If the Seahawks don’t win the NFC West, there’s a scenario where they travel to the NFC South champ on wild-card weekend. 

1:25 p.m. PT

Eagles at Bills – Philly is the NFC East champ but can finish anywhere from the No. 2 seed to the No. 4 seed in the NFC. A win over the Bills would lock Philly into either No. 2 or No. 3. 

5:20 p.m. PT

Bears at 49ers – This is the big one today. The Bears still have an outside shot at the No. 1 seed after clinching the NFC North with the Packers loss to the Ravens on Saturday. Wins by the Seahawks and 49ers will set up essentially an NFC West title game next weekend in Santa Clara. 

Monday, 5:15 p.m. PT

Rams at Falcons – The Rams still might have a say in what happens in the NFC as a two-team tie with the Seahawks would go in favor of Los Angeles. A three-team tie with the 49ers, Rams and Seahawks goes in favor of San Francisco.

The list of seven inactive players for the Seahawks for Sunday’s game at Carolina revealed no big surprises.

The list includes two players who had already been ruled out due to injury: left tackle Charles Cross (hamstring) and safety Coby Bryant (knee).

Quarterback Jalen Milroe, who will serve as the emergency QB, is inactive.

Also inactive are four players who are healthy scratches to get the team down to the gameday roster max of 48: rookie offensive linemen Bryce Cabeldue and Mason Richman, rookie rush end Jared Ivey and nose tackle Brandon Pili.

Ivey being inactive means fellow rookie undrafted free agent Connor O’Toole is active and could see some time in the rush-end rotation with Derick Hall suspended for today’s game.

Pili played regularly for a few weeks but with Jarran Reed back and Seattle having activated rookie Rylie Mills to help out on the DL, Pili is now caught in a numbers game.

For the Panthers, there was some speculation this morning about the status of star rookie receiver Tetairoa McMillan after the team placed him on the injury list due to an illness. But McMillan is active and expected to play.

RENTON — When the story of Sam Darnold’s quarterbacking career is told, most focus on the beginning or the present.

The beginning being the awful three seasons in New York with the Jets where he looked like the latest first-round bust who would eventually wash out of the league.

And the present as the quarterback of the Seahawks, already headed for the playoffs with the chance at winning the NFC West and claiming the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC with two games remaining.

Not often talked about is the middle and the transition seasons for Darnold when he was traded, benched, beat out for a starting role and eventually started the incremental steps into the quarterback he is today.

For much of the offseason, rookie quarterback Jalen Milroe was one of the most talked-about Seahawks as media and fans debated any number of questions.

Could the third-round choice from Alabama, taken with the selection Seattle obtained from the Raiders in the trade for Geno Smith, really make a run at the starting job battling against a veteran free-agent signee the way another third-round pick, Russell Wilson, did in 2012?

If he didn’t win the job, could Milroe at least carve out a role as a situational player used regularly in specialty packages that would utilize his abilities as a runner and passer? 

At the least, would maybe something happen during the season that would compel him to play?

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The simplest way to remember the playoff scenario for the Seahawks is this — win out against Carolina on Sunday and the 49ers next week and Seattle is the number one seed in the NFC.

There’s one remote scenario where the Seahawks can clinch that weekend — a Seahawks win and the 49ers and Bears tying. But ties rarely happen anyway and since both the Bears and 49ers remain alive for the number one seed it’s hard to imagine either playing or settling for a deadlock.

So more likely, Seattle needs a win at Carolina to set up playing for the one seed next week.

The Seahawks, though, have a more visible scenario, if still maybe not the highest-percentage play, to take the NFC West this week with a win and losses by the Rams and 49ers.

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After outlasting the Los Angeles Rams in overtime for their fifth straight win, the Seahawks surrounded coach Mike Macdonald in a crowded locker room. The 38-year-old radiated an ecstatic energy, with the logo from Seattle’s lone Super Bowl win hanging on the ceiling overhead.  

“What a group, men,” Macdonald said on Dec. 18, savoring the 38-37 win. “What a freaking football team you guys are. What a football team, man. We’re the freaking Seahawks!”

(“We’re the freaking Seahawks!” should be printed on a shirt.)

Suddenly, the freaking Seahawks sit at 12-3, trending toward their first NFC West title since 2020. The Rams win provided an inside track to the NFC’s No. 1 seed, a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

But first things first: it cemented the Seahawks a postseason spot.

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When the 2023 football season ended, Jay Harbaugh had both a wide-open future and plenty of options.

There was a chance to stay at Michigan, where he had coached in several roles under his father Jim since 2015, the last five as special-teams coordinator.

There was a chance to go with his father to his new job as head coach of the Los Angeles Chargers.

Each provided a sense of comfort and security.

But when Mike Macdonald, who had just been named as the new head coach of the Seahawks, replacing Pete Carroll, called with an offer that might provide a risk but also something new, Harbaugh decided it was time to take a leap.

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