Rams GM Les Snead has 3-word reaction to clinching playoff berth following Commanders' SNF win

The Washington Commanders are heading to the playoffs after a five-year hiatus. They beat the Atlanta Falcons 30-24 at the Northwest Stadium in an overtime thriller to improve to 11-5 and book their postseason berth. However, their win didn't only confirm their status as a playoff team.

The Los Angeles Rams also qualified for the playoffs following the Commanders' win over the Falcons on Sunday Night Football. General manager Les Snead expressed relief, knowing the team doesn't need a win in their Week 17 game against the Seattle Seahawks to guarantee their place in the playoffs.

However, he was seemingly not pleased about how close the game got. The NFL's official X account posted a video of his reaction to Jayden Daniels' touchdown pass to Zach Ertz in overtime, which ended the game. Snead said:

"Woooo... That sucked."

The Falcons had the opportunity to win the game with a walk-off field goal. However, kicker Riley Patterson's 56-yard attempt fell short, failing to make it through the goalpost.

His missed kick sent the game into overtime, where the Commanders won the coin toss, chose to receive and put the ball in Daniels' hands. The quarterback then led the team to victory, securing playoff qualification for both the Commanders and the Rams.

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Why did the Rams qualify for playoffs after the Commanders' win?

The Rams qualified for the playoffs ahead of the Seattle Seahawks thanks to the strength of victory tiebreaker. When two teams finish the regular season with the same record, the NFL uses tiebreakers to determine the higher seed.

The order of the tiebreakers is as follows: head-to-head record, record in division games, record against common opponents, record in conference games and strength of victory, which is the combined record of the franchises that a team has beaten. There are seven more criteria to decide who finishes higher. However, in the Rams and Seahawks' case, the strength of victory served as the differentiator.

If Seattle beats LA in Week 18, the two teams would have identical records. However, the Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings and Washington Commanders' wins in Week 17 meant that the combined winning percentage of the teams the Seahawks have beaten would not surpass the total win rate of the franchises the Rams have defeated.

As a result, LA has won the NFC West and will be one of the three teams from their conference to host a playoff game on Wildcard Weekend.