The Seattle Seahawks are in pole position to clinch not only the NFC West title but potentially the #1 seed in the conference after beating the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night.

If they win their last two games, then they are home and hosed, but they’ll be without Derick Hall for one of those games, after the linebacker was slapped with a ban for an act of unnecessary roughness and unsportsmanlike conduct early in a matchup that went to overtime.

At the end of a play during the first quarter, Hall was deemed to have unnecessarily stepped on the leg of Kevin Dotson while the Rams guard was on the ground, violating Rule 12, Section 2, Article 8, which prohibits unnecessary roughness and Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1, which applies to unsportsmanlike conduct, including ‘any act which is contrary to the generally understood principles of sportsmanship’.

Interestingly, although Dotson left the stadium on crutches and wearing a walking boot, having suffered a high ankle sprain that will likely sideline him for a few weeks, Rams’ head coach Sean McVay used Friday’s media availability to clarify that Hall stepping on Dotson did not cause the injury, but added that there was still no place in the game for what the linebacker did.

As usual in all such cases, Hall can appeal the suspension, with the hearing to be overseen by either Derrick Brooks, Ramon Foster or Jordy Nelson, the hearing officers jointly appointed and compensated by the NFL and NFLPA to decide appeals of on-field player discipline.

Hall has 29 combined tackles, for tackles for loss and a sack in 2025. Jared Ivey could earn more playing time in his absence, with the rookie having only appeared in two games so far in his rookie season