Cardinals playoff watch: A look at the current NFC postseason picture

Arizona Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon is heeding the old Jim Mora mantra.

“There is no playoff chatter in our building,” Gannon said in the week before the Cardinals pummelled the Jets, 31-6.

There may be no postseason prattle coming from the Cardinals players, but with Arizona sitting at 6-4 and atop the NFC West as it enjoys a well-earned bye week, playoff hopes are hard to ignore.

Not to worry. PHNX Sports has you covered. Every week until the end of the season (or as long as it’s relevant), we’ll keep you updated on Arizona’s postseason hopes and the wider NFC playoff picture.

Each week, we’ll give you a list of key games to watch, who’s hot, who’s not and some of the potential playoff scenarios.

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Playoff picture

Right now, the Cardinals would host the Minnesota Vikings in the wild-card round, but much will change between now and then. The Cardinals are scheduled to play the Vikings (7-2) in Week 13 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. That’s an important game if the Cardinals want to have any other playoff path outside of winning the NFC West. Arizona already has losses to playoff/wild card hopefuls Washington and Green Bay.

The meeting with Minnesota is the only game over the next five weeks in which Arizona will face a team that currently boasts a winning record. Per tankathon.com, the Cardinals face the 25th-hardest schedule the rest of the season while their NFC West rivals are not so fortunate. The 49ers face the fifth-hardest schedule, the Seahawks face the eighth-hardest schedule and the Rams face the 16th-hardest schedule.

The Atlanta Falcons (6-4) are in the driver’s seat in the NFC South with a two-game lead on Tampa Bay (4-6) and a two-game sweep of the Buccaneers actually making that a three-game lead.

The Philadelphia Eagles (7-2), the NFC East’s first-place team, meet the second-place Washington Commanders (7-3) for the first time on Sunday in Philadelphia, with their second meeting scheduled for Dec. 22.

In the NFC North, the top-seeded Detroit Lions (8-1) already own one victory against the second-place Vikings. The teams will meet in Detroit in the final week of the regular season. Sitting one game back of the Vikings are the Green Bay Packers (6-3). The Packers already lost home games to the Vikings and Lions and must face each team on the road in Week 14 and Week 17.

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NFC West

In the NFC West, the Cardinals have four division games remaining so you can make a strong argument that those games will decide their fate. That said, a home game against the New England Patriots (3-7) and a road game at Carolina (3-7) would appear to be games the Cardinals have to win if they are to remain in control of their destiny.

The 49ers (5-4) are getting healthy with running back Christian McCaffrey and receiver Jauan Jennings also back in the lineup. Despite a rough home loss to the Dolphins, the Rams (4-5) are still just one loss behind the Cardinals with the second-easiest schedule in the division and a home date with the Cardinals looming in Week 17.

We’ll talk more about the struggling Seahawks (4-5) below.

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Trending up

Despite the loss of premier edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson for the season with a broken tibia and fibula, Detroit has won seven straight games and faces the Jaguars, Colts and Bears the next three weeks before a run of four tough games in its final five.

The Eagles have won five straight games, but all of them have come against teams with losing records. Eagles fans will get a better read on their team over the next three weeks when they host the Commanders and then travel for games against the Rams and Ravens.

Winners of four straight, the Cardinals certainly belong in the who’s-hot category. Their winning streak is tied with the Steelers for the fifth-longest current streak in the league behind the Chiefs (nine), Lions, Eagles and Bills (five).

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Trending down

After a 3-0 start, Seattle has lost five of its past six games, surrendering an average of 32.8 points in those five losses. The Seahawks are the most penalized team in the NFL (8.3 per game) after getting flagged 12 times for 95 yards in an OT loss to the Rams.

QB Geno Smith was tied for the league lead with 10 interceptions, he’s been sacked 28 times in nine games and the rushing attack, which was supposed to be the strength of the offense, ranks 26th in yards per game (91.2) and 21st in yards per carry (4.1).  

Seattle’s game at San Francisco on Sunday should be a good gauge of whether the bye week solved anything. If Seattle loses and drops to 4-6, the Cardinals have an opportunity to deliver a knockout blow to a third straight team’s playoff hopes when they travel to the Pacific Northwest for a game on Nov. 24.

The Bears are in disarray after a Hail Mary loss against the Commanders, a blowout loss in Arizona, and an inexplicable loss at home to the Patriots in which QB Caleb Williams was sacked nine times. It’s a wonder that coach Matt Eberflus still has his job given the tactical and mental blunders the Bears have exhibited over the past three weeks (not to mention players openly questioning his staff), but Chicago has never fired a coach during a season.

The Buccaneers had a chance to beat the 49ers last Sunday. Trailing 20-17, Tampa had a first-and-goal from the San Francisco 8-yard line with 59 seconds remaining. The Bucs netted zero yards from that point and settled for a game-tying field goal with 41 seconds left. The defense then surrendered 39 yards on four plays and Jake Moody kicked a game-winning, 44-yard field goal as time expired.

As for the rest of the NFC, Dak Prescott’s season ending hamstring injury put the final nail in the coffin of the Cowboys’ already slim playoff hopes. After a 2-0 start, the New Orleans Saints have lost seven of their past eight games. The Giants and Panthers are vying for the top overall draft pick with the Browns, Titans, Raiders and Jaguars. Carolina is a league-worst minus-143 in point differential — 60 points worse than the next two teams, the Raiders and Titans.

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Week 11’s key games

Washington at Philadelphia, Thursday at 6:15 PM: With a win against the Eagles, the Commanders would start 3-0 against NFC East opponents — their best intra-division record since 1991.

Green Bay at Chicago, Sunday at 11 AM: The Packers have defeated the Bears 10 straight times, tying the longest winning streak by either team in the long history of the series.

Seattle at San Francisco, Sunday at 2:05 PM: The 49ers can put the Seahawks’ playoff hopes on life support. The 49ers have beaten the Seahawks six straight times including a 2022 wild-card game at Levi’s Stadium.

Top photo via Getty Images: Cardinals QB Kyler Murray runs for a TD against the New York Jets on Nov. 10 at State Farm Stadium

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