The Arizona Cardinals saw their draft status improve in Week 16. They moved up from the third overall pick to No. 2 overall.
The New England Patriots, who had three wins, beat the Denver Broncos Sunday night 26-23 on a last-second field goal. That gave them a fourth win.
Arizona, with three wins, moved up past them. New England actually fell to No. 4 because they have a higher strength of schedule than the Washington Commanders.
Here is what the top 10 of the draft looks like after Week 16, according to Tankathon.
- Chicago Bears (from Carolina Panthers, 2-13)
- Arizona Cardinals, 3-12
- Washington Commanders, 4-11 (.518 strength of schedule)
- New England Patriots, 4-11 (.522 SOS)
- New York Giants, 5-10 (.514 SOS)
- Los Angeles Chargers, 5-10 (.525 SOS)
- Tennessee Titans, 5-10 (.525 SOS)
- Chicago Bears, 6-9 (.467 SOS)
- New York Jets, 6-9 (.514 SOS)
- Atlanta Falcons, 7-8 (.420 SOS)
The Cardinals are guaranteed a top-two pick if they lose their final two games, on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles and at home against the Seattle Seahawks.
If they win one game, they are guaranteed to be no lower than fourth overall.
They have a better strength of schedule than both New England and Washington, so they will lose any draft tiebreaker with them.
The Cardinals also own the Houston Texans’ first-round pick.
After the Texans lost 36-22 to the Cleveland Browns, they fell to 8-7. However, they remained with the 16th overall pick as they have the worst strength of schedule of the 8-7 teams not currently slated for the postseason.
They are part of a three-way tie at 8-7 at the top of the AFC South but are in third place due to tiebreakers. They could still win the division title in the final two games or finish as badly as 8-9 and out of the playoffs.
They host the Titans and are on the road against the Indianapolis Colts to close out the season.
Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.
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