The Arizona Cardinals hurt their playoff chances on Sunday with a 20-17 loss to the New England Patriots. However, despite the loss, they didn’t really lose ground because teams around the league helped them.
What happened in Week 13?
The Los Angeles Rams, who were in first place in the NFC West, lost to the San Francisco 49ers 23-20 on the last play of the game. The 7-4 Rams come to town next week to face the 6-5 Cardinals. A win by the Cardinals will give them the same record as L.A. but put them ahead in the standings.
The Chicago Bears, the team in the NFC behind the Cardinals in the conference standings, also lost on Sunday, getting blown out 41-25 by the Green Bay Packers. At 5-6, they remain a game behind Arizona and out of the postseason right now.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who entered the week half a game ahead of the Cardinals in the playoff race, also lost on Sunday, falling 27-24 to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Essentially, the Cardinals might have lost and certainly did hurt their chances for the postseason, but they did not lose ground at all because everyone else around them also lost.
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