The Arizona Cardinals hurt their playoff chances on Saturday with a 20-12 loss to the San Francisco 49ers. For a day, they lost control of their own destiny.
The Seattle Seahawks gave them that control back.
They defeated the Los Angeles Rams 20-9 on Sunday afternoon, clinching the NFC West division title.
The win dropped the Rams to 9-6, setting up what is a regular-season playoff game in Week 17 for Arizona.
Now, if the Cardinals can beat the Rams in Los Angeles in Week 17, they are in the playoffs. They will have finished the season 9-7 and the Rams will have lost three in a row to make them 9-7.
The Cardinals would make the postseason by having a 3-3 division record with the Rams going 2-4 in the division. They would end up second place in the NFC West.
It is a win-and-you’re-in scenario, basically giving the Cardinals a playoff game. No matter what happens elsewhere, they would be in. If they lose, they can’t go on.
They can make the playoffs as either the No. 6 or the No. 7 seed.
If the Cardinals win and the Green Bay Packers beat the Chicago Bears, they would be the No. 6 seed and the Rams would still make the playoffs as the No. 7 seed. If the Bears win, Chicago is the sixth seed and the Cardinals are seventh.
While Arizona did not show up on Saturday, Kliff Kingsbury, Kyler Murray and the rest have exactly what they should hope for — a chance to control their own destiny.
As a fan following a team that was the worst team just two seasons ago, this is exactly what you hope for.
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