While the Arizona Cardinals take on the Buffalo Bills Sunday afternoon at State Farm Stadium, a battle between NFC West hopefuls will be going on at the same time.
The Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams face each other for the first time this season.
No matter what happens in that game, it is both good and bad for the Cardinals, always going with the assumption they win their game this afternoon.
If the Cardinals win, they will improve to 6-3 on the season. If the Rams beat the Seahawks, then Seattle, L.A. and Arizona would all be tied with a 6-3 record atop the division. The Cardinals, due to their 2-0 division record, would technically be in first place.
If the Seahawks win, they would be 7-2, the Cardinals would be 6-3 and the Rams would be 5-4. The Cardinals would be alone in second place and one game out of first. Then, taking on the Seahawks Thursday night in Week 11, the Cardinals could improve to 7-3, drop the Seahawks to 7-3 and sweep the season series, meaning the Seahawks would have to finish with one more win than Arizona to be ahead of them in the standings.
If the Rams win and then the Cardinals beat Seattle on Thursday, the Seahawks would be 6-4, the Cardinals would be 7-3 and the Rams could keep pace in Week 11 with a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Rams and Cardinals will face each other twice in the final five weeks of the season.
Naturally, this requires the Cardinals to win their next two games, but given the choices, which should Cardinals fans root for — a Seattle loss this week or a Seattle win before beating them on Thursday?
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