Seahawks, 49ers both hold tiebreakers over Cardinals in playoff race

The Cardinals are virtually eliminated from division contention and things look bleak for the wild card.

The Arizona Cardinals have greatly complicated their playoff chances. With their 38-10 loss Monday night to the San Francisco 49ers, they now have lost tiebreakers to two teams in their division.

The 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks are both 6-4 currently. The 49ers currently are the division leaders with a head-to-head tiebreaker over Seattle.

Both Seattle and San Francisco hold tiebreakers over the Cardinals.

Seattle beat the Cardinals twice this season already, so they hold a head-to-head tiebreaker.

With the 49ers’ win over the Cardinals Monday night, while the two teams will play again in Week 18 and the Cardinals could still beat them, but because the 49ers are 4-0 in division games and the Cardinals are 1-4, the 49ers already hold a divisional record tiebreaker.

So when it comes to both the division race and the wild-card race, as both Seattle and San Fran are both in the NFC top seven, it will take an extraordinary turnaround for Arizona and a colossal collapse by either team for the Cardinals to overtake them.

If they wish to finish ahead of either team, the Cardinals must win three more games in their final six than either the Seahawks or 49ers do in their final seven.

What does that look like? It would mean that if the Cardin als were to go 5-1 in their final six games, the Seahawks and 49ers would have to go no better than 2-5 in their final seven games.

It means that there is almost no chance for the Cardinals to get themselves out of the hole they began the year making. They are virtually eliminated from the division race and have badly hurt their chances for a wild card berth.

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Breaking down the Cardinals’ 3 playoff scenarios

The Cardinals can finish as either the No. 2 seed, the No. 3 seed or the No. 5 seed.

The Arizona Cardinals have clinched a playoff berth this year and will be playing in the wild card round of the postseason. However, where they will play and against whom has yet to be determined.

Depending on how things play out in Week 18, the Cardinals could be the No. 2 seed, the No. 3 seed or the No. 5 seed.

Let’s look at how the different scenarios are possible.

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Cowboys secure NFC East title before taking field in Week 16

The Cowboys have now clinched the division for the 24th time in club history. Here’s how Sunday’s results led to it all. | From @KDDrummondNFL

For the first time since 2018 and the 24th time in the history of their franchise, the Dallas Cowboys are once again NFC East champions. Although they have yet to take the field for Week 16, combined results from the Sunday afternoon contests completed the formula for the currently 10-4 Cowboys, as two of the six needed results came through to eliminate the Philadelphia Eagles from the race.

Dallas is guaranteed at least one game at AT&T Stadium in the coming playoff tournament. No team has repeated as NFC East champions in the last 17 tries, dating back to the Eagles in 2004.

While Philadelphia won their contest, handily, against the New York Giants and first-time starter Jake Fromm, the ridiculous number of things that would’ve been necessary for them to beat Dallas in a potential tiebreaker scenario fell flat on its face Sunday.

While Dallas didn’t mathematically clinch prior to the weekend, one was hard-pressed to find any of hundreds of thousands of simulations that came up with an example of the necessary wins to happen. As it stood, victories by the Atlanta Falcons and  Las Vegas Raiders sealed the deal on Sunday.

If Dallas were to lose out and Philly win out, they’d have a head-to-head split and similar division records, conference records and common-opponent records, leading to Strength of Victory winning percentages. A combination of two results comprised of victories by Minnesota, New England or the L.A. Chargers or losses by the Detroit Lions, New York Jets or Denver Broncos would be necessary for Dallas to be officially secure. This could happen over any of the final three weeks, which was all but assured even if the math said it was technically possible.

The football gods decided not to draw anything out.

The Falcons took down Detroit, 20-16 in the early game, but Dallas had to wait until the Raiders sealed their win over the Broncos in the late-afternoon window.

In more important matters, the Cowboys are eyeing as high a seed as possible in the NFC playoffs and while they didn’t get the ultimate help they craved, they did get the push result they at least needed.

Because Dallas lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 1, Dallas can only finish with a higher seed if they have a better record or if there is a three-or-more team tie which would bring conference record into the equation. While the Arizona Cardinals lost and the Green Bay Packers won on Saturday, the Los Angeles Rams kept pace with Tampa Bay on Sunday as both teams won to improve to 11-4.

Dallas will need to handle their business over their final three games, but if the Rams also don’t lose, then the Cowboys will finish ahead of both L.A. and the Bucs in a playoff scenario.

Dallas would also defeat Green Bay in such a tiebreaker, but the Packers have escaped the last two weeks and now have a 12-3 overall record, requiring them to lose one of their final two games.

The Cowboys will take on the Washington Football Team on Sunday night to help close out the Week 16 slate of games.

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Cardinals clinch playoffs, lose division lead with Vikings’ loss to Rams

Arizona backs into the playoffs for the first time since 2015.

The Arizona Cardinals could not do it themselves, but they have officially clinched a postseason berth. They will be in the postseason for the first time since 2015.

Thanks to a 30-23 loss by the Minnesota Vikings to the Los Angeles Rams, the Cardinals are now guaranteed at least a wild-card berth.

Entering the week, there were seven scenarios in which they could have clinched a spot in the postseason. They could have beaten the Indianapolis Colts but they did not. But with the San Francisco 49ers losing on Thursday night, a loss or tie by the Vikings, Philadelphia Eagles or New Orleans Saints would have given the Cardinals a playoff berth.

The Eagles beat the Giants but the Vikings lost, punching the Cardinals’ ticket.

The Vikings’ loss did come at a cost. With the Cardinals’ loss and Rams’ win, the Cardinals lost the division lead. They now trail Los Angeles by a game in the NFC West.

With two games left in the regular season, the Cardinals can still win the division, but it will require them to beat both the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks, while the Rams must lose one of their final two games, one against the Baltimore Ravens and one against the 49ers.

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PODCAST: Is it time for Cardinals fans to panic?

Check out the latest edition of the podcast.

After an awful 30-12 loss by the Arizona Cardinals to the Detroit Lions in Week 15, it appears they are falling apart like they did at the end of last season.

They are still in the lead in the NFC West, but the loss raises questions as to whether the Cardinals will win another game this season.

In this edition of the podcast, Revenge of the Birds’ Seth Cox and I give our level of panic regarding the Cardinals and their season. We also go over what went wrong in Detroit, where they stand in the NFC West race and preview their Week 16 Christmas game against the Indianapolis Colts.

Enjoy the show!


Enjoy the show with the embedded player above or by subscribing to the show on Apple PodcastsSpotify or your favorite podcast platform, so you never miss a show. Make sure as well to give it a five-star rating!


Below are the approximate timestamps for the topics we discussed.

(1:00) Is it time to panic?

(12:39) What went wrong against the Lions?

(31:45) What do they have to do to win the NFC West still?

(44:20) Cardinals-Colts preview and predictions

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Week 11 games that matter to the Cardinals in NFC playoff race

Check out which Week 11 games also affect the Cardinals in the NFC playoff picture.

The Arizona Cardinals are very much in control of their playoff destiny where they stand in Week 11. They lead the NFC West and, at 8-2, are second in the NFC, behind only the Green Bay Packers, who are also 8-2 but hold a head-to-head tiebreaker over them.

However, it never hurts to get help, so, other than their divisional matchup against the Seattle Seahawks on the road, here are the games that matter most to the Cardinals in Week 11 and what outcomes benefit them most.

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NFC Playoff Picture: Cowboys move out of dangerous 4-seed with Week 10 win

A look at how the results of Sunday’s action impacts the Cowboys’ shot at the playoffs and the battle for the No. 1 seed. There’s a new team in the NFC driver seat. | From @KDDrummondNFL

The Dallas Cowboys’ Week 9 loss could have been worse, all things being considered. After falling, embarrassingly, to the Denver Broncos in the early game last week, the Cowboys saw both the Los Angeles Rams and the Green Bay Packers go down in defeat. With three of the five teams in competition for the NFC’s No 1 seed losing, it was a good day for the Arizona Cardinals and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, but it could have been really bad for Dallas if the Rams and Packers didn’t go down.

Arizona won their game, while Tampa Bay was on their bye week. The Cowboys fell to the No. 4 seed in the race, as the tiebreaker loser to the Bucs, among the four division leaders. The fourth seed, of course, is the seed to avoid as it will likely match up with the team that doesn’t win the NFC West between the Cards and Los Angeles. Not ideal for a team that looks on pace to have at least 12 wins on the season. Sunday’s Week 10 action gave the Cowboys a bit firmer ground to stand on with seven games left in their season.

Here’s how the action played out.

Cowboys Playoff Odds: Eagles loss sets up lackluster fight to NFC East finish

Does anyone want the NFC East crown? Apparently, an automatic bid to the tournament isn’t very enticing to the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, as neither team had a strong last month and failed to capitalize on the other team’s slide. After …

Does anyone want the NFC East crown? Apparently, an automatic bid to the tournament isn’t very enticing to the Dallas Cowboys and Philadelphia Eagles, as neither team had a strong last month and failed to capitalize on the other team’s slide. After Dallas was embarrassed on Thanksgiving, falling to the Buffalo Bills 26-15, the Eagles did them one better.

With a chance to move into a tie for first place in the NFC East, the Eagles allowed another AFC East team to thwart those plans. The Miami Dolphins scored a touchdown on five straight drives to recover from an early 14-0 hole and win 37-31.

The loss was the Eagles third in a row and drops them to 5-7 on the season, remaining a full game behind the 6-6 Dallas Cowboys with four games remaining for both teams.

Both teams have lost 3 of their last 4 contests.

As of now, Dallas’ chances of winning the NFC East sit at 66% according to stats website Five Thirty-Eight.

The two teams will face off against each other in Week 16 when Dallas travels to Philadelphia, but the Eagles loss Sunday means the the Cowboys still have a chance to clinch a berth before that game takes place. It also opens up the possibility the Cowboys could lose that game and still win the division without too much of a miraculous finish.

In Week 14 and 15, the Cowboys will take on the Chicago Bears (6-6) and the Los Angeles Rams (6-5). Neither team has much of a chance of making the playoffs (3% and 13% respectively prior to the late after games of Week 13) as their divisions have quality teams with quality records and the wild card spots are currently occupied by equally well-performing teams.

Current NFC East Playoff Race

1. San Francisco 49ers (10-2)
2. New Orleans Saints (10-2)
3. Green Bay Packers (9-3)
4. Dallas Cowboys (6-6)
5. Seattle Seahawks (9-2)
6. Minnesota Vikings (8-3)

The 49ers have a better conference record than the Saints, giving them the No. 1 seed. The wild-card teams slot fifth and sixth behind the four division winners, regardless of record.

The Cowboys still have the longest of unbelievable long shots of earning a wild-card slot or even more ridiculous a first-round bye, but in reality their chances of making it as anything other than division winners is a spec on a probability scale.

The division winner will have a home game, then the opportunity to upset the world in a manner that would betray either team’s performance through this part of the season. Dallas has struggled to avoid early deficits, while Philadelphia has coughed up leads in their last three losses.

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