The Arizona Cardinals are bringing a new meaning to the term “spooky season.”
Sitting at a scary 2-5, losers of five straight one-score games and facing the toughest remaining strength of schedule, the season feels like it’s slipping away before trick-or-treaters start knocking.
At least from a divisional standpoint, the sinking feeling like mock drafts are creeping up behind you is warranted.
Even with the San Francisco 49ers’ loss to the Houston Texans this past Sunday, the Cardinals’ climb isn’t any easier with the three other NFC West teams ahead of Arizona all sporting a five-win mark through eight weeks.
And that’s before adding in the layers that both the 49ers (5-3) and current NFC West leader Seattle Seahawks (5-2) hold head-to-head tiebreakers over the Cardinals and Arizona’s 0-2 divisional mark.
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Regardless of what happens between the Washington Commanders and Kansas City Chiefs on Monday, the NFC West marks the only division that features three teams with at least five wins through eight weeks.
Given the end-of-schedule mayhem dialed up for the division to close out the regular season, it’s going to get messy at the top.
The Los Angeles Rams (5-3) have five divisional games across their final nine games for crying out loud. Divisional shifting is going to happen.
But in the case of the Cardinals’ paths to the postseason — somewhere they haven’t been since 2021 — the NFC West feels caved in with some serious boulders to excavate.
There’s a reason why Arizona is projected with less than a 1% chance at winning the division eight weeks in, according to The Athletic’s playoff simulator.
It’s going to take a serious bounce back from the Cardinals and some major drop offs from the rest of the division. The latter seems less likely than the former.
Cardinals’ NFC Wild Card chances slim coming out of bye week
While the Cardinals’ NFC West chances look bleak eight weeks in, their odds at making the playoffs in general aren’t much better (2%).
But if there’s a world where the Cardinals have a playoff spot in 2025, it’s through the Wild Card.
They’ll just have to likely deal with the divisional opponents that fail to secure the NFC West crown and a couple NFC North foes to get there. No big deal.
Heading into Monday’s game, the Detroit Lions (5-2), Rams and 49ers round out the NFC Wild Card picture three wins ahead of the Cardinals.
The Chicago Bears (4-3) mark the first team on the playoff bubble. The Commanders (3-4) could be right there, too.
And yes, the Carolina Panthers (4-4) are just outside the playoff picture but are looking like a team heading backwards in a hurry after Sunday’s 40-9 debacle loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Wild Card or not, the odds are seriously stacked against the Cardinals coming out of the bye, making the “projects” and changes head coach Jonathan Gannon and his coaching staff undertook this past week that much more under the microscope.
Even a four-game win streak gives the Cardinals a 19% chance at securing a Wild Card spot when using The Athletic’s playoff simulator. It would take a seven-game win streak to reach those odds from a divisional standpoint.
There’s no longer any margin for error after falling short across the easiest part of the schedule. How they respond on primetime is going to say a lot about where this season is truly headed.
“Crazier things have happened,” Calais Campbell said after Week 7’s loss to the Green Bay Packers. “The realist in me is saying that it’s hard to win 10 straight games and then have to win games in the playoffs to do what we want to do. But can it be done? I think so.
“The margin for error is very small if we get lucky — really it’s zero. So, we got to do something that’s really hard to do. But can it be done? I think so.”
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