The Arizona Cardinals are still likely to make the playoffs entering Week 13.
ARIZONA — Arizona Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon said it best earlier this week: It’s playoff football the rest of the way.
“We’re one round at a time. We’re in playoff football right now. It is what it is, and we don’t shy away from that. With the holiday coming up you can be thankful we’re playing meaningful games right now because we’ve earned that right, but it really doesn’t mean you-know-what,” said Gannon.
The Cardinals have adopted a “one round at a time” mantra that’s mostly boded well during their 6-5 start to the season, though a slip-up against Seattle in the race for the NFC West crown prevented them from having a two-game advantage coming down the stretch of the season.
Now, a tall test against the Minnesota Vikings stands in the way of the Cardinals getting back in the win column, and Arizona’s playoff odds can sway either way pending results on Sunday.
According to NFL.com, Arizona (currently on the outside looking in) has a 51% chance to make the postseason approaching Week 13.
With a win, those odds increase to 66% while as loss drops the Cardinals to just a 40% chance.
“Instead of entering Week 13 with a bit of breathing room in the division race, Arizona finds itself booted from the playoff field altogether after laying a dud in Seattle. While the Cardinals’ best route into the tournament continues to be as the NFC West champs, they still ended up punching their ticket as a wild card in 6 percent of the simulations (they can thank Dallas for that),” wrote Ali Bhanpuri.
The Cardinals still are set to play the Seahawks, Rams and 49ers down the stretch of the season, so at this point in time they do very much control their own destiny, and like Bhanpuri alluded to, Arizona’s path to the postseason will likely have to come via their division with the NFC’s wild card race so competitive at the moment.
Arizona does have scheduling in their favor, according to Tankathon, who has them with the tenth-easiest strength of schedule the rest of the way.
Still, the Cardinals need to get themselves back in the win column to keep control of their postseason path.
