Cardinals' tough Week 12 loss to Seahawks stings even more after latest playoff updates
The Arizona Cardinals (6-5) came into the Week 12 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks (6-5) looking to strengthen the grip on its NFC West lead, but failed to do so as Kyler Murray and co. fell 16-6 to their division rival. They're now the No. 8 seed, while the Seahawks are the No. 3 seed.Coming […]
The Arizona Cardinals (6-5) came into the Week 12 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks (6-5) looking to strengthen the grip on its NFC West lead, but failed to do so as Kyler Murray and co. fell 16-6 to their division rival. They're now the No. 8 seed, while the Seahawks are the No. 3 seed.
Coming into the game, the Cardinals had a 59% chance of making the playoffs, per NFL.com. A loss would drop said chances to 47%, while a win would've boosted them to 77%. The Seahawks now lead the NFC West thanks to the head-to-head tiebreaker.
The Athletic had the Cardinals' chances of making the postseason at 63% and their chances of winning the NFC West at 58%, now those are 54% and 51%, respectively. ESPN's model had the pregame odds of making the dance and winning the division at 64% and 59%, respectively. Those are now 53% and 49%, respectively.
But the point still stands: The Cardinals are no longer leading the division and are currently out of the playoff picture after Sunday's tough loss. It's wild how quickly things can change in the NFL, but it's also a huge reason why it's the most popular sport in the country.
Kyler Murray and the Cardinals offense get held in-check by a struggling Seahawks defense and it cost them the game
This was easily the worst offensive perofmance of the season for Murray and co. Not only were they held to a season-low six points, it came against a below-average Seahawks defense that had been struggling for much of the season.
It won't get any easier for the Cardinals, as they're set to take on the Minnesota Vikings (9-2) and then they have a rematch against the 'Hawks the following week. Sure, there's still plenty of opportunities to get back into the race, but it's going to be an uphill battle that offers a small margin for error.
