The Importance of Winning Division Games

A couple of years back the Arizona Cardinals won all six of their inter-divisional games, and won the NFC West handily. While it’s unlikely they can repeat the same scenario this year, it’s not impossible that they take five of six games from their division foes. And that will put them in a very solid position to win the division. Here’s why:

1) Winning five of six in your division virtually guarantees that you will win the tiebreaker for a playoff spot as division winner.

2) Winning five of six games in your division means that you can still go 4-6 in non-division games — and end up with a 9-7 record, which in a weak division probably will be good enough to emerge as the division winner.

Last year the Cardinals had all sorts of problems playing their division rivals, but I expect a different outcome this year. The results might have a huge impact on whether or not the Cardinals make it to the playoffs.