Arizona Cardinals can now say they are a playoff team
By Scott Allen
The Arizona Cardinals clinch a playoff spot for the second consecutive season with a win over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday night
The Arizona Cardinals have made the 2015 playoffs thanks to their 23-20 victory on Thursday night. However this isn’t the final goal. In his post game interview on arizonasports.com, head coach Bruce Arians said it felt great to get in but this was “just the beginning”.
There is still a lot to sort out in terms of positioning and potential opponents with only the Cardinals and the Carolina Panthers clinching a playoff spot so far. The Cardinals currently own the second-seed in the NFC with three games remaining on the regular-season schedule.
Here’s what we know:
Arizona can still finish with any seed except the fourth seed. The NFC East winner will get that seed most likely. No one in the NFC East can catch them, so if the Cardinals win the NFC West they will get the one, two, or three seed. If they somehow collapse and grab a wild-card then they’d be the fifth or sixth seed.
The Seattle Seahawks play the Baltimore Ravens this Sunday and if they lose or tie the Ravens then the Cardinals will win the west and their seeding will end up one, two or three. A Seahawks victory keeps their NFC West chances alive for at least one more week. If the Cardinals win next week in Philadelphia then it won’t matter what the Seahawks do the rest of the season.
Carolina has won the NFC South already, so they are locked into the one, two, or three seed. The NFC North right now is the Green Bay Packers for the taking.
If the playoffs started today:
Panthers (1) and Cardinals (2) would get byes
Seahawks (6) at Packers (3)
Vikings (5) at Redskins (4)
That will change my friends. I think the Panthers will stay at one and the Cardinals two. After that, it’s anyone’s guess.