Hall of Fame professional wrestler Ric Flair used to say, "If you want to be the man, you've got to beat the man." For the last five years, the Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers have dominated the NFC West. But this season, with the 49ers in the midst of a last-place campaign and the Seahawks floundering at the .500 mark, the Arizona Cardinals have a golden opportunity to take control of the division. Defeating the Seahawks Sunday would go a long way towards establishing they belong.
For the Cardinals, a win over the Seahawks would have long-lasting ramifications
In addition to increasing their lead in the division, it would cement their place as one of the best teams in the NFL.
Scott R. Galvin-USA TODAY Sports
Beating the Seahawks at CenturyLink Field in front of the vaunted 12th man is important from a tangible and intangible perspective. If the Cardinals win, they’d own the tie-breaker over their biggest competition in the division. Meaning, a three-game lead in the loss column would really be a four-game advantage. Considering there are only seven weeks remaining in the regular season after Sunday, that lead would be pretty insurmountable.
But of equal importance to the numbers is the message a Cardinals win would send to the rest of the NFC. As safety Tyrann Mathieu said this week, the Seahawks are "kind of in the Cardinals' way." Despite a 4-4 start, the prevailing wisdom seems to be that the Seattle will eventually figure it out. When you go to the Super Bowl for two straight years, you wind up receiving the benefit of the doubt.
But the Cardinals don't have that luxury. Their postseason run last year was derailed by injuries, as Carson Palmer tore his ACL last November. Arizona went into the playoffs with third-string QB Ryan Lindley at the helm and put up 78 yards of offense against the 7-8-1 Carolina Panthers in a first-round loss. It was hardly a performance worth remembering.
So far this season, the 6-2 Cardinals have been one of the best teams in the NFC. Palmer, 35, is fifth in the league in yards and second in touchdown passes. The former No. 1 overall pick is finally playing like an elite quarterback; Arizona is 12-2 in the last 14 games he’s played.
But the Cardinals aren’t solely reliant on Palmer and a high-powered offensive attack –– which is second in the NFL in scoring, by the way. Its pass defense is seventh in the league and its run defense is fourth, respectively. They can win almost any kind of game.
The Seahawks have won four of the last five meetings between these two clubs, including a 35-6 routing in Arizona late last December. If the Seahawks are victorious Sunday night, the expectation would be for them to leapfrog the Cardinals in the division. It would almost be like the previous nine weeks of football haven’t happened.
But if the Cardinals knock off the defending NFC champions in arguably the toughest road environment in the league, it will cement the notion that they belong among the top teams in the NFL. The Seahawks would finally be out of their way, along with everybody else.
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