The Arizona Cardinals have clinched a spot in the playoffs with a win over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday Night Football. The Cardinals held off a late Vikings comeback, with Dwight Freeney forcing a fumble in the final seconds to seal a 23-20 victory for Arizona.
Cardinals clinch playoff spot with win over Vikings
The Cardinals are the second team to clinch a playoff spot this season.
Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
Arizona is now 11-2 on the season, atop the NFC West with a chance to clinch the division over the weekend as well. The Cardinals need the Seattle Seahawks to lose to the Baltimore Ravens, but Seattle has won its last three games in dominant fashion.
Arizona is riding a more impressive win streak of seven games, including dominant victories over all of their NFC West rivals and a close game against the tough Cincinnati Bengals. The schedule still includes a game against the Green Bay Packers and a rematch with the Seahawks, so wrapping up a playoff spot in Week 14 takes a lot of pressure off heading into the final three games of the regular season.
The Cardinals are the second team to clinch a spot in the postseason, with the undefeated Carolina Panthers wrapping up the NFC South this past week. Carolina is 12-0 and with three games left, there's still a fight to be had for the top seed in the conference, but Arizona has to keep the wins coming and hope the Panthers come out the other end with a couple losses of their own.
Bruce Arians’ Cardinals team is looking like they will finish the season strong, whereas last year they dropped four of their final six games to limp into the postseason, where they lost to the Cardinals in the wild card round.
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