Yes, Seahawks Game is Must-Win for Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals desperately need a win against the Seattle Seahawks.

Nov 24, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) passes the ball against the Seattle Seahawks during the second half at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images / Steven Bisig-Imagn Images

ARIZONA -- Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon is downplaying the magnitude of Week 14's matchup against the Seattle Seahawks.

“Not an extra emphasis. We just stick to our process, so that's preparing ourselves psychologically, mentally and physically. Pouring into our five buckets, sticking to our process and maximizing our process, so it's just like any other week," Gannon said when asked if there was any extra emphasis on staying even keeled this week.

Don't let him fool you - it's the biggest NFL matchup of the week - and perhaps the biggest of the year for Arizona.

According to Aaron Schatz, a win for Seattle shoots their playoff chances to 62% while a loss for Arizona knocks them down to just 17%. A Cardinals win pushes their postseason probability to 71% and knocks the Seahawks' chances down to 11%.

Seahawks at Cardinals is by far the most important game of the week for the playoff picture.

In our sims, a Seahawks win would make the Seahawks 62% to make the playoffs with the Cardinals 17%.

With a Cardinals win, it would be 71% for Arizona and 11% for Seattle.

— Aaron Schatz 🏈 (@ASchatzNFL) December 3, 2024

The Cardinals will play the Patriots and Panthers in their next two weeks, with both games seen in their favor as winnable games. Arizona - with matchups against all division opponents remaining - still controls their own destiny, though a loss would put them two games behind Seattle with a losing head-to-head tie-breaker, effectively needing the Seahawks to lose three of their final four games while essentially winning out on their own accord.

After this week, Seattle faces two strong opponents in the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers

The New York Times' interactive playoff probability calculator is fun to mess with in terms of playoff probability - you can use that here.

Must-win territory? It certainly feels like it.