Inside the matchup: Seattle Seahawks vs. Arizona Cardinals

Before getting to the matchup with Arizona let’s take a look at the playoff picture. With the Rams loss this past week, the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers are both in the playoffs. However, the seeding is very much up in the air. I’ll stick with just the possibilities between the 49ers and the Seahawks for the division title. Both teams have 11-3 records with two games left to play. They play each other in Seattle the last game of the regular season. Should the Seahawks win their remaining two games they will win the division. If the 49ers win both games, they win the division. If the Seahawks lose this week to the Cardinals but beat the 49ers next week, the Seahawks win the division by the 1st tiebreaker which is head to head record. Now for the crazy but possible scenario. If the Seahawks win this week and the 49ers lose this week, then the Seahawks lose to the 49ers at home the following week, both teams will have 12-4 records. Then it gets complicated. Since the first four tiebreakers do not produce a winner, we have to go all the way to the 5th tiebreaker which is strength of victory. This is determined by adding up the combined records of all the teams a team has defeated that year and calculating the winning percentage. Currently Seattle has the advantage 72-81-1 (.471) to the 49ers 67-84-2 (.444). However, if the scenario described plays out, then the 49ers will have the edge. Seattle would then need to hope that the combined number of wins between Minnesota, Philadelphia and Atlanta (22-20) is greater than the combined wins of Green Bay, Washington and New Orleans (25-17) at the end of the season. As you can see, the teams Seattle need to win are behind by three wins with six games left to play. If this also ends in a tie, then Seattle will win the division by virtue of their better strength of schedule.

Okay onto the matchup: Arizona rookie quarterback Kyler Murray is the most sacked quarterback in the NFL. He has 17 touchdowns to go along with 10 interceptions on the year. Kyler is the team’s leading rusher which could explain some of the sacks but it’s also is an indictment on the Cardinals running game this year. With this in mind, you have to give Seattle the edge at both the quarterback and running back positions.

At 36 years old #11 Larry Fitzgerald is still Arizona’s best wide receiver. He’s putting up good numbers this season on what is already a Hall of Fame career. Fitzgerald is second all-time behind only Jerry Rice in receptions; 1,370 and receiving yards, 16,990. #13 Christian Kirk is Arizona’s other main receiving option. For Seattle, Tyler Lockett looked great last week amassing 120 yards and a touchdown. Lockett’s health issues seem to be behind him which couldn’t come at a better time since it was announced Monday that Josh Gordon has been indefinitely suspended for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. Fortunately, Seattle’s depth at this position gives them the edge.

Seattle also has the edge on defense. Arizona’s defense gives up the most total yards of any team in the league and they also give up the 3rd most points in the league. You don’t want to look past any team with the playoffs this close but this should be an easy win for Seattle.

Three keys to the game for Seattle:

Pressure and sack Kyler Murray

Exploit Arizona’s weak defense

Expect to see some starters pulled early