November has arrived, and with it comes the first real look at the NFC playoff race. At the moment, the picture is crowded in some places and surprisingly open in others. The Arizona Cardinals, sitting at 3-5, are still hanging around, and the entire NFC North would be in the postseason if the year ended today.
That’s the headline from the Week 9 standings: the NFC North has turned into a full division takeover. Chicago is sitting at 6-2, Detroit is 5-2, and Green Bay is 5-3.
Minnesota is 6-1. All four teams are in the field right now.
At the top of the conference, the San Francisco 49ers and Minnesota Vikings are both 6-1. Behind them, the New York Giants are 4-2-1, followed by the Carolina Panthers at 3-4. Chicago, Detroit, and Green Bay round out the current playoff group.
The teams still trying to push their way in include the Seattle Seahawks and LA Rams at 4-4, along with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Atlanta Falcons, Arizona Cardinals, and Dallas Cowboys, all at 3-5. The Cardinals are only two games back, which keeps them very much alive in the race.
Week 9 brings a slate of games that could shuffle things again. The 49ers host the 4-4 Las Vegas Raiders, while the Vikings get a Monday night home game against the 6-1 Buffalo Bills. The Giants travel to face the 2-6 Philadelphia Eagles, and the Panthers welcome the 6-2 Denver Broncos.
The Bears get a Sunday night home matchup with the Buccaneers. The Lions are on the road against the 1-6 Miami Dolphins, and the Packers visit the 5-3 New England Patriots. Seattle and Arizona meet in Seattle, the Rams head to Washington to face the 2-4-1 Commanders, the Falcons host the 5-2 Cincinnati Bengals, and the Cowboys travel to play the 2-6 Indianapolis Colts.
In Other News...
Cardinals Defense Carried Arizona In OT And A Few Names Stand Out
Arizonas 33-30 overtime win over Dallas had plenty of offense attached to it, but the defensive side of the ledger deserves its own look. Twenty players saw snaps on defense, and the Cardinals leaned on a broad group to survive a game that kept swinging back and forth. The snap counts tell part of the story, but the bigger takeaway was how many different defenders had a hand in keeping the Cowboys from finishing the job.
Among the names that stood out were L.J. Collier, Dante Stills, Mack Wilson Sr., Josh Sweat, Budda Baker and Andrew Wingard, with each showing up in the box score in some way through tackles, pressure or pass defense. Colliers night was especially eventful, and Sweat was right in the middle of the late-game push when Arizona needed one more stop to stay alive. For a defense that was on the field so often, the mix of production and resilience was enough to tilt overtime in the Cardinals favor. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Backfield Suddenly Looks Like A Survival Test
Arizona entered training camp feeling good about its running back depth, but the picture has thinned fast, leaving the backfield looking far more fragile than anyone expected. Tyler Allgeier was the lone healthy runner available in the recent game against the Dallas Cowboys, and he made the most of the opportunity with a strong showing while the rest of the room dealt with injuries.
The Cardinals now have to piece together the position for the weeks ahead, with Evan Hull suddenly in line for a much larger role if the roster stays as is. The team is also weighing whether to move one of its young backs to injured reserve so he can fully recover, a decision that would clarify the depth chart but also underline just how quickly a promising group turned into a survival test. [Read more 🡒]
Cardinals Could Turn Jacoby Brissett's Demotion Into A Strange Deadline Move
Jacoby Brissetts move to the sideline has quickly turned into more than just a quarterback shuffle in Arizona. With Gardner Minshew now running the offense and Carson Beck backing him up, Brissett suddenly looks like a veteran piece the Cardinals may not need for long, especially with the trade deadline approaching and teams around the league always hunting for experienced depth.
One possible landing spot that has surfaced is Minnesota, where the Vikings have been searching for steadier play on offense and could view Brissett as a low-cost insurance policy with real NFL experience. Whether he would change much in that system is another matter, but for a Cardinals team sorting out its quarterback room, the idea of turning a demotion into a deadline deal is at least worth watching. [Read more 🡒]