Arizona Cardinals now need help to make playoffs after 49ers win
By Josh Hill
The Arizona Cardinals were the biggest Atlanta Falcons fans in the world on Monday night as an upset win by the Falcons would make the Cardinals chances of making the playoffs a lot easier and a lot more probable. That didn’t happen though as a late interception return for at touchdown sealed the win for the 49ers on Monday night and clinched a playoff spot for San Francisco.
Had the 49ers lost, the Cardinals would have been in a situation where they just needed to win in order to get in. But thanks to the late game heroics of the 49ers to seal the win on Monday night, the Cardinals need some improbable help next week to have any chance of getting to the postseason. Not only do the Cardinals need to beat the 49ers next week but they also need the 4-11 Tampa Bay Buccaneers to beat the New Orleans Saints to clinch the final playoff spot.
That’s right Cardinals fans, not only do you need to beat the 49ers — who will be playing for a potential division title next week — but even if you win, Arizona’s postseason fate lies in the shaky gap-toothed hands of Greg Schiano’s Buccaneers.
There’s still hope for the Cardinals but it’s a slim hope now that the 49ers have clinched a playoff spot. The Saints are in the ‘win and in’ situation and the Cardinals chances have been reduced to relying on the Buccaneers to get them into the postseason.