Seahawks host Cardinals in Week 11 contest loaded with playoff implications

The Seattle Seahawks host the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday Night Football to open up Week 11, and it should be a fun one. Arizona won a wild one in Week 7 at State Farm Stadium, overcoming a 13-point deficit to upend Seattle in overtime.

The two teams head into this game with 6-3 records, tied atop the NFC West with the Los Angeles Rams. The Cardinals currently hold the tiebreaker edge with a 2-0 division record and one of those wins over the Seahawks. The Rams have a win over the Seahawks to their credit.

The NFC West race is likely going to come down to the wire, and this game is going to be critical to the playoff picture. The first playoff tiebreaker is head-to-head record. If Arizona beats Seattle on Thursday, they’ll claim a sweep and effectively a two-game lead on the Seahawks. If Seattle wins, we’ll have a split between these two.

Here is what the NFC playoff picture looks like heading into Thursday. The winner of this game will be 7-3 and be in the No. 3 seed position, while the loser of the game will drop to 6-4 and sit in the No. 7 seed position.

NFC playoff picture

1. Green Bay Packers, 7-2
2. New Orleans Saints, 7-2
3. Arizona Cardinals, 6-3
4. Philadelphia Eagles, 3-5-1

5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 7-3
6. Los Angeles Rams, 6-3
7. Seattle Seahawks, 6-3

Outside looking in: Chicago Bears (5-5), Minnesota Vikings (4-5), Detroit Lions (4-5), San Francisco 49ers (4-6)