Is Arizona Cardinals vs. Detroit Lions a big game? ‘Hell yeah’
Nov 13, 2014, 5:33 PM | Updated: 5:33 pm
TEMPE, Ariz. — It goes without saying that a matchup between a pair of struggling teams, like the one between the 3-6 Washington Redskins and 1-8 Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week does not carry much intrigue.
Arizona’s tilt with the Detroit Lions has no such problem.
The Cardinals enter the game with an NFL-best 8-1 record; the Lions are one game behind them at 7-2. The winner will have the tiebreaker between the teams, and thus be in great position while battling for playoff positioning.
“This obviously is a big game,” Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said Wednesday. “They’re all big at this point in time. It’s nice to be in big games. It beats the alternative. Obviously, a lot of implications hopefully down the road. Not necessarily at the end of this week, but hopefully down the road.”
Arians’ counterpart in Detroit, Jim Caldwell, has a different view of the game. He says he’s not looking at this matchup as a big one for the playoffs, saying his team does not even talk about the playoffs right now.
“You don’t get any awards, anything of that nature, any locks in terms of positioning and so and so forth or even entrance into that area,” he said. “That’s something that’s earned; we haven’t earned it yet. We’ve got to keep playing.”
It’s true that neither team will clinch a playoff spot or win any trophy for coming out on top in this game. However, that does not mean it is just your average game, which is why Arians had no trouble answering a question of whether or not he looks at this matchup as one that will have an impact on the standings.
“Hell yeah,” coach Bruce Arians said. “It’s for the No. 1 seed in the NFC this week. Just this week now; not the rest. It’s big. I feel a hell of a lot better with those four wins against the NFC East right now if we get there. That’s a long way off.
“But hell yeah it does.”
If the playoffs started Thursday, the Cardinals would have the top seed, a first-round bye and home field advantage in every game they played by virtue of their record. The Lions would be the second seed, thus giving them a bye week as well as home field advantage for any game they would play — except against the Cardinals.
A Lions victory Sunday would put them in contention for the top seed, while a win for the Cardinals would extend their lead as well as guarantee the franchise its fifth winning season since moving to Arizona in 1988.
Though they certainly hope to play in even bigger games down the road, this one has a lot riding on it.
“This is a huge game for us,” cornerback Patrick Peterson said. “Now, from this point on, every game from this point on is going to be a huge game because now that we are the number one team not only in the NFL, but in the NFC, everyone’s gunning for us, everybody wants what we have right now, and that’s at the top of the division.
“So this is a very huge game. These guys are right on our tail. These playoff implications are going to be huge at this point and time in the season because it could mean a lot in the back half of the season. We don’t want to go anywhere; we want to play at home in the playoffs.”
