The Seahawks kept their division title hopes alive with Thursday night’s 6-3 victory over the Bears. But Seattle still needs some help to capture the NFC West and make the postseason.
That starts with Saturday night’s matchup between the Cardinals and Rams. If Los Angeles wins, the team can clinch the NFC West by also capturing the strength of victory tiebreaker through the rest of the Week 17 slate.
That’s part of why Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith shouted out Arizona’s quarterback in his postgame press conference on Thursday.
“Honestly, we shouldn’t be in this position,” Smith said. “That’s the main thing. Understanding that we got to control our destiny when we can, yeah, I’m going to be a big Kyler Murray fan on Saturday. If they get it done, they get it done.
“We’re going to go into the last week of the season with the same mindset no matter what.”
The 7-8 Cardinals have been eliminated from postseason contention, but as Murray put it, that doesn’t change the approach.
“I love this game. I take pride in every snap I play,” Murray said earlier this week. “There won’t be any foot off the gas or going out there just playing for no reason. I personally have a reason to play, and I know the guys will feel the same way.”
We’ll see if Murray and the Cardinals can play spoiler on Saturday night.
