GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) -If this was English soccer, the entire NFC West might be demoted to a lower level of competition.
This is the NFL, though, and in a division derisively labeled the “NFC Worst” somebody is going to finish first and get a home game to open the playoffs.
So Sunday’s matchup between the Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks is an important one, even though the teams’ records are a combined 7-9.
“Somebody is going to go to the playoffs out of this division,” Arizona quarterback Derek Anderson said. “It doesn’t matter how many games you’ve won or lost. You just keep playing.”
Halfway through the season, Seattle (4-4) is tied with St. Louis for the division lead but since its 22-10 home win over Arizona has lost two in a row by a combined score of 74-10.
The Cardinals (3-5) are on their first three-game losing streak since 2007 but express a bit of optimism after near misses against Tampa Bay and Minnesota. Arizona plays four of its next five at home, three of them against division opponents. The Cardinals are 21-9 at home in Ken Whisenhunt’s 3 1/2 seasons as coach.
“I don’t think there’s any question that we should be thankful that we’re in this position based on the way it’s gone for us the first eight games,” Whisenhunt said.
Seattle has not beaten the Cardinals in Arizona since Whisenhunt arrived.
The Seahawks are playing road games on consecutive weekends for the only time this season. They are at New Orleans next week.
“We played miserably the last couple of weeks,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. “It’s obvious in so many ways that we have to bounce back and get this thing going again and get to doing some things we were doing well earlier.”
The Seahawks welcome the return of quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who missed last Sunday’s 41-7 home loss to the New York Giants because of a concussion.
Also back is defensive tackle Brandon Mebane, out the last four games with a calf injury. That should help a Seattle defense that has been hammered for 436 yards rushing the last two games. Seattle was near the top of the NFL in run defense before those two blowouts.
“I do think we can get back to where we were,” Mebane said. “It’s just all about everybody doing their assignments, reading their keys and trusting one another. … We’re refreshed, and it’s all about getting back in rhythm.”
They will face an Arizona team that ranks next-to-last in the NFL in offense, 28th (out of 32 teams) in rushing and 31st in passing. The Cardinals have wanted to emphasize the run all season but haven’t been able to do so. Then there’s the curious case of running back Beanie Wells, who is slowed by what the team says is an allergic reaction to an injection of a lubricant into his sore right knee last week.
Wells had one carry for minus-two yards in Sunday’s 27-24 overtime loss at Minnesota, a week after getting his first NFL start. He practiced very little early in the week.
When the teams met three weeks ago in rainy Seattle, Max Hall was Arizona’s starting quarterback. The undrafted rookie was knocked out of the game with a concussion after an awful 4 of 16 passing performance. That was the beginning of the resurrection of Anderson, benched after starting the first four games.
Hall started the following week against Tampa Bay, but Anderson replaced him for good after the Buccaneers returned two early interceptions for touchdowns.
Plagued by his trademark inconsistency since coming to Arizona, Anderson had perhaps his best game of the season at Minnesota, completing 15 of 29 for 176 yards and one touchdown. But he was sacked four times late in regulation and in the overtime as Brett Favre brought the Vikings back from a 14-point deficit with four minutes left in the fourth quarter.
“If you really look at where we are as a football team, we’ve played two pretty good teams the last two weeks and it’s come down to the last play essentially,” Whisenhunt said, “and we had better than an even chance of winning both of those games. I think that’s the way you have to look at it.”
He said the team still has mistakes to correct but is playing better.
“When you couple that with the fact that we have a chance in our division and we have a number of home games, five out of our last eight are home games,” Whisenhunt said. “I think that motivates us to get out there and continue to fight.”
The game features two of the most dangerous kickoff returners in the league.
Seattle’s Leon Washington leads the NFL in yards per attempt and had two returns for a touchdown in one game this year. He’s so good that opponents have taken to “pooch” kicks to avoid him, but that usually gives Seattle good field position anyway.
Arizona’s LaRod Stephens-Howling has returned two for touchdowns this year, including a 96-yarder at Minnesota last Sunday. In the last four games, Stephens-Howling has averaged just under 33 yards per return.
These are the teams that have dominated the division in recent years. Arizona won it the last two years with the now-retired Kurt Warner at quarterback. The Seahawks were the champions for four years before that.
Seattle wide receiver Mike Williams recalls that history when he is asked about the bad reputation the NFC West has nationally.
“What I would say to those people is look back at the last few Super Bowls,” he said. “Who’s represented the NFC in the last five Super Bowls? I want to say Seattle (2005) and then the Cardinals (2008).”
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