Arizona Cardinals OK with underdog tag against Seattle Seahawks
Nov 20, 2014, 9:03 PM | Updated: 9:03 pm
TEMPE, Ariz. – Nine wins, more than any other team in the NFL.
Seven wins in seven meetings against fellow NFC competitors.
That’s right, the Arizona Cardinals have yet to lose a conference game let alone a game inside their own division.
Their opponent this week, the Seattle Seahawks, have dropped one NFC West contest and four overall.
At 6-4, the Seahawks own the 11th-best record in the league, tied with five other teams. Meanwhile, no team stands taller than the 9-1 Cardinals entering Week 12.
Yet, why then are the Cardinal as much as a touchdown underdog?
“I would have anticipated that. Going up there (to Seattle), everybody is usually an underdog,” head coach Bruce Arians said.
The Cardinals are anywhere between a 6-point and 6.5-point underdog according to the experts in Las Vegas, while several online gambling sites — purely for entertainment purposes only, of course — put the number at 7.
“It says that it’s hard to win up there. It’s hard to win in Seattle, regardless that we went up there and won last year,” safety Rashad Johnson said.
Countered left tackle Jared Veldheer, “Let them put (the point spread) there. Whatever. I’m not worried about what the oddsmakers are doing. I’m worried about what we’re doing.”
Since losing at Denver, the Cardinals have won six straight games, tied with New England for the longest active win streak in the NFL. It’s allowed the Cardinals, who last won six in a row back in 1977, to open up a three-game lead over the rest of the NFC West, including the Seahawks.
“Those guys have a lot on the line with playoff implications and we have a lot on the line, as well,” Johnson said. “So, we know that we’re going to get their best shot and we’re going to make sure that they get our best shot. We just know that it’s going to be a knock-down-drag-out fight. We understand it’s going to be 60 minutes, and we understand that we’re going to play 60 minutes. We expect to go up there and get another win.”
Last season, the Cardinals split the two match-ups with the Seahawks, with Seattle winning a Thursday night game at University of Phoenix Stadium and the Cardinals then ending the Seahawks’ franchise-record 14-game home winning streak with a 17-10 victory in Week 16.
No team has won in Seattle in back-to-back seasons since Atlanta in 2010-11.
“That’s a very tough place to go and expect to win,” said quarterback Drew Stanton, who will play his first game at CenturyLink Field in his career. “The Super Bowl champions last year and they’re very good on defense. They’ve lost a couple of really close football games. But, it’s a handful of plays that determine a football game each and every week. You have to go up there with a mindset that we have to find a way to make those. We know it’s going to be difficult.”
While they can’t clinch the NFC West with a win on Sunday, the Cardinals can certainly make it awfully difficult for the Seahawks to try and repeat as division champions.
The Cardinals last won the division in 2009, when they captured the NFC West for a second straight year following a four-year reign by Seattle.
“We don’t really need any extra motivation to go play them, especially at their place,” Arians said. “I mean, they’re the world champions. We’re just 9-1. We haven’t done (expletive). Until we do something…but this is a big game.”
