The Arizona Cardinals were idle in Week 14, finally getting their bye. After all the games were played, it ended up being a good weekend for their draft status.
While their spot in the 2024 NFL draft didn’t change for their own selection(they still have the third overall pick based on the league’s current standings), their second selection got better and they got some breathing room with their first pick.
The Houston Texans lost on Sunday to the New York Jets, bumping them out of the wild card and moving them up from the 18th pick (or later depending on playoff wins) to the 16th pick.
Between Sunday and Monday, four teams who had four wins previously won their fifth game.
The Jets, Chicago Bears, Tennessee Titans and New York Giants all pulled off upsets to win their games, putting them two wins ahead of the 3-10 Cardinals.
The only team left with four wins are the Washington Commanders, who were idle in Week 14 as well.
With four games remaining, the Cardinals will face the San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles and Seattle Seahawks. On paper, they might be able to beat the Bears.
So the Cardinals probably will end up with four wins on the season.
With only the Commanders sitting at four wins, it means that, even if the Cardinals win a game, they aren’t likely going to have lower than the fourth overall pick.
Because their strength of schedule is better than all the other teams around them, had they ended with four wins with other four-win teams, they would have ended up with the last pick of the group.
Those four teams getting their fifth win gives them breathing room to be able to win and not lose much in terms of draft status.
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