The Arizona Cardinals are navigating a essential juncture of their season, with playoff hopes hanging within the stability.
Simply weeks in the past, these postseason goals appeared inside attain, however latest street losses have considerably difficult their trajectory.
Now, the Week 14 matchup in opposition to the Seattle Seahawks has reworked right into a must-win state of affairs.
The stakes couldn’t be greater, as based mostly on a number of projections, a victory would elevate the Cardinals’ playoff likelihood above 50 p.c, whereas a defeat would push these probabilities beneath 20 p.c.
The Seahawks discover themselves in an equally precarious place, making this contest doubtlessly probably the most pivotal sport of NFL Week 14.
ESPN analyst Marcus Spears, a former NFL defensive finish, not too long ago pinpointed the important thing to the Cardinals’ offensive success.
“James Conner is an important half to the Arizona Cardinals offense, and this run sport,” Spears stated, through NFL on ESPN. “Not solely within the run sport however the display screen sport as nicely. They usually utterly took him out of the sport. And clearly, they’d extra backs and there was no explosive performs on the bottom.”
“James Conner is an important half to the Arizona Cardinals offense.”@MSpears96 lays out what the Cardinals have to do to fight Seattle’s D-line 🔒 pic.twitter.com/2AWYgnuwQM
— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) December 5, 2024
Whereas the Seahawks give up the fifth-most yards per carry to working backs, they’ve proven latest enhancements.
Two weeks in the past, they successfully neutralized Conner, limiting him to a mere eight yards on seven carries.
The development continued as Breece Corridor struggled to make an influence for the New York Jets in Seattle’s latest victory.
By comparability, Conner’s significance to Arizona’s offensive technique stays plain.
He’s demonstrated exceptional consistency, logging a minimum of 17 carries in 4 of his previous six video games and securing a minimum of three in 4 consecutive matchups.
Although his longest run this season stands at simply 22 yards, Conner’s quantity and flexibility make him an important offensive weapon.
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