Insider: Cardinals Still Have Playoff Path Ahead

The bye week couldn’t have come at a better time for the Arizona Cardinals.

The team is banged up. So much so head coach Bruce Arians said earlier this week the sheer numbers weren’t available to practice.

3-4-1 looks more like an area code than the record most expected at the halfway point of the season. The past two games brought a head-scratching tie with NFC West rival Seattle and a dud in the ‘House of Horrors’ in Charlotte.

Still, the playoff road less traveled could still be in sight for the Bird Gang if they hit the reset button.

“It’s been a difficult season but to me, I think they’re putting some pressure on themselves that they shouldn’t,” NFL on FOX/FS1 analyst Michael Lombardi told Sports360AZ.com’s Brad Cesmat. “I think they just need to get back to what they do.”

It’s starts next weekend in Glendale against the 49ers, a team who the Cardinals already beat.

“There’s still the second half of the season,” Lombardi said. “I think they have a very good roster…they need to get some consistency on both sides of the football. What’s happening to them is they’re looking at the end of the season instead of looking at the game in front of them.”

It also helps the rest of the division, specifically the Seahawks, are dealing with their own struggles.

Hope is still alive in the desert according to Lombardi.

“I don’t think they’re dead yet at all.”