How the Cardinals’ well-timed bye week could help in the NFC West race

TEMPE, Ariz. – Last weekend, while the Arizona Cardinals had their bye week, second-year wide receiver Michael Wilson was able to do things he normally doesn’t have time for.

For example, go to Target.

He spent time wandering the aisles, stocking up on things he would need at home for the next seven weeks – or longer – until he had time to return. The time off gave Wilson and the Cardinals a chance to unwind one last time before the final month and a half of the season.

“I think it allows you to get away for a week and now you don’t have that mental fatigue, that mental fog,” Wilson said. “I feel refreshed.”

Just in time for a critical seven-game stretch that includes four matchups against NFC West opponents, the first coming against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET, Fox). Arizona (6-4) has a one-game lead over all three division rivals, which enter Week 12 tied at 5-5. If it can stay at the top of the division, Arizona will clinch its first West title since 2015 and return to the playoffs for the first time since 2021. Or the Cardinals begin their offseason after their season finale against the San Francisco 49ers.

But don’t bring that up in the locker room. Any mention of the playoffs was equally welcomed: players focus on the next game, and that’s it.

“You don’t think about the last seven games,” coach Jonathan Gannon said. “You think of Seattle. Yes, I think the bye week is a good time to restart and invest a lot in your health. Take a little time out.”

Arizona was on a four-game winning streak and had won five of its last six games before the week off. Gannon said this week that he doesn’t enjoy being in a tight division race. It’s nearly impossible for players to completely avoid the playoff chatter. Wilson said he sees the postseason predictions on social media, but added that he doesn’t wake up in the morning wondering about the chances.

But Wilson admitted that the fan in him secretly glances at the rankings.

“I would be lying if I said it didn’t cross my mind,” he said. “I think the best mental framework and mental model is to say, ‘I’m not going to pay attention to that.’ You can look at it and imagine that everyone does this, but not allowing it to affect your process and approach is the best way to deal with it.

Arizona came back from the bye in better shape than it started.

The Cardinals are starting right tackle Jonah Williams and rookie defensive lineman Darius Robinson, who has returned from injuries, possibly as early as this week. Williams played just 22 snaps in Arizona’s Week 1 loss to the Buffalo Bills before getting injured, and Robinson has yet to make his NFL debut because of a calf injury he suffered in August.

“It feels like everything is coming together at the right time for Arizona,” defensive lineman LJ Collier said.

“That’s definitely the case, man,” Collier said. “It’s pretty much what we suspected when we saw these people go down. We knew if we took care of business and did what we had to do, we knew everything would work out at the right time.”

All that matters to quarterback Kyler Murray is that Arizona can pick up where it left off.

“We have to maintain the level of play we have been playing at,” he said. “We have to continue to play at a high level. It doesn’t matter who’s in it, we have to keep doing this. I have a lot of confidence in Darius and Jonah to come back and do that.”

Gannon said he saw a focused team in the first few days of the week, which included a bonus practice on Monday. Left guard Evan Brown said leaving at this point could be a double-edged sword.

“I think you get some time off, you get some guys healthy, you get a little mental recovery, but you have to make sure you plan for the week you come back,” Brown said. “You see sometimes teams can come out rusty, they don’t look as sharp as they did when they came out and you had that time off, but time can also hurt you a little bit.”

Although he and the rest of the team won’t know until Sunday whether the goodbye helped or hurt, Brown is optimistic and believes the Cardinals are on the right track.

For Gannon, every game is a big game. Nothing changes – and good teams don’t allow games later in the season to matter even more.

That’s something his quarterback echoed.

“I just take it one game at a time,” Murray said. “I know the boys are too, so I think that’s the message we preach. No game is bigger than the other. The one we have right now is the biggest. We have to win it.”