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

TEMPE, Ariz. — Last weekend, with the Arizona Cardinals on their bye week, second-year wide receiver Michael Wilson got to do things he doesn’t normally have time for.

Like going to Target.

He spent time strolling the halls, stocking up on things he’ll need at home for the next seven weeks—or longer—until he has time to go back. The deadline gave Wilson and the Cardinals a chance to pull the plug 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, mental fog,” Wilson said. “I feel healthy.”

Just in time for a critical seven-game stretch that includes four games against NFC West opponents, with their first coming Sunday (4:25 p.m. ET, Fox) against the Seattle Seahawks. Arizona (6-4) holds a one-game lead over all three division rivals, who are in a three-way tie at 5-5 heading into Week 12. If it can stay in the division lead, Arizona will claim its first West title since 2015 and return to the playoffs for the first time since 2021. Or, the Cardinals start their offseason after their season finale against the San Francisco 49ers.

But don’t bring it up around the locker room. Any mention of the playoffs was welcomed in the same way: the players are focused on the next game and that’s it.

“They don’t think about the last seven games,” coach Jonathan Gannon said. “They’re thinking about Seattle. Yeah, I think the bye week is a good time to reset and put a lot in your health bucket. Take some time off.”

Arizona was riding a four-game winning streak and had won five of its last six before having the week off. Gannon said this week that he doesn’t enjoy being in a close division race. It is almost impossible for players to be completely immune to the end game. Wilson said he watches the postseason projections on social media, but added he doesn’t wake up in the morning speculating on their odds.

But Wilson admitted that the fan in him sneaks a look at the post.

“I’d be lying if I said it didn’t cross my mind,” he said. “I think the best mental frame and mental model is to say, ‘I’m not going to pay attention to that.’ You can look at it and imagine that’s what everybody does, but not to let affect your process and your approach is the best way to handle it.

Arizona returned from the bye in better shape than it was going into it.

The Cardinals are starting tackle Jonah Williams and rookie defensive lineman Darius Robinson back 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 hurt, 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.

“It sure does, man,” Collier said. “It’s kind of like what we guessed when we saw those guys go down. We knew if we took care of business, did what we had to do, we knew everything would come right when we needed to.”

For quarterback Kyler Murray, all that matters is that Arizona can pick up where it left off.

“We have to maintain the level we were playing at,” he said. “We have to continue to play at a high level. It doesn’t matter who’s in, we have to continue to do that. I’m very confident in Darius, Jonah if they’re back to step in and do it.”

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

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

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

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

It’s something his quarterback echoed.

“I’m just taking it one game at a time,” Murray said. “I know the guys 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’ve got to win it.”