Arizona Cardinals sit with the second pick in the 2019 NFL Draft after loss to the Detroit Lions

The Cardinals loss to the Lions means they sit with the second pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.

With that loss, and two unexpected victories, the Arizona Cardinals are all of a sudden back in contention for the first pick in the 2019 NFL Draft.

Right now, they are tied for the first pick with the San Francisco 49ers.

Top 3 draft picks right now:

T-1. 49ers: 3-10, 0.530 SoS
T-1. Cardinals: 3-10, 0.530 SoS
3. Raiders: 3-10, 0.569

— Adam Stites (@AdamStites_) December 10, 2018

That’s right, at this time the Cardinals have the same record and the same strength of schedule as the 49ers.

That means we move to the second set of tie breakers, which the 49ers SB Nation site, Niners Nation, breaks down well:

The first tiebreaker is strength of schedule. The team with the weakest SOS among tied teams gets the higher first round pick. The 49ers and Cardinals are currently tied in SOS, so it moves to the next tiebreaker.

When there is an applicable divisional or conference tiebreaker, that is applied. The 49ers and Cardinals are both in the NFC West, so divisional tiebreaker applies. I don’t know if it’s head-to-head and then divisional record, or if it moves straight to divisional record. Either way, the 49ers claim it, with Arizona sweeping the head-to-head series, and the 49ers sitting at 0-4 in the division compared to the Cardinals at 2-2.

That means, with tie breakers in place, the Cardinals sit at the second pick right now.

1. San Francisco 49ers: 3-10, 0.530 SOS
2. Arizona Cardinals: 3-10, 0.530 SOS
3. Oakland Raiders: 3-10, 0.569 SOS
4. Atlanta Falcons: 4-9, 0.493 SOS
5. New York Jets: 4-9, 0.502 SOS
6. Buffalo Bills: 4-9, 0.529 SOS
7. Jacksonville Jaguars: 4-9, 0.546

That means to maintain a top two pick, the Cardinals would have to lose out, but a win next week against the Falcons could potentially send them tumbling down the draft order, outside of the top five.

While you never want to see your team quit, fans deserve something for this garbage product that the team has put on the field this season.

A top two pick, a shot at Nick Bosa or Quinnen Williams wouldn’t be the worst end of the year, I’m sorry present from the team.

from Revenge of the Birds - All Posts https://ift.tt/2L5ZnSA