Arizona Cardinals will face Atlanta Falcons in playoffs

December 28, 8:38 PMPhoenix Sports ExaminerTom Kessler

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As the Arizona Cardinals lined up Sunday for their regular-season finale against the Seattle Seahawks, they learned that they will play the Atlanta Falcons next weekend in the opening round of the playoffs.

The NFC West Division champion Cardinals (who finished the regular season at 9-7 after defeating the Seahawks 34-21) will enter the postseason as the No. 4 seed in the conference. They will host the Falcons, who earned the fifth seed as the NFC’s top wildcard, in a playoff game at 2:30 p.m. Mountain time on Saturday, Jan. 3 at University of Phoenix Stadium. The game will be televised by NBC.

The first-round playoff matchup was finalized based upon the results of Sunday's early games. The Falcons defeated the St. Louis Rams 31-27 to finish the regular season at 11-5. Atlanta was beaten out for the NFC South Division title, however, when the Carolina Panthers (12-4) posted a 33-31 win over the New Orleans Saints on a 42-yard field goal by John Kasay with one second remaining.

The Panthers’ victory vaulted them to the No. 2 seed in the NFC. Carolina and the top-seeded New York Giants (12-4) will receive the conference’s first-round playoff byes.

The Minnesota Vikings (10-6), who clinched the NFC North Division title Sunday by edging the Giants 20-19 on a last-second field goal from 50 yards by Ryan Longwell, will host a playoff game on Sunday, Jan. 4 as a No. 3 seed. The Vikings will play the Philadelphia Eagles, who earned the NFC's sixth playoff seed Sunday by thrashing the Dallas Cowboys 44-6. The Eagles finished the regular season at 9-6-1, while the Cowboys ended at 9-7.