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(SportsNetwork.com) - In winning nine of their first 10 games, the Arizona Cardinals seemed well on their way to their first division title since 2009. Things havent gone according to plan since, but the Cardinals still have a shot at the NFC West crown this Sunday when they visit the disappointing San Francisco 49ers in a regular-season finale. Arizona was 9-1 following a sixth straight victory on Nov. 16, but the club then suffered back-to-back losses to Seattle and Atlanta on the road to tighten up the standings in the NFC West. Wins over Kansas City and St. Louis then helped Arizona lock up its first playoff berth since 2009, though the Cardinals were then routed by the Seahawks 35-6 last Sunday to fall into a tie for first place in the division. The loss to the Seahawks also gave Seattle a sweep of the season series, s. the Cardinals will need a victory and a loss this Sunday by the Seahawks to the visiting Rams to clinch the NFC West and a first-round bye in the upcoming playoffs. Arizona also still has a shot at claiming home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs, a scenario it can secure with a win and a loss by both the Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers to the visiting Detroit Lions. As was the case last week, the Cardinals will have to find success without their top two quarterbacks. Carson Palmer is done for the season because of a torn ACL and backup Drew Stanton was unable to play versus the Seahawks due to his own knee ailment. The Cardinals are hopeful Stanton will be able to return for the postseason, especially after Ryan Lindley struggled versus Seattle. He was just 18-of-44 passing for 216 yards with an interception. Of course, the defense didnt give him much help either, yielding 596 yards of offense to Seattle. That was the most allowed by the franchise since December of 1958. The effort of the defense was summed up early in the fourth quarter, when Seattles Marshawn Lynch dodged and bullied his way to a 79-yard score to put the game away. It was Arizonas first loss at home this season. Thats not the outcome we were looking for but Im still proud of our players, Cardinals coach Bruce Arians said. We had it to a one-score game and then it fell apart. San Francisco has not had the type of season it had hoped for as it will miss the playoffs for the first time in four seasons under head coach Jim Harbaugh, and the club continues to be plagued by rumors of his possible departure at seasons end. San Francisco was eliminated from the playoff race with a loss to Seattle on Dec. 14, then lost its fourth game in a row this past Saturday with a 38-35 overtime setback to the San Diego Chargers. The Niners racked up a franchise-record 355 yards rushing in the game, but blew a 21-point lead at halftime as the Chargers scored two touchdowns in the final nine minutes of regulation before getting a game-winning 40-yard field goal in overtime. San Francisco lost three fumbles in the game, including one in overtime when wide receiver Quinton Patton was striped on a 20-yard end-around, setting up Novaks winner. We did a lot of things well. We just had three turnovers. Thats the difference in the game, said Niners quarterback Colin Kaepernick. We have a fumble on the goal line, a fumble that ends in a touchdown and a fumble in overtime. Thats at least a 14-point swing. Kaepernick passed for 114 yards with a touchdown, but added 151 yards rushing on seven carries. A bulk of that came on a 90-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Running back Frank Gore broke off a 52-yard scoring rush in the opening quarter, finishing with 158 yards on 26 carries. The Niners had been to three straight NFC Championship Games -- making one Super Bowl appearance -- in Harbaughs first three seasons, but wont finish with a winning record this season. Harbaugh, who is 43-19 with the 49ers, has reportedly been offered the head coaching job at Michigan, his alma mater. Theres not much to say except keep fighting and get our last regular-season win, the coach said. The Niners have won nine of their past 11 versus the Cardinals, but lost to them for the first time in five meetings with a 23-14 setback in Arizona on Sept. 21. The Cardinals have lost five straight in San Francisco and are trying to sweep the season series for the first time since 2008. WHAT TO WATCH FOR The Cardinals looked like the team to beat when Palmer was under center and even figured to be a contender as long as Stanton played decent, but the likes of Lindley or rookie Logan Thomas arent likely to scare opposing defensive coordinators. In Lindleys defense, going up against the Seahawks is no easy task, but his inability to engineer a touchdown drive caused head coach Bruce Arians to suggest early this week he was thinking about giving Thomas the start this weekend. The 6-foot-6 Thomas was taken in the fourth round of the 2014 draft, actually leading to the release of Lindley, who then rejoined the Cardinals last week following the injury to Stanton. Thomas, though, has struggled in practice and reports surfaced late in the week that Arians may in fact start Lindley instead, something he made official on Friday. Hes going to give us a better chance to win this game, Arians said of Lindley. Logan is going to be a hell of a player one of these days, but right now hes not ready. There is a lot of pressure on Arizona quarterbacks given the club ranks just 30th on the ground with 80.7 yards per game. Cardinals rookie receiver John Brown caught two of his five touchdowns this season back in Week 3 versus the Niners, while Larry Fitzgerald leads the club with 61 receptions and 755 yards. Fitzgerald was targeted 11 times by Lindley versus the Seahawks, but only made four catches and continues to nagged by a knee injury. However, he is still just one touchdown catch shy of becoming just the 10th player in NFL history with at least 90 TD receptions and 12,000 receiving yards. Arizonas defense has yielded 20 points or fewer 12 times this season, but was gutted by Seattle last week. But despite the Seahawks 267 rushing yards, the Cardinals still rank eighth against the run. Linebacker Alex Okafor had the Cards lone sack last weekend, his team-leading eighth of the season. He is looking to become just the third linebacker in team history to have a 10-sack season. Like the Cardinals, the Niners have a strong defense that did not perform up to par in Week 16. San Francisco had three interceptions versus San Diego, but allowed Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers to mount the comeback, with his second TD pass of the fourth quarter coming with 29 seconds left. Perrish Cox, Antoine Bethea and Chris Culliver all had picks, with Bethea taking his 49 yards for a score. Cox, meanwhile, nabbed his team-high fifth interception of the season, but also suffered a shoulder injury that is a concern. Fellow defensive back Eric Reid, meanwhile, suffered his third concussion in two seasons and it would be a surprise to see him play this weekend. One thing that has plagued San Francisco this season is Kaepernicks inability to move the ball through the air and he has been unable to pull of the big plays in the passing game that earned him the starting job a few seasons ago. The Niners rank 31st with just 191.6 passing yards per game and Kaepernicks passer rating is just 85.1. Kaepernick, though, is hoping that Sunday wont mark Gores final game in a San Francisco uniform. The 31-year-old pending free agent is just 38 yards shy of his eight career 1,000-yard rushing season. Hes a huge asset and Im hoping hes back here. (I) feel a lot more comfortable with (Gore) in the backfield, said Kaepernick. Former Arizona and current Niners wide receive Anquan Boldin is just 19 yards shy of his seventh career 1,000-yard receiving season. OVERALL ANALYSIS Injuries dictate a lot in the NFL as the Cardinals are currently learning. While the chance at a week off and some home-field advantage is certainly a goal that Arizona would love to reach, the reality is the Cards are going to the playoffs regardless, so Arians has some wiggle room this weekend. It doesnt matter if Lindley or Thomas gets the call really because even a victory wont guarantee anything, especially with the Seahawks having a favorable matchup this weekend. Arians would be wise to take it easy on his starters in this game. San Francisco, meanwhile, is likely to be hitting a crossroad not long after this game ends, with Harbaugh seemingly on his way out. But the club has had a lot of success under the coach and should give its all in trying to send him out a winner. Sports Network predicted outcome: 49ers 16, Cardinals 10 Paul George Shoes Outlet . They actually finished with a better record in ‘07 than they did in ‘06 but only marginally, going from 61 victories to 66. Paul George Shoes Deals . 1. AMIR JOHNSON: Nice to see him back in the lineup Tuesday night in Washington DC. Played with great energy and purpose. Its amazing when a guy gets those few precious days to recover what it does to the bounce in their step and overall game/confidence. https://www.cheappaulgeorgeshoes.com/ . However, the 38-year-old is in no hurry to sign with another team. "Im not in a rush. This will be my last contract, so I want to do it right," said Burris on Thursday. Paul George Shoes Free Shipping . -- Another baseball tradition is about to largely disappear: a manager, with a crazed look in his eyes, charging the field and getting into a face-to-face shouting match with an umpire. Paul George Shoes For Sale . After a first half in which he thought "the lid was on the basket," the Toronto Raptors coach watched his squad mount a second half surge to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 98-91.SUNRISE, Fla. - Gerard Gallant needed no sales pitch from the Florida Panthers. Hes aware that they have not won a playoff series in nearly two decades, that they missed the playoffs by a mile last season and that they change coaches on an all-too-regular basis. None of that deterred him, either. "You look at their roster, you look at their team, you look at their core players," Gallant said. "I think its a great opportunity and Im looking forward to working with this hockey club." He now has that chance, after being introduced as the 13th coach in Panthers history and the teams eighth bench boss since 2003. Gallant hasnt been an NHL head coach since 2006, but has plenty of experience as an assistant and a very successful stint as the head coach of the Saint John Sea Dogs in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. His best player there was current Panthers winger Jonathan Huberdeau, whos considered a key part of Floridas plan to turn things around. "Of course I was excited to hear that news," Huberdeau said of his reaction to Gallants hiring. "Gerard has been a great coach for me. He taught me a lot of stuff when I was in juniors and its because of him that Im in the NHL right now." When Gallant and Huberdeau were paired in juniors, their team won just about every night, or so it seemed. No ones expecting that in Florida, but some parallels will exist from that team and now, Gallant said. "Jonathans a great kid," Gallant said. "I knew the kid for tthree years and we worked well together.dddddddddddd Were going to have 23 players who are going to work hard and compete." Panthers general manager Dale Tallon called the search exhaustive, and the team was linked to plenty of other candidates throughout the two-month process, most notably the likes of Peter Laviolette, Barry Trotz and Dan Bylsma. When he met with Gallant, Tallon expected him to be in a downtrodden mood — the first interview was two days after the Montreal Canadiens, with whom Gallant was an assistant coach the past two seasons, were eliminated from this years playoffs. Instead, Gallant was high-energy, eager, excited. Tallon was impressed. "Ive never heard a negative word said about Gerard Gallant in any capacity in hockey," Tallon said. Its the start of a hectic time for Florida, which holds the No. 1 pick in the upcoming NHL Draft — one they could trade away — and is expected to be a busy player when free agency begins July 1. And Gallant knows very well how quickly things can turn around. When he was hired in Montreal, the Canadiens were coming off a season where they finished with the fewest points in the East. With Gallant on the staff, the Canadiens won a division title in 2012-13, and topped the 100-point mark in the standings last season. The Panthers would enjoy nothing more than him being part of a similar turnaround in Florida. "The league is so close," Gallant said. "The teams are so close together now." ' ' '