The outside observer might look at the Seahawks vs Cardinals match-up Sunday and politely hold back a yawn. Or maybe not hold back a yawn.
One team is 4-11 and coming off an emotional win last Sunday over the New York Jets and the other is 8-7 having clinched the division weeks ago only to falter badly in recent games.
So what’s the point? Who cares?
Let me start with who cares. Every player on both teams with an eye toward his NFL future care. Every player on the Cardinals who finally won the NFC West only to face the possibility of heading into the playoffs with an 8-8 record.
Who else cares? Every Seahawk player who’s wondering how different things might have been if close losses to Arizona, Miami, Washington, San Francisco and New England had gone the other way. Every Seahawk player who’d love to finish  a dissapointing season with a three game winning streak. Every Seahawk player who’d love to send coach Holmgren out with a victory and every Seahawk player who’s starting spot for next season is not carved in stone.
“Right now people say we don’t have a lot to play for.  In football terms we don’t, we’re not going to the playoffs but we have a lot of things other than that,  pride for next year coming off a strong win so there are a lot of reasons to try to get a win,” said fullback Leonard Weaver in the locker room after Friday’s final practice.
Safety Deion Grant goes one step further.
“Just to show these guys that this division’s still ours, at the end of the day that’s what it’s all about, to show these guys, you might have won it but this season we split it, you took one here and we’ll get one there.”
Who else cares? All the coaches on both teams who thrive on winning because it’s in their soul and because it’s better for their NFL futures.
The fans care because the offseason is a long one and they’d love to be able to carry a three game win streak into dreams of greater things to come in 2009.
So if you’re east of the Mississippi I can’t blame you for not caring. But if you live in either Washington or Arizona, coach or play for either team, or follow either team week in and week out, you care about the outcome of Sunday’s game.  Add it all up and Sunday’s Seahawks versus Cardinals game is a pretty big deal.