By Monday, Whisenhunt had adjusted his focus to the final three games and improving the team's playoff seeding.

The Cardinals (8-5) will host a playoff game for the first time since 1947, but they are the fourth seed right now. A victory Sunday over the Vikings is critical to moving up to No. 3, and getting higher than that will be hard because the Cardinals have lost games to the Giants, the NFC East winner, and Carolina, a leading contender in the South.

"If you look at the history of the playoffs, generally the higher seeds have the better chance of advancing," Whisenhunt said. "Obviously, the Steelers and last year the Giants have done it (as wild-cards) but it's very difficult to do it that way. That's what these next three weeks are about it, putting ourselves in the best position we can going into the playoffs."

The Vikings and Cardinals are tied at 8-5, but the Vikings have the edge by virtue of a better conference record. The Vikings are 6-3 and the Cardinals are 6-4. Head to head meetings are the first tiebreaker.

There probably won't be much different between a third and fourth seed in the playoffs. The fourth seed might have to play Dallas, for example, while the No. 3 seed could get a wildcard team such as Carolina, Tampa Bay or Atlanta.