NFL playoff bracket: Who will Rams or Cardinals play in 2022 divisional round with a win?

Jacob Camenker

NFL playoff bracket: Who will Rams or Cardinals play in 2022 divisional round with a win? image

The Rams and Cardinals are playing in the final game of the NFL's super wild-card weekend. Arizona is traveling to Los Angeles to face the No. 4 seed Rams as the two teams face off in the first Monday night playoff game in NFL history.

The "Monday Night Football" broadcast is expected to be one of the most competitive matchups of the six-game wild-card slate. The Rams and Cardinals played twice during the 2021 regular season and split the series. Los Angeles is favored in this matchup, but Arizona was once the top team in the NFC and should, at the very least, challenge the Rams

No matter what happens in this contest, the Rams and Cardinals both know what awaits them should they win. The matchups for the NFC divisional round are mostly set in stone. The only thing to be determined is whether Arizona or Los Angeles will be traveling to Tampa Bay for the divisional round of the 2022 NFL playoffs.

Here's a breakdown of what the postseason path will look like if the Rams or Cardinals win on Monday night.

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NFL playoff bracket 2022

nfl-playoff-bracket-011722-ftr

Who will the Rams play if they beat the Cardinals?

The Rams are guaranteed to play the Buccaneers if they beat the Cardinals on "Monday Night Football."

Los Angeles would play Tampa Bay because the Buccaneers beat the Eagles 31-15 in their wild-card matchup and the 49ers won their wild-card matchup 23-17 over the Cowboys. The Bucs will be the second-highest remaining seed in the NFC and they will face the third-highest remaining seed. Meanwhile, the No. 1 seed Packers, who had a bye for the wild-card round, will face the lowest remaining seed.

The 49ers are the No. 6 seed in the NFC, so they are guaranteed to be the lowest remaining seed by virtue of their win and the Eagles' loss. So, Green Bay will play San Francisco while Tampa Bay will play the winner of the Arizona-Los Angeles game.

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Who will the Cardinals play if they beat the Rams?

The Cardinals are also guaranteed to play the Buccaneers if they win on "Monday Night Football."

Arizona gets to face Tampa Bay for the same reason that Los Angeles would. The Cardinals are automatically guaranteed to be the third-highest remaining seed of the four alive in the NFC. The top seed in the NFC, the Packers, gets to face the lowest remaining seed, which will be the No. 6 seed 49ers.

As such, the two remaining teams will face off in the other game. That will be the Buccaneers, who will host the winner of the game between the No. 4 seed Rams and No. 5 seed Cardinals.

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NFC divisional round playoff matchups

Here's a look at what the NFC divisional round playoff matchups will be for the 2022 NFL playoffs.

  • 1. Packers vs. 6. 49ers
  • 2. Buccaneers vs. 4. Rams OR 5. Cardinals

Jacob Camenker

Jacob Camenker Photo

Jacob Camenker first joined The Sporting News as a fantasy football intern in 2018 after his graduation from UMass. He became a full-time employee with TSN in 2021 and now serves as a senior content producer with a particular focus on the NFL. Jacob worked at NBC Sports Boston as a content producer from 2019 to 2021. He is an avid fan of the NFL Draft and ranked 10th in FantasyPros’ Mock Draft Accuracy metric in both 2021 and 2022.