SEATTLE -- The Arizona Cardinals don't need to be the in postseason to impact the NFC playoffs.

All they have to do is win on Sunday.

A win against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field (4:25 p.m. ET, Fox) will knock the Seahawks out of the NFC playoff picture. Talk about ringing in the New Year.

"This is our playoff game,” wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald said. "So, we got to get ready. It's going to be a great atmosphere. It always [is] there at CenturyLink.”

While many players tried to downplay the Cardinals' spoiler role throughout the week, the general consensus was it'd be special to keep their most hated rival out of the playoffs.

However, head coach Bruce Arians doesn't like the fact it's Seattle's playoff hopes at stake.

"I'd rather it be us in the playoffs a hell of a lot more than this,” Arians said. "But it's fun. It adds something to the game.”

Cornerback Patrick Peterson didn't want to use the playoff-game analogy. It's just another division game Arizona wants to win.

"This game doesn't mean much more than last week's game, just because we're not playing for anything but a 'W,'" he said.

But there's been an added sense of urgency this week, Peterson said, because of what's at stake for the Seahawks.

"We have an opportunity to do something that most teams relish: kick a team out of the playoffs,” Peterson said. "So, we're definitely putting our best foot forward. Guys are excited and playing around with energy.”

Cardinals quarterback Drew Stanton, who is 0-1 in Seattle as a starter, said the chance to play spoiler doesn't change the Cardinals' approach.

However, it'd be "icing on the cake.”

If history has its way, the Cardinals might end up getting their wish.

Even though they're a 9.5-point underdog to the 9-6 Seahawks, the Cardinals are 3-1 in Seattle under Arians. In a twist of football fate, the Seahawks are 4-0-1 in Arizona during the same span.

If having the playoffs on the line wasn't enough of a storyline, Arians added another layer to the rivalry with comments during his postgame speech after last weekend's win against the New York Giants.

"We know that that's our home field,” Arians said. "We're going up there and kicking their ass."

That prompted a reaction from Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, but Arians never regretted making the comments, just that Fox network cameras caught them on film and aired it.

"Things that you say to your team in your locker room are supposed to be in your locker room,” Arians said. "But, it got out, and I said it. So, we have won three [out of four] up there.”

A fourth in five years will not only keep the Seahawks from the playoffs, it'll give the Cardinals an 8-8 record and salvage an injury-riddled and disappointing season for Arizona.

"I would think it was a successful one,” Arians said. "I credit it all to the assistant coaches. To go .500 with all those guys down, it's a testament to the character of the coaches and the players in the locker room.”

All week, the Cardinals have been talking about the reasons they're preparing for Sunday's game like they would prepare for any other game: pride, professionalism, an 8-8 record. After the game, they'll fly back to Arizona and report Monday morning to clean out their lockers, go through their exit interviews and begin their offseason.

But the chance to eliminate the Seahawks from the postseason on the last day of the regular season has been, whether they say it publicly or not, all the motivation Arizona has needed this week.

"I think,” Arians said, "it means a lot more to be playing them than somebody else, yes.”