08/24/26 Hour 2: Cardinals Crushing Loss vs Phillies - Is Wildcard Still in Play?; NFL Divisional Winners Predictions

The St. Louis Cardinals suffered one of the most painful losses of the season Sunday, blowing a 4-0 lead in the ninth inning before Kyle Schwarber's two-run walk-off homer gave Philadelphia a 6-4 victory. The loss capped a disappointing 5-6 road trip and dropped the Cardinals to 66-66.

So, is the NL Wild Card still realistically in play? Absolutely—but the margin for error is getting smaller. The Cardinals entered the weekend only 3½ games behind the final Wild Card spot, but they're now sitting at .500 while teams such as Arizona, San Diego and Philadelphia remain ahead of them in the race. Arizona's win over Cincinnati kept the Diamondbacks firmly in the mix at 69-62.

The bigger concern may be whether St. Louis can survive its pitching situation. Andre Pallante is on the injured list with elbow inflammation, while Hunter Dobbins is also dealing with a forearm issue. The Cardinals will need their pitching depth—and their offense—to hold up over the final weeks.

Then it's time for our 2026 NFL Divisional Winners Predictions. We go division by division and make our picks—not necessarily just taking the betting favorite. The current market has Buffalo favored in the AFC East, Baltimore in the AFC North, Houston in the AFC South and Kansas City among the AFC West favorites, while Philadelphia is favored in the NFC East and the NFC West remains particularly interesting after the Rams' offseason addition of Myles Garrett.

The fun debate: Which division winner are we most confident in, and which favorite is most likely to get knocked off? The 2026 NFL futures market shows just how tight some of these races could be.