The game had been decided in the season finale when the Cardinals threw a seven-yard pass to Steve Breaston in the dying seconds, briefly irritating the Seahawks and coach Mike Holmgren – at least until Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt explained the desire to get Breaston to 1,000 yards receiving that season.

The Cardinals were well into the Larry Fitzgerald-Anquan Boldin domination era at wide receiver by then, in 2008. Those two already had their 1,000-yard campaigns, and it was important to get Breaston to his final total of 1,006.

Parallels with the current Cardinals are not hard and fast. But with Marvin Harrison Jr. trending toward returning to the field Sunday in Tampa after appendicitis, with tight end Trey McBride and especially wide receiver Michael Wilson red-hot, the terrific trio came to mind.

Using all three guys can be done and done well. No one is calling any of the current guys a certain (Fitz) or possible (Anquan) Hall of Famer, but they can all be effective – even with the discussion of what Wilson's role will be whenever Harrison is in the lineup.

"You move (Wilson) around in the formation, continue to put him higher in the progression," offensive coordinator Drew Petzing said. "Whether it is in the run game or the pass game, if you produce in this league we are going to give you more opportunities to do that."

Harrison has 34 receptions this season for 525 yards and four touchdowns as WR1. Wilson has exploded in Harrison's absence, with 25 catches for 303 yards in the two games Harrison missed. So what happens with each? Whatever it is, it's got to be good, right?

"I've been playing with great receivers my whole life," Harrison said. "This is nothing new for me. I'm excited. I love playing with other guys who can make plays. Trey is the best of the best at his position. It's exciting to play with those guys."

The Cardinals haven't been able to run the ball as well as they want to either (another parallel with that 2008 team, at least in the regular season.)

McBride is going to McBride. Wilson likely isn't going to keep hitting 10 catches, but who knows? The threat of both he and Harrison can only help.

"I think when we install the plan and you kind of figure out who's up and where we're putting the guys and stuff like that kind of answers a lot of those questions," quarterback Jacoby Brissett said. "Drew (Petzing) has his work cut out for him this week, and I'm excited to see how it unfolds. I'm looking forward to all those guys making a lot of plays."

-- The good news is that cornerback Will Johnson will play Sunday after missing the last three games. Gannon said Johnson had his best practice on Thursday since being drafted. Johnson has been very good when he's on the field. They need him out there more.

-- The bad news is that running back Trey Benson didn't practice on Thanksgiving and didn't practice Friday and that's not where you want to be 10 days into his practice window. Gannon wasn't giving hints of what this could mean for Benson long term, but the key date is Dec. 10 – that's the day the Cardinals have to put Benson on the 53-man roster or leave him on IR the balance of the season.

-- Harrison said his appendix problem cropped up at 2 a.m. when it happened, came out of nowhere. He noted the two games missed were the first ones he had ever missed – a remarkable streak.

-- The last couple weeks reminded me of the conversation I had with former NFL wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh back right after Wilson was drafted. Houshmandzadeh had trained Wilson for most of his college career, and the one-time Bengal said at that time Wilson was the best wide receiver in that class. I'm not sure any unbiased observer is going to agree with that, not with Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Puka Nacua setting records, but Wilson has proven to be pretty good.

"I know what a good receiver looks like," Houshmandzadeh said. "That's Mike."

-- Calais Campbell hit an incentive by reaching 5½ sacks, collecting $500,000 according to Spotrac. That money would double if Campbell reaches 7½ sacks this season.

-- Speaking of Campbell, he noted on Thanksgiving that he'll allow himself a treat "here and there" but eating healthy is too important at this stage in his career. He learned long ago Thanksgiving could be a problem. During his epic 2017 season playing for the Jaguars – in which he nearly won Defensive Player of the Year – he said he ate way too much on Thanksgiving and "wasn't the same afterwards." He insisted he isn't exaggerating when he said he gained about 10 pounds that week, pushing his playing weight around 315 pounds.

"I was heavy," Campbell said. "I was like, 'OK, gotta change things up.'"

-- Brissett has completed 80 passes the past two games, the second-most in a two-game stretch in NFL history. The Chargers' Philip Rivers had 81 in 2015. Rivers in that timeframe set the record of 116 completions in a three-game stretch, so Brissett needs 36 to tie that and 37 to break it. Not farfetched, given what has happened of late, and how stingy the Buccaneers are giving up yards in the run game.

-- All those completions mean a ton of dropbacks and a lot of pass protection. Which is OK with left tackle Paris Johnson Jr. – to a point.

"Personally I love the pass block. It's fun to play, it's fun to win. It's our job to do, so when you win, you gotta celebrate it," Johnson said. "However, you do like to throw in some run game every now and then. Just to have a switch-up. I put that on us (as an offensive line.) We have to show the staff how much more explosive we can be. That way they trust the call, they trust the switch up. That way if we go five passes in a row, we will throw in a couple of run plays and get back to doing what we do. We trust Jacoby, but again, we've got to have that variation."

-- With his next reception, McBride will break his tie with Tony Gonzalez for most catches by a tight end in his first four NFL seasons. Both have 302 receptions in that time frame, although McBride has six games left to build his mark.

McBride also is on pace to blow away Zach Ertz's single-season tight end record of 116 catches, set in 2018. McBride is trending toward 124, which would also make him the first tight end to have at least 110 receptions in two different seasons.

-- If Baker Mayfield plays quarterback for the Bucs, it'll be the second meeting between the two. The first came in Week 1 of the 2022 season, when Mayfield had just left the Browns and he faced the Browns and Brissett, his replacement, playing for the Panthers. Brissett won that one, 26-24.

The Cardinals are 3-0 against Mayfield, beating him twice with the Browns and once with the Panthers. His sprain of his left non-throwing shoulder has left his status this season in doubt. Teddy Bridgewater is the Tampa backup. Coach Todd Bowles said Friday Mayfield should start, but earlier in the week, Mayfield understood the give-and-take.

"Every game in my eyes, is a must-win playoff scenario, but understanding that, you know, if I sit one game out (it) provides me to be healthier for down the stretch," Mayfield said. "That's how I'm gonna look at it. I have to be smart with that understanding that. … It's kind of a double-edged sword, but we'll see how it goes."

-- The final word goes to Brissett:

"If you would've told me three years ago (when) I was in Cleveland that I would still be starting in the NFL, I would be like 'Hell no.'"

See you Sunday.