The NFL schedule has been released. In the new 17-game format, the Arizona Cardinals will play nine games on the road this upcoming season. Enduring one of the longest playoff droughts amongst active NFL teams, the Cardinals have been super-aggressive in acquiring talent this off-season. Here is take a look at what Kliff Kingsbury and Kyler Murray have to face in 2021 with this breakdown of the Arizona Cardinals schedule. In this article the Cardinals games will be ranked 1-17, with 17 being the least difficult game on the Cardinals schedule.
Arizona Cardinals Schedule Breakdown
1. Week 14 Los Angeles Rams
The Los Angeles Rams are not the best team on the Cardinals schedule. However, they are very good. In addition, history has shown that playing the Rams after the bye is usually an unmitigated disaster for Arizona. The Cardinals have never beaten Sean McVay’s Rams and the spectre of this record looms over any game. It also doesn’t bode well that the Rams unceremoniously dumped Jared Goff for Matthew Stafford, who likes beating the Cardinals every year already. The Cardinals hardest game will be played in front of a national audience on Monday Night Football.
2. Week 4 @ Los Angeles Rams
Home field advantage might usually dictate which is the easier of two divisional clashes, but the Cardinals tend to play so much worse against the Rams after the bye that the early season game has to be considered the less difficult of the two. The matchup between DeAndre Hopkins and Jalen Ramsey will likely be the headline for the game, with Hopkins looking to improve on his performances against him. The Rams also have Aaron Donald, so Rodney Hudson will face his toughest test in a Cardinals uniform in Week 4.
3. Week 9 @ San Francisco 49ers
The San Francisco 49ers were in tatters in 2020. Yet they still managed to beat the Cardinals in Week 16. Taking on what is expected to be a full strength Niners outfit in Week 9, the most interesting storyline coming out of Santa Clara will be the quarterback situation. Jimmy Garoppolo is playing on borrowed time for San Francisco and by Week 9, Trey Lance could well be the team’s starter, and is a much more frightening prospect to face than Garoppolo. Combined with the road trip to California, the second clash with the Niners in 2021 could be the tougher game of the two divisional meetings on the Cardinals schedule.
4. Week 11 @ Seattle Seahawks
The NFC West is currently the most competitive division in the NFL. To say that Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks are the ‘worst’ of Arizona’s three divisional opponents is indicative of the strength of the group. On paper, Seattle’s squad doesn’t have the strength on paper that the Rams and49ers do, and Wilson’s dissatisfaction with his offensive line was a huge story this off-season. But the Seahawks do have All-Pro talent littered throughout their roster. With one of the NFL’s most hostile fanbases expected to reoccupy Lumen Field, the Cardinals will face a tough task in the Pacific North West.
5. Week 6 @ Cleveland Browns
This Cleveland Browns team is not the same one that Kyler Murray beat as a rookie. The Browns have rounded out their roster in recent years, and continue to add big-name talent. Protecting Kyler from Myles Garrett and the newly acquired Jadeveon Clowney will be a momentous challenge for bookend tackles D.J. Humphries and Kelvin Beachum, who played well in 2020. Top to bottom, the Browns have one of the stronger rosters in the NFL. Nick Chubb might be one of the most underappreciated players in the league. However, their success hinges on which version of Baker Mayfield shows up on game day.
6. Week 8 Green Bay Packers
On paper, the Green Bay Packers don’t seem to be as stacked as some of the other top squads. Their front office seems to have an obsession with forcing Aaron Rodgers to do as much as possible with as little as possible. And Rodgers does, because Aaron Rodgers is a baaaad man. Whether he will still be in a Packers uniform in Week 8 though, is another question. Taking on Jordan Love or Blake Bortles is far more attractive for the Cardinals, but the threat of Aaron Rodgers will always make Green Bay a force to be reckoned with. It is also worth noting that while Green Bay’s front office hasn’t necessarily done a lot to make Rodgers want to stay, he still has Davante Adams and Aaron Jones.
7. Week 1 @ Tennessee Titans
Zaven Collins will start for the Cardinals immediately. His first challenge? Stop human tank Derrick Henry. As baptisms by fire go, this is gonna be up there. Adding J.J. Watt to the trenches will go some way to slowing down Henry, but Collins should not underestimate the Ryan Tannehill-shaped play-action machine under center. A road game to the Tennessee Titans is not the ideal way to begin the 2021 campaign, nor an ideal first game in the NFL. Former Titan Malcolm Butler’s credentials will be tested against A.J. Brown. There might also be a chance to see Caleb Farley in action, who the Cardinals passed on in the draft.
8. Week 5 San Francisco 49ers
Hopefully, with this matchup coming early in the Cardinals schedule, Jimmy Garoppolo is still the starter for San Francisco. Regardless, a fully fit Niners squad is going to be a tough go for Arizona. The Cardinals did beat them last season though before their entire team literally fell apart. George Kittle has haunted Steve Keim into drafting two inside linebackers in consecutive drafts, so you’d like to believe that he is accounted for in some way. The threat of the Kyle Shanahan‘s offense though is and always has been his electric outside zone rushing scheme. Raheem Mostert and the 49ers will be a ruthless testing ground for the dynamic duo of Zaven Collins and Isaiah Simmons.
9. Week 18 Seattle Seahawks
For once, the Cardinals will end the season at home. Yes, the Seahawks are good, but playing them at home, especially in the inaugural Week 18, as opposed to taking on the Niners or Rams, is somewhat of a best-case scenario. If last year is anything to go by, what looked like an MVP-caliber campaign for Wilson flamed out in the latter stages of the season. It is no easy prospect to play the Seahawks but, based off the strength of the other divisional rivals, and taking into account the benefit of staying home in Week 18, this should be the least imposing of the Cardinals NFC West clashes in 2021.
10. Week 17 @ Dallas Cowboys
Much like Cleveland, this is not going to the same Dallas Cowboys team that the Cardinals steamrolled in 2020. The Cardinals will head to Jerry World to face an healthy Dak Prescott, who, on the back of his mega-deal, can properly utilize the weapons that Dallas has. The addition of Prescott will also mean that Ezekiel Elliot won’t have to carry, and subsequently fumble, a gazillion times like he did with Andy Dalton leading America’s Team. Late in the season, it isn’t an absolute mission of a road game to Dallas, and the Cardinals should head into Big D brimming with the confidence of last season’s victory.
11. Week 16 Indianapolis Colts
One of the prime-time games on the Cardinals schedule is a visit from the Indianapolis Colts on Christmas Day. A 2020 playoff team with an intimidating defense, Indy’s success last season really hides the fact that they still really haven’t figured out how to replace Andrew Luck. Carson Wentz is the latest contestant, offering a high ceiling and perilously low floor. By this late in the season, the Cardinals should know what to expect from Wentz. Indy’s real stars are guard Quenton Nelson and linebacker Darius Leonard. With the nation watching, this is where Arizona’s focus should be.
12. Week 2 Minnesota Vikings
Patrick Peterson’s return to Arizona will undoubtedly headline this game, and the Cardinals schedule. It will be on DeAndre Hopkins to justify why the Cardinals let Peterson walk in free agency. The Minnesota Vikings do have a solid roster. Dalvin Cook will be the primary threat, although he faces a significantly bolstered Cardinals defensive line. Receivers like Adam Thielen and 2020 breakout Justin Jefferson will also be a useful barometer to establish the state of the Cardinals secondary unit early in the season.
13. Week 10 Carolina Panthers
The Carolina Panthers seem to be on the Cardinals schedule every year. However, they will look very different in 2021, a welcome sight after the mauling they handed the Cardinals last year. It remains to be seen if Sam Darnold will be an upgrade from Teddy Bridgewater, although the return of Christian McCaffrey to the lineup will be the biggest test to the Cardinals rebuilt defensive unit. There was a lack of energy as the Cardinals were beaten mercilessly by the Panthers last season. Despite not being one of the better teams Arizona will face in 2021, the Cardinals will have to play hard to avoid a repeat of last season’s embarrassment.
14. Week 15 @ Detroit Lions
Like with the Panthers, the Cardinals and their fans are also used to seeing the Detroit Lions every season. Yet this is a weaker team than the team Arizona saw in 2020. Under a new coaching regime, the Lions traded an unsettled Stafford for Jared Goff, who, for all his experience in beating the Cardinals, isn’t considered a top-tier threat. The absence of Kenny Golladay will also be a welcome sight. The Lions top pick went on an offensive lineman, rather than a receiver as expected, so it will be a considerably weakened passing attack facing the Cardinals than they are used to.
15. Week 13 @ Chicago Bears
What the Cardinals will face in the Chicago Bears in Week 13 is a pretty big mystery. Despite Andy Dalton being named the starter, Justin Fields will probably be on the field by the time that the Cardinals head to the windy city. Because of the quarterback situation, there are parallels between the Bears and Niners games. The Cardinals will be hoping it is Andy Dalton under center, because the last time he played the Cardinals, Arizona had an absolute field day. If it is Fields though, the Bears squad isn’t as threatening as the Niners, and Fields will still be a rookie quarterback.
16. Week 3 @ Jacksonville Jaguars
There are a slew of rookie quarterbacks on the Cardinals schedule. One that will definitely be starting though, is Trevor Lawrence. who the Jacksonville Jaguars took with the first overall pick this year. Lawrence was extremely impressive in college, but he is an unproven commodity at the NFL level, and facing a rookie quarterback this early in the season is an attractive prospect. Flanked by an uninspiring supporting cast and a defense that is a fragment of its former self, Lawrence will endure a rough maiden season as a professional. The Cardinals should be in a prime position to take advantage of a franchise still in flux.
17. Week 7 Houston Texans
The Houston Texans franchise is a dumpster fire. The fact that two of their best players are now with the Cardinals is indicative of their struggles in recent years. At this point, it seems a foregone conclusion that, for whatever reason, Deshaun Watson will not be playing for the Texans in 2021. Without the jewel in their crumbling crown, it seems that the Texans won’t be a threat. Playing at home after a brutal run of fixtures, the game against the Texans should offer the Cardinals an opportunity to either keep their train rolling or regain their footing after some tough games.
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