The Arizona Cardinals 2012 schedule is full of interesting dates and games. The team will be playing in their 25th season in Arizona, and 93rd overall in the National Football League. It’s hard for us to believe they won’t make it to the playoffs. They still have four home games to play. In addition to playing the Rams and Packers, they’ll take on St. Louis and Chicago.
The team will play two road games, one in St. Louis and one in Arizona. The Arizona Cardinals will have a challenging schedule after the Minnesota game. They’ll play two games on Monday nights, and one on Wednesday afternoons in Week 7. Arizona’s 2012 schedule features a bye week in Week 10, followed by a game against Atlanta in Week 11.
The Arizona Cardinals will open the season at home for the fourth consecutive year, playing the division rival Seattle Seahawks. They will also play twice in prime-time on national television, a record that they have only achieved once in their history. The NFL announced earlier in the year that each team would have at most one prime-time match. This will be a huge advantage for the Cardinals.
Another surprise is that the Cardinals will be taking 17 days off in November to prepare for their playoff run. After playing the 49ers on the 18th, they won’t play for a whole month. Although some believe this is intentional, it is unlikely. In fact, the Cardinals have only had one later bye week in their history, and that happened in 1991.
The Cardinals’ schedule is challenging. Starting the preseason at Cincinnati, they play a nationally-televised game against the Ravens on Aug. 21 at 5 p.m. Arizona time. They’ll be taking on the Philadelphia Eagles in their final road match. If they win this game, they’ll lock up second place in the NFC West. After all, the Eagles swept the Cowboys and split the season series with the New York Giants, they have a shaky record, but they hold a tiebreaker in the division.
The Cardinals are no strangers to big games. They have won two of the last three games against Patriots. The Cardinals won’t be shy about hosting a game on Monday Night Football, and they’ll get a chance to show off their defense with a home game against a top-tier team. Their 2012 schedule also includes three games in State Farm Stadium. Their home games include Thursday night against Saints, Monday against the Patriots and Christmas night against Buccaneers. In addition, there’s a game in Mexico City against the 49ers. It’s a good time for Kliff Kingsbury to face Patrick Mahomes, who he coached at Texas Tech. Kingsbury has not lost an AFC opener since he took over the job from the Cardinals.
The Broncos are in a similar position as the Cardinals are in their division. They will be looking to take advantage of Wilson’s arrival. While the Cardinals are 3-0, the Broncos have been desperate for a quarterback and have been in the market for one. The Cardinals can feel confident about their chances of making the playoffs after a difficult game against the Broncos during the regular season.