The Arizona Cardinals sit in a weird place heading into the 2025 season and that’s decidedly in the middle.
Are they good? Kinda. Are they bad? Not really.
With a win total set at 8.5, the sportsbooks are telling you they’re probably a .500 team.
For a few reasons, I think there is some value on Arizona heading into this season and I think it will hit its win total.
The Cardinals started last year 6-4 and were coming out of the bye with a schedule that had them maybe in position to secure only the second playoff berth of the Kyler Murray era.
Then they cratered.
They lost in Seattle, choked away a game in Minnesota, then lost to Seattle at home. All of this landed them in a hole.
A crushing overtime loss to the lowly Panthers ended their playoff hopes. They finished 8-9, but they did eclipse their win total of seven games.
Now, the optimism.
Continuity is the word that best sums up the Cardinals’ 2025 season. Their head coach and both coordinators return. Depending on how offensive line battles go, they should return 10 of 11 starters from last season. Their offense will be right there with the Rams and 49ers for best in the division.
They’ve got a top-five tight end in Trey McBride, a top-five running back in James Conner and a second-year wideout in Marvin Harrison.
By the way, Harrison has star written all over him, although we didn’t always see that during his rookie year.
Murray appears to have gotten the memo on running more when the opportunity is there, which he clearly did not want to do in 2022 and 2023.
The defense will largely depend on how far this goes and if coach Jonathan Gannon ends up on the hot seat or not. They will probably start two rookies (CB Will Johnson, DT Walter Nolen), and they grabbed two DLs in free agency (Josh Sweat, Dalvin Tomlinson).
Arizona must get to the QB this year. Nobody had more than five sacks or eight QB hits last season. It ranked 27th in pressure rate. If you have a good secondary like the Eagles did, it’s not the end of the world to rank poorly in pressure rate. If you have a weak secondary like the Cardinals did, it’s very bad news.
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The scheduling gods were kind to Arizona. There’s only one cold weather game and that’s at Cincinnati in Week 17. And the early schedule is manageable.
Let’s take a look at the QBs they’re facing early:
Starting QB uncertain, Saints
Bryce Young, Panthers
Brock Purdy, Niners
Sam Darnold, Seahawks
Cam Ward, Titans
Starting QB uncertain, Colts
If the Cards can go 5-1 there, your win total is locked up. I’d even feel good at 4-2. Either way, an early start should lead to Arizona eclipsing 8.5 wins.
PICK: Cardinals Over 8.5 regular-season wins
Jason McIntyre is a FOX Sports betting analyst who also writes about the NFL and NBA Draft. Before arriving at FOX, he created the website The Big Lead. Follow him on Twitter @JasonRMcIntyre.
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