Best, Worst Stretch in Cardinals Schedule
The Arizona Cardinals now know their entire 2023 schedule, though they've known their opponents for months now.
Arizona will travel 25,126 miles total in 2023, which ranks seventh in the entire league. NFC West rivals in the Seattle Seahawks (1), San Francisco 49ers (2) and Los Angeles Rams (4) are in the top five for total mileage that will be traveled on the road.
The Cardinals also have a strength of schedule (combined opponents winning percentage from last season) of .519, sitting just outside of the top ten at No. 11. That ranks sixth in the NFC and second in the NFC West behind the Los Angeles Rams (.533).
We've still got a long way to go until the season here, which leaves us plenty of time to analyze (or over-analyze) their regular season slate.
Today, we'll look at the best (and worst) three-game stretch for the Cardinals next season.
Worst Three-Game Stretch
Week 3: Dallas Cowboys
Week 4: AT San Francisco 49ers
Week 5: Cincinnati Bengals
The Cardinals aren't expected to win many games this upcoming season. In fact, Arizona are betting underdogs in every single game as of now.
While it was tough to pick a three-game slate where things can really go wrong, this frame of time could indeed be the worst when you take into account where all three of these teams project.
Dallas possesses one of the top defenses in the league and has franchise quarterback Dak Prescott ready to roll. The 49ers appear to have only improved their defensive front and still project to be one of the top teams in the NFC despite their quarterback situation.
Cincinnati has proven to be one of the top teams in the AFC in the last few seasons and again hope to be in that light.
The term "any given Sunday" can be applied here, but it's tough to imagine the Cardinals not going 0-3 here, especially with Kyler Murray projected to still be rehabbing his torn ACL.
Best Three-Game Stretch
Week 10: Atlanta Falcons
Week 11: AT Houston Texans
Week 12: Los Angeles Rams
Where this is bad - there is good. Arizona (as previously mentioned) doesn't have many games on their schedule that look winnable on their end, yet this stretch of games may provide them an opportunity to go 3-0.
The Falcons - who picked in the top ten - signed plenty of free agents but are not expected to be significantly better.
The Texans are only matched by Arizona in terms of the expected fight for the rights to being the worst team in the league, especially with a rookie quarterback and first-year head coach at the helm.
The Rams - though expected to be better than Houston and Atlanta - are expected to be a .500 team at best.
Even without Murray in the fold, these matchups are winnable. However, the quarterback could return by this point, which would only bolster their chances even more.
