One More Loss Triggers Historic Cardinals Playoff Elimination

After Thanksgiving games didn't go their way, the Arizona Cardinals are one loss away from playoff elimination.

Arizona Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon watches from the sidelines as they play against the Las Vegas Raiders at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, on Aug. 23, 2025. | Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Arizona Cardinals are one loss away from official playoff elimination in Week 13.

After wins by the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears, the Cardinals will be mathematically removed from postseason contention with a loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

This would be the earliest in a season Arizona has been eliminated since 1986, according to Joe Ferreira. They were still in St. Louis at the time.

It's been a massively disappointing season in the desert, as Arizona was projected to make a postseason leap in 2025 after investing heavily on the defensive side of the ball while banking on the offense - as a whole - taking the next step.

Year 3 of the Jonathan Gannon era hasn't come close to living up to expectations. They stumbled their way to a 2-0 start out of the gates and have since lost their last eight-of-nine matchups.

“When we look at those games that you're talking about, we evaluate everything that we're doing and then we implement certain things to try to fix problems that keep showing up over and over," Cardinals head coach Jonathan Gannon told reporters this week.

"That's what anybody would do, but I believe in our process and our people. (For) the sake of change, to think that you're going to get a different result, I don't believe in that (with) where we're at right now. I think these games that are coming down to one score games, you can look at a couple plays here or there, but I showed the defense the first drive of the game.

"They're backed up and five plays later it's 7-0, and really not for anything schematically that they did. Those are the things that I point out that it's like, hey, let's fix these day one install plays on a sail route, on a stretch play, on a four-way post wheel three out man to man zone beater that we're in man to man. Let's do those a little bit better. Then in critical moments, (it comes down to) do we have the right thought process, and can we execute?

"I think we have the right thought process, and I've seen us execute. We just have to do it a little higher level.”

The Cardinals, according to The Athletic's playoff simulator, could win-out the remainder of their games and only have a 2% chance to make the postseason.