No NFL Team Has a Bigger Schedule Hurdle Than the Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals are just weeks away from finding out their full 2026 schedule, though according to one metric, they've got it worse than anybody.

Warren Sharp of Sharp Analytics ran his own forecasted win totals and projected strength of schedules ahead of the NFL's expected regular season schedule release in May.

Arizona finished with the toughest schedule in the entire league.

NEW: NFL strength of schedule for 2026!

5 easiest schedules:

1️⃣ Lions
2️⃣ Saints
3️⃣ Bengals
4️⃣ Browns
5️⃣ Jets

5 hardest schedules:

2️⃣8️⃣ Rams
2️⃣9️⃣ Cowboys
3️⃣0️⃣ Panthers
3️⃣1️⃣ Dolphins
3️⃣2️⃣ Cardinals

1-32 with insight & analysis:https://t.co/iS1PFqfcxx
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) May 4, 2026

That's life when you're playing in the gauntlet of the NFC West, where teams in the San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams reside.

While we've known the Cardinals' 2026 opponents for awhile, we've yet to see the exact order in which they'll play their schedule.

Home: Seahawks, Rams, 49ers, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Commanders, Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, New York Jets, Detroit Lions

Away: Seahawks, Rams, 49ers, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, New Orleans Saints

This will all be under the guidance of first-year head coach Mike LaFleur, too.

"Everyone's got the same vision. And then you think about this division, it's a tough division. If it were easy, it wouldn't be worth it," LaFleur said on his first official day on the job.

"We know the work that we got in front of us in the back right there [pointing to Cardinals players in attendance]. They know that. But those are the reasons I wanted to be the head coach here."

The Cardinals haven't made the playoffs in four seasons.

“It's a completely new team. It's a completely new team. Every year in the NFL is different. Every season is different. The roster changes every year, so that's what I mean," said Cardinals general manager Monti Ossenfort ahead of the draft.

Arizona's fortunes aren't quite expected to be flipped in 2026, though the Cardinals have done a fair job of retooling their rushing attack. With expected health back on their side, there's hope LaFleur can get the Cardinals back on track.

We do know Arizona will be in the NFL's Hall of Fame game to begin preseason festivities, which will also allow them to begin training camp earlier than most teams. The Cardinals will get a fourth preseason game as a result, one more than the standard three for other organizations.

There seems to be surprises every year in the NFL — can Arizona be one of them? If so, they'll have an expectedly tall task ahead of them.

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