We Know Cardinals Won't Play These 6 Teams in Regular Season Opener

The Arizona Cardinals and their fans are eagerly awaiting the 2026 schedule release on Thursday, and as schedule leaks begin to creep into the public eye, we're slowly figuring out when and where some of the team's matchups will be.

So far, it's mostly been who the Cardinals won't play, at least in terms of their regular season opener.

The Cardinals have recently seen four teams eliminated from their regular season opener in the Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants.

The Chiefs are set to play the Broncos on Monday Night Football while Sunday Night Football will see the Cowboys and Giants collide in Week 1.

With the Los Angeles Rams battling the San Francisco 49ers in Australia to begin the season, we can also cross out Arizona's two divisional rivals.

That's six teams we immediately know Arizona won't face in Week 1 — so who is left?

Who Else Could Cardinals Begin Regular Season Against?

The Cardinals in theory could play on the road against the defending champion Seattle Seahawks, who will be playing the traditional first Thursday Night Football game to hang their championship banner and begin the new football season.

However, primetime execs probably don't want Arizona featured, so it feels like we can cross that probability out. The Cardinals are working under the first-year watch of head coach Mike LaFleur and Arizona is very much an unknown commodity at this point in time, which typically spells bad news for TV execs.

That leaves the Washington Commanders, Philadelphia Eagles, Las Vegas Raiders New York Jets, Detroit Lions, Los Angeles Chargers and New Orleans Saints as possible opponents.

Though we don't know exactly what the slate will look like, we do know Arizona's schedule will be vastly difficult. The Cardinals have, by two different metrics, one of the toughest schedules in the NFL when evaluating opponent win percentage and projected wins by Vegas.

Arizona has opened their regular season just once at home within the last six seasons — will that trend continue, or will the Cardinals play host at State Farm Stadium to begin the new year?

The Cardinals were previously featured in two primetime games last year, though Arizona may only get one or zero this coming season thanks to their low expectations. There's always a chance the Cardinals can get flexed into a primetime slot later in the season, however — which would be a good problem to have if you're Arizona.

The 2026 regular season schedule will be unveiled on Thursday. May 14 at 5:00 PM Arizona time.

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