Cardinals Given Surprise Win Total Projection

The Arizona Cardinals' 2025 schedule is not one that offers the most possible challenges for a team that struggled to reach eight wins a season prior. In many ways, Arizona was afforded an opportunity to stack some early wins before the tougher stretches arrived.

The Cardinals went 8-9 in 2024. They began the year 6-4 and in first place of the NFC West before a slate of troubling performances saw them drop their lead, squander their playoff hopes and find themselves once again on the outside looking in.

NFL.com's Cynthia Frelund compiled a win total projection for each NFC team. Her projection for the Cardinals is a round 8.0 — the exact same total as 2024, despite the wealth of defensive reinforcements GM Monti Ossenfort has brought to town in the offseason.

"The Cardinals (who open the year at New Orleans and at home against Carolina) have the best odds of starting 2-0 in the NFL in my model, edging out the Bengals by about two percentage points. Weeks 16 (vs. Atlanta) and 17 (at Cincinnati) could prove to be an important stint in terms of Arizona's win total," Frelund wrote.

The Cardinals certainly do have a chance to win some games early on, but it's also valid to wonder just how effectively Arizona can close down the stretch. Winning games late in the season when each contest matters more than the previous was a sticking point for HC Jonathan Gannon's squad in 2024, and has been a calling card of QB Kyler Murray's struggles as well.

Considering the complete lack of any improvements made to the offense, it's hard to imagine the Cardinals blowing away this win projection total, though it does seem reasonable to expect at least a game or two more than last year's eight.

Regardless, Arizona will need to execute down the stretch to finish with a record better than what Frelund projected. The Cardinals have the horses and the talent — they just need to put it all together.