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2025 Arizona Cardinals projected win total, prediction
The Arizona Cardinals have missed the playoffs the past three seasons and in eight of the past nine years overall. Despite that recent lack of success, expectations should be increasing under head coach Jonathan Gannon, and there is good reason to believe they can compete for a playoff spot, and perhaps even for the NFC West title, in 2025.
Projected win total: 8.5 (BetMGM)
Outlook: After winning just eight games total over the 2022 and 2023 seasons, the Cardinals matched that total with eight wins in 2024. It was a big step forward for a rebuilding team, and it's not hard to view them as capable of taking another step forward in 2025.
There are, of course, some big X-factors involved with that.
The most prominent of those X-factors is starting quarterback Kyler Murray.
After missing significant time during the 2022 and 2023 seasons to injury, Murray was finally healthy in 2024 and gave the Cardinals a full-season's worth of games. There was hope that he could start playing like the top-tier quarterback the Cardinals are paying him to be, but they only saw spotty glimpses of that player.
He was good. At times, he was very good. But for more than $45M, the Cardinals need to be getting great play from him if they are going to compete. They are not always getting that. Until they do, their ceiling is going to be limited.
Murray does have some intriguing targets in the passing game, but the big question is whether or not he has enough of them.
Marvin Harrison Jr. has superstar potential but is coming off an up-and-down rookie season. He could really use another big-time target on the other side of the field to take some of the pressure away from him.
Tight end Trey McBride is a rising star at his position and has a new long-term contract extension to keep him in Arizona.
Between the two of them, the Cardinals have some serious big-play potential, but depth is a concern.
Curated just for you pic.twitter.com/xwXjwJ9AzE
— Arizona Cardinals (@AZCardinals) May 15, 2025
The Cardinals defense also took a big step forward in 2024, and management did a nice job to continue boosting the depth of the defensive line this offseason.
Edge rusher Josh Sweat was the big free-agent signing, and he should provide a huge lift to the Cardinals' pass rush. He also has a prior history with Gannon, as the two spent time in Philadelphia together.
Dalvin Tomlinson is another strong addition to the defensive line as a run-stuffer, coming over from the Cleveland Browns.
The Cardinals also used their first-round pick on the defensive line by taking Walter Nolen at No. 16 overall out of Ole Miss.
Those three additions should give the Cardinals a potentially dominant defensive line that could not only dramatically improve the defense but also completely change games in their favor.
Our take: A lot of it simply depends on what the Cardinals can get out of Murray. Nothing changes a team faster than a quarterback, and Murray certainly has the dual-threat ability to be a game-changer. But he has had that ability for his entire career and has not always shown it. If he does, and with an improved defensive line, the Cardinals might be able to compete in the NFC West and certainly for a playoff spot in the NFC.
Predicted win total: 10
More must-reads:
- 2025 Tampa Bay Buccaneers projected win total, prediction
- 2025 New Orleans Saints projected win total, prediction
- The 'NFL QBs with the most rushing touchdowns in a single season' quiz
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