Cardinals 2024 NFL Schedule Released for Kyler Murray's 1st Year with WR Harrison Jr.

Five wins is probably the minimum target in 2024 for the Arizona Cardinals after successive 4-13 finishes.

Head coach Jonathan Gannon was given a bit of a mulligan in his first season with Kyler Murray recovering from a torn ACL, so few judged him too harshly after Arizona tied for the second-worst record in the league.

Making the playoffs is probably too much to ask of a roster that's not significantly better compared to 2023. But enough improvements were made to where Gannon will need to show some signs of progress.

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2024 Arizona Cardinals Schedule

Full schedule information available on the team's official website

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Analysis

The New England Patriots, Washington Commanders and Carolina Panthers were all as bad as the Cardinals in 2023, and none of the three is likely to take a major step forward. That presents a good opportunity for Arizona to pick up a couple of wins and capitalizing on that stretch will be important given what else is on the schedule.

The Cardinals drew the AFC East's two strongest teams (Buffalo Bills and Miami Dolphins) on the road.

This isn't a great year to match up with the NFC North because none of the four teams in the division is shaping up to be that bad on paper.

The Detroit Lions have genuine Super Bowl aspirations. The Green Bay Packers may have found their franchise quarterback with Jordan Love. Even the Chicago Bears were aggressive in the offseason, adding running back D'Andre Swift and wide receiver Keenan Allen before taking Caleb Williams and Rome Odunze in the first round of the draft.

There aren't many gimmes on Arizona's slate.

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Pivotal Matchups

Whatever the Cardinals' aims are, those aforementioned games against the Patriots, Commanders and Panthers will carry some significance.

Should the organization want to make a wild-card push, beating the worst teams on the schedule is imperative and dropping any of those three means needing to pick up a win elsewhere. In the event Arizona is still building for the future, it could be competing directly against New England, Washington and Carolina, adding some tangible stakes to the outcomes of those meetings.

From a wild-card perspective, those divisional battles with the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks are worth circling.

The Rams will undoubtedly be in the playoff hunt but are firmly the second-best team within the NFC West. The Seahawks are embarking on a new era with first-year head coach Mike Macdonald.

Faring better than their 0-4 mark against Los Angeles and Seattle is a requirement for Arizona to push toward .500 overall and even perhaps a winning record.