Predicting Rest of Cardinals Schedule

The Arizona Cardinals are in position to make a playoff push - but will it last?

Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray (1) walks off the field after beating the Chicago Bears 29-9 at State Farm Stadium on Nov 3, 2024, in Glendale. / Michael Chow/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

ARIZONA -- We're at the halfway point of the season, and the Arizona Cardinals are NFC West leaders with a 5-4 record.

They've been a pleasant surprise, for sure, though the Cardinals still must finish the season strong as divisional opponents in the San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams are right behind them.

Simply put, the Cardinals are still far from thinking about postseason adventures. With eight games remaining on the schedule, how will Arizona fare the rest of the way?

Predicting Rest of Cardinals Schedule

Week 10: vs New York Jets

The Jets arrive to the desert with some big names in Aaron Rodgers, Garrett Wilson and Davante Adams, but don't let it fool you - that team is struggling to find its identity after firing head coach Robert Saleh.

With how the two sides are trending, the Cardinals are understandably favorites at home. I think they'll go into the bye week with a fourth-straight win on the schedule.

Prediction: WIN
Record: 6-4

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Week 11: BYE

The Cardinals get an opportunity to rest up, and hopefully get names such as Jonah Williams and Darius Robinson back on the field for the last stretch of the schedule.

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Week 12: at Seattle Seahawks

Arizona arrives after the bye week to a Seahawks team - at home - having won their last five against the Cardinals. Seattle's got their own problems to sort out, though they're still playing acceptable football.

Despite getting back some big names during the bye, the Cardinals end up dropping a tough and close road contest to a divisional opponent.

Prediction: LOSS
Record: 6-5

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Week 13: at Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings are playing some incredibly tough football at the moment, and what they've been able to do with Sam Darnold running the show has been impressive.

Minnesota's a battle-tested team, at home, and it's a tough ask for the Cardinals to pull this one out.

Prediction: LOSS
Record: 6-6

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Week 14: vs Seattle Seahawks

Revenge time.

Playing Seattle for the second time in three weeks and looking to avoid falling below .500, the Cardinals rally behind themselves and see the dividends of better coaching pay-off in this rematch.

Arizona hopefully has Robinson and trade deadline addition Baron Browning settled in more by this point, matching a potent offense and splitting with the Seahawks in a double-digit victory.

Prediction: WIN
Record: 7-6

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Week 15: New England Patriots

Drake Maye has looked the part of a franchise quarterback at times, though New England is very much near the bottom of the barrel for a reason.

The Cardinals are more talented and better coached. Playing at home with a nice crowd behind them, Arizona starts another winning streak and handles the Patriots.

Prediction: WIN
Record: 8-6

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Week 16: at Carolina Panthers

If we're calling the Patriots a bottom of the barrel team, the Panthers might be the barrel itself. Everything's gone wrong for Carolina and by this point in this season, there will simply be too much film for Carolina to upset the Cardinals.

Good teams make bad teams look bad, and that's exactly what happens here.

Prediction: WIN
Record: 9-6

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Week 17: at Los Angeles Rams

The last two weeks of the season feature back to back division games, the first belongs at SoFi against a Rams team that's only getting healthier and looking for revenge from an embarrassing loss earlier in the year.

This game truly is a coin flip, but it doesn't feel like Sean McVay and a better offense will be out-dueled again.

Prediction: LOSS
Record: 9-7

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Week 18: vs San Francisco 49ers

It all comes down to this.

A potential NFC North crown is for the taking at State Farm Stadium to end the regular season, and if both teams catch fire towards the end of the year, this could be the game that decides so much in the NFC playoff picture.

Gannon's challenge in 2024 was to not only be in close games, but to win them. With their backs against the wall as underdogs, Arizona gets the job done in dramatic fashion.

Prediction: WIN
Record: 10-7

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With a 10-7 record, where would this leave the Cardinals in the postseason race?

Last year, the 49ers captured the NFC West with a 12-5 record. You'd have to go back to 2016 to find the last time a team in this division finished in first with just 10 wins.

With that record, Arizona likely doesn't win the NFC West, though it largely depends on how the rest of the division plays out.

As for clinching a wild card, for the last four years at least two teams with ten wins or under have made the postseason.

With seven total spots (four belonging to division winners automatically), there's currently three teams who have six or more wins (Vikings, Packers, Eagles) who are not currently first in their division.

All three teams trail their division leader by just one game, so things could get tricky down the stretch if Arizona isn't able to claim the NFC West crown, and they could potentially fall victim to a numbers game.

Still, a 10-7 finish to 2024 would be incredible for the second year under Gannon and general manager Monti Ossenfort. And though Gannon himself doesn't believe in momentum, ending the campaign with double-digit wins would certainly carry over into the offseason.