History of the Arizona Cardinals
The Cardinals, who ranked third in the NFL in total defense in 1994 but suffered from a lack of consistency at quarterback, entered the final week of the season with an outside chance at a playoff berth, but a 10–6 loss to the Atlanta Falcons ended those hopes as Arizona finished 8–8.
Esiason threw for 522 yards in an overtime victory over the Washington Redskins in the Cardinals' final game at RFK Stadium, and two weeks later led a fourth-quarter comeback against the playoff-bound Philadelphia Eagles.
The close calls and the fact that none of their victories had been to teams with winning records (New Orleans was the best of the group at 6–10; San Diego was 5–11 and Philadelphia 3–13) made them heavy underdogs going into their Wild Card Playoff game against the Dallas Cowboys.
To further the situation, the Cardinals franchise had not won a single playoff game since their title year of 1947, resulting in the longest active drought in professional sports history.
However, the distinction was short lived as the Cardinals fell in the divisional round of the playoffs to the Minnesota Vikings who possessed a 15–1 record as well as the highest scoring offense in NFL history at the time.
[6] Coming off their playoff run in 1998, the Cardinals were expected to do bigger and better things in 1999, but a tough schedule ranked in the top 5 as well as key injuries returned the team to their losing ways, getting off to a 2–6 start.
In McGinnis' second game as head coach, Aeneas Williams tied an NFL record by returning a fumble 104 yards for a touchdown in a 16–15 victory over the Redskins.
In 2000, Maricopa County voters passed a ballot initiative by a margin of 51% to 49%, providing funding for a new Cardinals stadium (as well as for improvements to Major League Baseball spring training facilities in the greater Phoenix region; and youth recreation).
The Cardinals' executive offices and training facility remained in Tempe, in a complex (built in 1990) about 8 miles (13 km) south of Sun Devil Stadium.
The Cardinals then hosted their first regular season opening day game since moving to the Phoenix area in 1988, defeating the San Francisco 49ers in a rematch of the 2005 blowout in Mexico City, 34–27, in front of a sellout crowd of 63,407.
Despite the new stadium, the team began the 2006 season with a 1–8 record, punctuated by a 24–23 loss to the Chicago Bears on October 16 (before a sellout crowd enjoying a rare Cardinals appearance on Monday Night Football) in which Arizona blew a 20-point lead in an extremely bizarre game as Chicago scored no offensive touchdowns and the Cardinals led in several statistical categories including Time of Possession, Passing Yardage, Rushing Yardage, Giveaways, Takeaways, and Interceptions.
The Cardinals followed up winning the division title with two lackluster performances, losing at home 35–14 to the Minnesota Vikings, then suffering a 47–7 rout to the New England Patriots at a snowy Gillette Stadium.
With the Philadelphia Eagles upsetting the top-seeded New York Giants the next day, the Cardinals, as the only remaining division champion, earned the right to host the first NFC Championship Game in team history.
Coupled with a win over the Detroit Lions and loss from San Francisco to the Philadelphia Eagles, the Cardinals clinched their second straight NFC West division title on December 20, 2009.
The Cardinals ended up beating the Green Bay Packers 51–45 in overtime in the highest scoring playoff game in NFL history, keeping alive the Packers–Cardinals rivalry which began on Nov. 20, 1921 when the two teams played to a 3–3 tie.
Several quarterback options were floated for 2011, including veteran Donovan McNabb (a part-time resident of Chandler, a local suburb) and Carson Palmer (who Kurt Warner personally lobbied for).
They beat the Carolina Panthers in Week 1 for Kolb's first regular season game on the team, but lost the next three against the Washington Redskins, Seattle Seahawks, and New York Giants despite close scores.
At the end of regulation, defensive tackle Calaias Campbell blocked the would-be game-winning field goal attempt by the Rams, forcing overtime.
Drew Stanton was also hurt by the Rams as well in week 16 of the 2014 season by taking a hit to the knee which soon became infected and forced the team to start third-string quarterback Ryan Lindley.
Midseason, former Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson was acquired from New Orleans, but was also shut down after a neck injury suffered late in the season.
In January 2018, the Cardinals announced the hiring of Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks as their new head coach, the second African-American (after Dennis Green) to hold the position.
[17] In week 3 they played the Chicago Bears, and after having a solid first quarter (that included two touchdown passes), the offense again got pummeled and Bradford only threw for 65 yards from that point on.
[20] After a blowout loss to the Denver Broncos in week 7, offensive coordinator Mike McCoy was fired and replaced by quarterbacks coach Byron Leftwich.
[21] They continued to struggle for the rest of the year and with two wins against the San Francisco 49ers and one against the Green Bay Packers, they finished the season with an abysmal 3–13 record, tying for the franchise's worst (with the 2000 Arizona Cardinals).
The Cardinals lost their next three games against the Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, and Seattle Seahawks, before defeating the Cincinnati Bengals to acquire their first victory of the season in a high-scoring fourth quarter.
Then, the Cardinals deteriorated for a long losing streak that started with a 31–9 blowout loss to the New Orleans Saints, which was followed by a near comeback victory over the San Francisco 49ers, who improved to 8–0 after that contest.
Following the 2019 season, the Arizona Cardinals would trade for Pro Bowl wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins of the Houston Texans for running back David Johnson and a 2021 second-round pick.
Kyler Murray was an early favorite for MVP, with the offense averaging over 32 points per game, although on the other side of the ball, JJ Watt tore his labrum, bicep, and rotator cuff in addition to dislocating his shoulder, and was out for the remainder of the regular season.
A Thursday Night Football showdown against the Green Bay Packers saw the Cardinals lose, along with Kyler Murray taking a hit and injuring his ankle, missing the next three games.
Led by backup Colt McCoy, the Cardinals went 2–1 in the month long absence of their star quarterback, beating the divisional rival San Francisco 49ers 31–17 and Seattle Seahawks 23–13, but also lost 34–10 to the Carolina Panthers.
