Arizona Cardinals: Tough schedule is an obstacle for playoff hunt
By Larry Brake
The Arizona Cardinals will find making the playoffs a tough task due to their 2018 season schedule
The Arizona Cardinals face playing the eighth toughest NFL schedule for the 2018 season. In order to make the playoffs, Arizona will have to win ten or more games. First of all, they must win their home games.
Arizona will play eight games against NFC North and AFC West teams. Washington and Atlanta are individual opponents based on their 2017 place finishes. Most of all, they have to defeat their NFC West opponents.
The Cardinals will play five home games before their week nine bye week. Seattle and San Francisco are weeks four and eight, respectively. Washington, Chicago and Denver come to Arizona.
In week 2, the Cardinals travel to play Los Angeles as their first divisional foe. Arizona heads North to play San Francisco and then, the following week, to Minnesota. The first two months will be a good test for the Cardinals.
After the bye, they will face consecutive weeks of AFC West teams. They travel to Kansas City and travel to the Los Angeles Chargers. Hosting Oakland in Week 11 will not be easy due to Jon Gruden being back as their head coach.
Three of the last five games are on the road. Playing at Green Bay, Atlanta, and Seattle should be losses. Hosting Detroit and the L.A. Rams wraps up the regular season. So, what will their record be after week 17? There are eight games that they should win. Five games will be losses. The three remaining games are toss ups but are must-win games.
First, in Week 5, Arizona travels to San Francisco. The Cardinals should be 3-1 entering that game. Arizona’s defense must constantly pressure San Francisco’s quarterback. Arizona must win this to keep the momentum going into week 6.
Next, Arizona will face Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings. Minnesota will have an outstanding pass offense. The Cardinals secondary may have a long day. Arizona would be estatic to be 4-2 at this point.
After the bye week, the Cardinals travel to Kansas City. Arizona will be hard pressed to win their third consecutive game. Kansas City is not particularly tough at home. Expect Arizona to steal this road game.
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If the Cardinals can win two of the toss up games, the playoffs might be realized. Since the Cardinals are a young team, having a 10-6 record would be awesome. Since the Rams will win the division, Arizona needs to have a 4-2 record within the NFC West. Let’s see how it all plays out.