3 Instantly Honest Thoughts on the Arizona Cardinals 2026 Schedule

The Arizona Cardinals' 2026 schedule has been fully revealed, and the instant reactions have been pouring in.

The Cardinals have one of the toughest schedules in the league despite finishing as a fourth-place team, though they did get a nice break in the action down the stretch of the season — we'll talk about that in a bit.

Three instant — and honest – reactions to the Cardinals' schedule release:

No Prime time or International Games? No Problem

Maybe it's because I'm at the ripe age of 30 or I'm actually at the stadium well before and well after the games, but primetime matchups are fun in theory — until you're forced to wait all day for action to start and you end up staying up later than normal to watch things conclude.

For the Cardinals, getting no prime time games was perfectly fine/acceptable. Arizona won three games last season and have several unknowns with first-time head coach Mike LaFleur and his quarterback situation. That's not a recipe to make NFL and TV execs thrilled to include the Cardinals in the spotlight.

Especially for a team that's 3-8 in their last eleven prime time battles, getting the slate of afternoon/morning games is just fine.

When it comes to international games, many teams actually don't seem to love the travel and impact it has on their bodies just for the sake of the NFL getting more exposure (money) elsewhere. While it's a cool experience, doing so in-season isn't close to being ideal for these guys.

Not being featured on prime time or internationally isn't quite the blow some are making it out to be.

That Schedule Really is Brutal...

We'll get to their final stretch here in a second, but boy Weeks 1-14 is just an absolute slaughterhouse.

We'll first start with the Cardinals' first six-of-nine games coming on the road. Opening the season with a playoff team (Chargers), the defending Super Bowl champs (Seahawks) and another playoff team (49ers) in the first three weeks of the year is tough sledding.

After that stretch, they'll hop on a plane for their longest road trip of the season (New York). When the dust settles after their Week 14 BYE, Arizona will have played five of their six divisional matchups with additional battles against the Lions, Broncos, Cowboys, Chiefs, Commanders and Eagles.

The Cardinals very well could be eliminated from the playoffs before the final four weeks of the season.

The Nice End to The Season Could Be Beneficial For a Few Reasons

The Cardinals have their bye week in Week 14 (super late) and finish the schedule with three-of-four home games against the Jets, Saints (away), Raiders and 49ers. This is undoubtedly the easier part of the schedule, though the timing of the bye week could play a key role here.

At some point, barring a surprise season from Jacoby Brissett, Carson Beck is expected to see some sort of action in 2026. The belief is Brissett will begin the season as the starter and if the Cardinals do indeed spiral in the beginning of the schedule, pressure will mount for Arizona's third-round pick to play over him.

The bye week and final four games would give the Cardinals a perfect runway to see what they have in Beck for the remaining schedule, allowing them to gain a better evaluation on their rookie quarterback ahead of a highly anticipated 2027 college class.

To be perfectly clear, Arizona won't throw Beck into the fire just because. This would have to be an ideal situation where, barring injury, Beck would play games down the stretch when the Cardinals are clearly out of the postseason race.

Given the ultra late bye week, tough schedule at the beginning and (more) favorable matchups down the stretch, this could be the golden opportunity for Cardinals fans to see Beck.

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