The Arizona Cardinals have some very cool facts about this year’s schedule
The Arizona Cardinals had a decent schedule in 2014 but let’s be honest, it wasn’t the toughest in the NFL. They only had to travel beyond St. Louis once all of last season, going to New York. This season, they travel to Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Detroit, and Philadelphia.
So I thought it would be interesting to take another look at this year’s schedule amidst the tough travel and try to find some interesting things about it. Every year the NFL schedule makers do make it interesting and different and this year was no exception.
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5. The Cardinals play three of their first four games this season at home and three of their last four at home.
How interesting is that? At first glance it means a lot of road games in the middle of the season but I’d almost prefer that I think. The one road game in the first four weeks is at the Chicago Bears. Take away one snow game chance right there. Plus they get the New Orleans Saints, San Francisco 49ers, and St. Louis Rams at home. Two division games out of the way.
Three of the last four at home include the Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers, and Seattle Seahawks. So arguably their two toughest home games are the last two games of the season and the Cardinals will be well into the swing of things. They will have found their identity by then. I like this schedule.
4. The Cardinals have a back to back in the Eastern time zone this season against the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers on October 11th and 18th respectively.
There has been talk about the Cardinals staying away from home back east during the week between the Lions and Steelers game. The Cardinals did that once in 2008 when they played the Washington Redskins and the New York Jets. That didn’t work out so well for them then but this is a different team and with Bruce Arians at the helm, I don’t see it as troublesome.
3. The Cincinnati Bengals make their first regular season trip to University of Phoenix Stadium.
The Cincinnati Bengals didn’t make their first trip into UOP Stadium at all until last year during the preseason in a game they defeated the Cardinals on Sunday Night Football. November 22nd this year though will mark the first trip in the regular season for quarterback Andy Dalton and the Bengals. The Cardinals last played Cincinnati on Christmas Eve 2011 in Cincinnati.