Arizona Cardinals 2021 schedule harder than last year

Jan 3, 2021; Inglewood, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals middle linebacker Jordan Hicks (58) celebrates his first quarter inception against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 3, 2021; Inglewood, California, USA; Arizona Cardinals middle linebacker Jordan Hicks (58) celebrates his first quarter inception against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

The Arizona Cardinals 2021 schedule has all the chips in the middle of the table. With all of the logistics of their opponents, it’s time to get to work for Kliff Kingsbury and company. On this end, It’s time to figure out if the Cardinals truly are a playoff contender.

Looking at the schedule, the season starts with 3 out of four games on the road. Getting Tennessee in week one with a rookie middle linebacker is going to a monumental task and may just tell us everything we need to know about the defense in week 1. One of the highlights of these first four games is the re-match with Patrick Peterson and the Minnesota Vikings at home. All Cardinals fans know that P2 meant a lot for this franchise for a long time, but the end was bitter and frustrating. I still think that he is not a hall of famer based on what he’s done so far in his career.


The next four games include high-profile matchups against the Cleveland Browns and a Thursday Night Football showdown with the Green Bay Packers. The Browns and Cardinals played in 2019, with Kenyan Drake and Dan Arnold scoring at will in a blowout win for the Cardinals.

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It won’t be like that again, as this is probably the best Cleveland has ever been in many football fans’ lifetimes.  The matchup with Green Bay should NOT be on TNF. This series has been incredible between these two teams and deserves a more respectable, national spotlight.

To finish up the rest of the schedule, the Cardinals will have their work cut out for them, facing Chicago on the road- and the cold won’t be that much of an issue. I live in Chicago and it doesn’t really get cold until January, almost February here.

Must win-games against Detroit and Dallas will most likely be needed to clinch a playoff spot. The Arizona Cardinals should never lose to the Lions ever again.

So the Arizona Cardinals 2021 schedule is challenging, but doable. Having a late bye week is amazing in the first run through 17 games, and the Cardinals will enjoy every day off that they can get.

Schedule