Cardinals predicted to start 0-4, miss the playoffs in 2022

Following the release of the schedule for the 2022 NFL regular season, FanSided’s Matt Verderame doesn’t believe the Arizona Cardinals will be making the playoffs.

On Thursday, the NFL released the 2022 regular-season schedule for the Arizona Cardinals and the other 31 teams in the league.

At a quick glance, there don’t seem to be any easy sections of the Cardinals’ schedule for next season. NFL.com’s Nick Shook already has Arizona with the second-toughest 2022 schedule in the league following Thursday’s reveal.

The Cardinals definitely have the talent to return to the playoffs next season. But the way in which their schedule is setup has some believing Arizona will be left on the outside of the postseason during the 2022 campaign.

Arizona Cardinals predicted to miss the playoffs during the 2022 season

Following the release of the 2022 NFL regular-season schedule, FanSided’s Matt Verderame went ahead and made early predictions for every single game, including the playoffs.

Verderame doesn’t have the Cardinals getting their first victory of the year until their Week 5 matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.

That’s right, he believes Arizona will begin the 2022 season by losing each of their first four games. Let’s hope this doesn’t ending up being what actually happens since only one of the 103 teams to begin a season with an 0-4 record since 1990 has gone on to make the playoffs (1992 San Diego Chargers).

The good news is that Verderame has the Cardinals going 9-5 during the rest of the season. The bad news is that he doesn’t believe a final record of 9-8 will be enough for Arizona to get back into the playoffs. With their record, Verderame has the Cardinals finishing as the No. 8 seed in the NFC next season.

If Arizona misses out on the postseason in 2022, what would it mean for the future of the franchise? After just handing out two five-year extensions to head coach Kliff Kingsbury and general manager Steve Keim, it’s hard to imagine them being shown the door if the Cardinals fail to make the playoffs next season.

Would this outcome result in more drama from an unhappy Kyler Murray? Could he end up asking for a trade?

For a team that has improved their win total in each of the last three seasons, missing the playoffs in 2022 would certainly be a step backward for Arizona. At the very least, it’s something that would probably change the future of the organization in a significantly dramatic way.