The Arizona Cardinals have had a rough time when it comes to winning division titles.
In their 124-year existence, the Arizona/St.Louis/Chicago Cardinals have had some good times but have also had a lot of awful years. But the times they have won the division, it’s felt like they were on top of the world.
The Cardinals have won five division titles in their history, but they have only come in St.Louis and Arizona. The Cardinals did not win any division titles when they were in Chicago, as that was when the NFL was a stand-alone league with much fewer teams.
So what were those years that the Cardinals won the division? Let’s look at those years and how each postseason adventure went.
The Arizona Cardinals have won five division titles in their 124-year existence
2008:
After 33 long years of wandering and some atrocious Cardinals football, the Arizona Cardinals claimed their first divisional title. It was their first NFC West championship after previously winning the NFC East when in St.Louis. The Cardinals clinched the title on a 99-yard pick-six by rookie cornerback
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They would clinch the division in the first week of December and stumble into the postseason with a 9-7 record. But all the Cardinals needed was a chance to be in the dance, and they went all the way to being within 2:37 of winning their only Lombardi Trophy.
2009:
Another division title repeat, the Cardinals went 10-6. They would go on to play the Green Bay Packers in one of the craziest playoff games ever, a 51-45 overtime win in what would later become known to Cardinals fans as “Dansby’s Dash.”
The next week saw the Cardinals start fast in the divisional round with an 80-yard touchdown by running back Tim Hightower on their first possession, but the “Bountygate” Saints would wash over the Cardinals like a Category five Hurricane. The Saints won 45-14 and ended Kurt Warner’s career on a dirty hit by the Saints’ Bobby McCray.
2015:
The most dominant season by an Arizona Cardinals team ever, they rolled to a 13-3 record and their final divisional title to date. Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald had their careers reborn from the ashes.
The Cardinals once again won an even more bonkers playoff game against the Packers, a 26-20 overtime win that would become known as the “Hail Larry.”
The Cardinals’ season would end in a frustrating, embarrassing, and tear-inducing blowout loss to the Carolina Panthers in the NFC Championship. What had seemed like the Cardinals’ year ended faster than a blink of an eye.
Let’s hope that the Cardinals can finish the job this year and add another banner to the rafters of StateFarm Stadium.