Record 11–5 | ||
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Home field University of Phoenix Stadium | ||
The 2014 Arizona Cardinals season was the franchise's 95th season in the National Football League, the 27th in Arizona and the second under head coach Bruce Arians. Following an explosive 9-1 start to the regular season, they finished at a disappointing 11–5, achieving their highest win total since 1975 when they were still in St. Louis (also their highest total in a 16-game season). The Cardinals clinched their first playoff berth since 2009, and had a chance to become the first team to try to play the Super Bowl on their own home field, University of Phoenix Stadium. However, after season-ending injuries to Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton, they were forced to start third-string quarterback Ryan Lindley in the wild-card round, losing to the 7-8-1 Carolina Panthers by a score of 27–16. The 2014 Cardinals were the sixth team during the Super Bowl-era to qualify for the playoffs in a season in which their stadium hosted the Super Bowl. They were also the first team since the NFL re-alignment in 2002 to do so. They were followed by the 2016 Houston Texans.
Contents
Draft
Preseason
By defeating the Texans 32–0, this would be the second consecutive season in which the Cardinals shutout their first preseason opponent.
Regular season
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.Week 10: vs. St. Louis Rams
Carson Palmer would suffer a season ending injury on his left-knee. Drew Stanton would take over as quarterback for the rest of the game. Thanks to the efforts of the defense during the fourth quarter, the Cardinals rallied to beat the Rams 31-14.
Week 17: at San Francisco 49ers
This would snap the 49ers' 4-game losing streak in Levi's Stadium. With the loss, the Cardinals finished their season to 11-5.
NFC Wild Card Playoffs: at #4 Carolina Panthers
The Cardinals' offensive performance was historically bad as the team lost to the 7-8-1 Panthers, by a final score of 27-16, and were eliminated from the postseason. They committed three turnovers (two of them being red zone interceptions), gained only 8 first downs (and only 2 first downs in the second half) and recorded 78 net yards of offense, the fewest amount of yards gained in a playoff game by any team in NFL postseason history. After a 9-1 start, the Cardinals went 2-5 in their final seven games.