👋 GOOD MORNING – Happy New Year’s Eve everyone! 2025 is coming to a close. This will be another short week for PHNX Daily, so this is the last time I’ll be in your inbox this week. I’ll see you again in 2026.

Of course, that means today we’ll have to talk about the Arizona Cardinals. On the bright side (maybe?), this is the last time we’ll have to get ready for a Cardinals game until next year.

One more time!

— Alex D’Agostino, PHNX Sports Daily Editor

Cardinals Face Final Game of Season

For the time being, this is it. This is the last time we’ll get to be forced to watch the Cardinals this year — and this one could, somehow, get even uglier than the previous handful of ugly losses.

The Cardinals are 3-13 and teetering on the edge of the worst season in modern franchise history.

Luckily, they have one more chance to prevent a 1-14 record down the stretch. Unluckily, it’s against Sean McVay and the Los Angeles Rams… on the road… after they just lost to the Atlanta Falcons in a huge Monday night upset…

Now, I’m sure many (most?) of you are probably looking at this matchup as a good thing. I get it. A loss could help the Cardinals’ draft position, and could help usher in a new Cardinals coaching regime.

I, personally, am going to delusionally root for a Cardinals win, not because I don’t care about the draft, but because this team simply needs more wins in its history. The fans need wins — the players need wins. We don’t have to be pleased with the coaching staff or ownership to acknowledge the fact that a win in the NFL is a good thing, always.

(Okay, now I bet you’re glad that’s the last time you’ll have to hear my rant on this subject).

Speaking of draft position, the Cardinals are currently eliminated from the first overall pick. Thanks, Geno Smith and Pete Carroll (as fun as it may be to see you lose every week).

As of this moment, Arizona sits fifth in the draft order, though they could leapfrog as high as the No. 2 pick if the Giants, Jets and Titans all win (and the Cardinals lose, of course). There are a few strength-of-schedule implications in there too, but I’m not going to number-vomit all over your screen.

The point is, the Cardinals are going to pick high, but right now it may not be high enough to land either of the top two QBs in this draft. We’ll just have to wait and see on that, though.

Well, we’ve delayed the inevitable long enough. It’s time to take a look at the matchup.

How do Cardinals, Rams Match Up?

Not well.

The last time these two teams faced off (in State Farm Stadium, no less), the Cardinals were battered around for a 45-17 loss. Los Angeles ran them over and then ran up the score without much resistance, while the Cardinals once again struggled offensively outside the opening drive.

Now, the Rams can’t win the NFC West. They’ve managed to choke that away, with the 49ers and Seahawks facing off for the title this week.

But McVay told reporters this week his starters will play week 18. So we probably won’t have to watch Jimmy Garoppolo carve up Arizona’s defense this week, at least until LA has a substantial lead.

At this point, it’s hardly even productive to dive into actual matchups. The Cardinals’ defense has been abysmal of late, and (though this is not an excuse in any way) is very banged up. The offense might be without Marvin Harrison Jr., who suffered an injury to his other foot last week.

At this point, our X-factor isn’t one Cardinals player, but a general philosophy:

• Stay Mentally Tough

Honestly, there’s probably no way this team manages a win, barring some catastrophically poor play by the Rams. What we do want to see, however, is guys playing hard, tackling better, and a feeling of overall intensity.

That’s extremely hard in a lost season. It doesn’t feel as if Jonathan Gannon has lost the locker room, but the effort did not feel fully on display last week. Again, it’s hard to truly blame them, but the intensity needs to be significantly better, even if the final score doesn’t see much of a change.

Quick Hits

Stay Ablaze: The Suns seem to be out of their rough stretch. They’ve won four straight games and seem to be hitting their stride at 19-13. They’ll face off against the 18-16 Cleveland Cavaliers on the road for a 1:30 p.m. matchup this afternoon in hopes of reaching their 20th win of the season.

So it begins: The No. 1-ranked Wildcat basketball squad is unbeaten after a dominant 13-0 start to the season. Now, it’s time for conference play. Arizona begins its conference slate on the road against 8-5 Utah this Saturday at 2:00 p.m.

Arizona football, meanwhile, plays SMU in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego on Friday at 6:00 p.m.

Big 12 Bobby: Bobby Hurley and the Sun Devil hoops team, similarly, begin their conference schedule on Saturday afternoon — a 3:00 p.m. game at home against the Colorado Buffaloes. ASU is 9-4 to begin the season, while Colorado is 10-3.

Kenny Dillingham and the football squad, meanwhile, play in the Sun Bowl against Duke at noon today in El Paso.