Happy Wednesday! I hope your week is going well.
I’ll get to the Cardinals below, but first, congrats to the Florida Panthers, who defeated the Edmonton Oilers for the second consecutive season last night to win the Stanley Cup. Unbelievable — that’s such a hard thing to do in any sport, especially hockey!
Basketball is heading down the same path — can the Thunder close it out tomorrow in Indiana? Once that series is over, it’s allllllll baseball until football kicks off, so make sure to take it all in!
Finally, I want to post your thoughts in this very section! Shoot me an email with your thoughts on today’s main story, and I’ll post them right here in Thursday’s newsletter.
On to the show!
Predicting the Cardinals’ Playoff Fate
The Arizona Cardinals have a shot at winning the NFC West.
I hope you didn’t just spit out your coffee — it’s true!
It’s easy to forget that the Birds had us dreaming of postseason football until a 2-5 finish turned it into a nightmare, but when evaluating their upcoming 2025 schedule, there’s a little space for optimism.
For one, Arizona is tied with Carolina for the fifth-easiest schedule when looking at the win percentage of last year’s opponents (.457). The only division opponent that has it “easier” is San Francisco, who own the league’s easiest schedule.
The Rams and Seahawks round it out with the 16th and 11th easiest schedule, respectively.
I hope you picked up on the quotes around “easiest” above, because make no mistake, basing a strength of schedule on the previous season’s results is a dangerous exercise. Case in point: those who are banking on an easy out against the Cardinals are in for a rude awakening, despite Arizona’s 8-9 record last year.
But hey, we have to set the bar somewhere, so that’s where our story begins this morning.
Predicting All of the Cardinals’ 2025 Outcomes
There’s no better way to do this then look game-by-game at the Cardinals’ schedule.
| Opponent | 2024 Result | 2025 Prediction |
|---|---|---|
| 9/7 at Saints | N/A | W, 24-14 |
| 9/14 vs. Panthers | L, 36-30 (OT) | W, 31-24 |
| 9/21 at 49ers | W, 24-23 | L, 31-28 |
| 9/25 vs. Seahawks | L, 30-18 | W, 27-24 |
| 10/5 vs. Titans | N/A | W, 38-21 |
| 10/12 at Colts | N/A | L, 28-17 |
| 10/19 vs. Packers | L, 34-13 | L, 31-21 |
| 11/3 at Cowboys | N/A | W, 30-24 |
| 11/9 at Seahawks | L, 16-6 | L, 20-13 |
| 11/16 vs. 49ers | W, 47-24 | W, 41-31 |
| 11/23 vs. Jaguars | N/A | W, 48-21 |
| 11/30 at Bucs | N/A | L, 31-16 |
| 12/7 vs. Rams | W, 41-10 | W, 38-35 |
| 12/14 at Texans | N/A | L, 41-17 |
| 12/21 vs. Falcons | N/A | W, 38-35 |
| FLEX at Bengals | N/A | L, 16-14 |
| FLEX at Rams | L, 13-9 | W, 31-28 |
If you’re keeping score at home, that’s a 10-7 record, including a 4-2 mark in the division, which would certainly put the Cardinals in the thick of the race.
Sure, I’m conveniently publishing this in June, and most of my friends will tell you I’m no Nostradamus. Based on last season, though, the NFC West is very much up for grabs, and I think the Cardinals will be far more balanced this year considering both their new-look defense and the natural maturation of receiver Marvin Harrison Jr.
What do you think? Can Arizona actually pull off 10-7, or am I completely off my rocker? How do you see the NFC West shaking out? I want to hear from you — I’ll put some of or responses in the intro tomorrow, so email me: patrick@gophnx.com.
I hope to hear from you!
That One Stings: The D-backs rallied from a 2-0 deficit yesterday against the Blue Jays, but Shelby Miller allowed back-to-back home runs with one out in the ninth as Toronto walked it off with a 5-4 win. Arizona is back in action for the second game in the series at 4:07 pm today.
No Surprise Here: Football coach Kenny Dillingham was named the 2024-25 Frank Kush Award winner, which is voted on by all ASU coaches. Dillingham proved the doubters wrong week after week, en route to a Big 12 title and a berth in the College Football Playoff. Congrats, Kenny — so well deserved!
Busy Few Days: The Mercury kick off back-to-back game days against 2-8 Connecticut (4 pm, Arizona’s Family Sports) before traveling to New York to face the 9-1 Liberty tomorrow. No rest for the weary!
It’s Getting Drafty: KD trade talk isn’t the only thing dominating headlines, as the NBA Draft is next week! Make sure to check out the NBA Diehard Draft Guide — Led by ALLCITY draft analysts Derek Bodner of PHLY and Will Gottlieb of CHGO, this guide is your one-stop-shop as teams across the league gear up to reshape their rosters!
Note the Diehard draft guide is best viewed on desktop or tablet!
Tip Of The Hat By Branded Bills
This could be a big leap year for Marvin!
