ARIZONA CARDINALS 2021 WIN PREDICTION

BY ADAM GREENE

It’s year three of the Kliff Kingsbury era with the Arizona Cardinals and the biggest hurdle for the team remains; the rest of the NFC West. Playing in the best division in professional football kept the Cardinals out of the playoffs last season, culminating in an 18-7 loss to the Los Angeles Rams in what amounted to a “play in” game for both teams. Second-year quarterback Kyler Murray didn’t finish the game, getting knocked out of the contest on the game’s opening drive after a sack from Mike Fox.

Seeing the mountain before it, Arizona hasn’t rested on its laurels hoping that its young players would improve enough to catch the rest of their division. They’ve hustled in free agency, adding stars like J.J. Watt and A.J. Green in the waning years of their careers and again shored up their defense by drafting, for the second year in a row, probably the best inside linebacker in the draft.

There’s a chance future Hall of Fame wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald will return, but it doesn’t seem as if the team is counting on it.

ARIZONA CARDINALS

Last season: 8-8. 4^th place NFC West

Odds: under 8.5 wins -130, over 8.5 wins +100

2021 NFL Draft: Zaven Collins, LB, Tulsa – Round 1, Rondale Moore, WR, Purder – Round 2, Marco Wilson, CB, Florida – Round 4, Victor Dimakeje, DE, Duke – Round 6, Tay Gowan, CB, UCF – Round 6, James Wiggins, Safety, Cincinnati – Round 7, Michal Menet, Center, Penn State – Round 7

UDFAs: Zane Lewis, CB – Air Force, Steven Gonzalez, OL – Penn State, Reggie White, Edge – Kansas State, Jackson Dennis, OT – Holy Cross, Jonathan Ward, RB – Central Michigan, Andrew Dickinson, OL – Findlay, Reggie Floyd, Safety – Virginia Tech, Cedric Boyd, WR – Hawaii, Shane Leatherbury, WR – Towson, Ryan Becker, TE – SMU, Jake Benzinger, OL – Wake Forest, T.J. Carter, DL – Kentucky, Adam Shuler, DE – Florida, Jace Whittaker, CB – Arizona, Jarren Williams, CB – Albany

Acquisitions: Rodney Hudson, Center – Trade, A.J. Green, WR – Free Agent, J.J. Watt, DL – Free Agent, Malcolm Butler, CB – Free Agent, Shawn Williams, Safety – Free Agent, Matt Prater, Kicker – Free Agent, Brian Winters, OL – Free Agent, Colt McCoy, WB – Free Agent, Darquez Dennard, CB – Free Agent, Xavier Williams, DL – Free Agent, Ross Travis, TE – Free Agent, Aaron Wesley, WR – Free Agent

Key Losses: Larry Fitzgerald, -WR (Maybe), Patrick Peterson – CB, Haason Reddick – LB, Mason Cole – Center, Dre Kirkpatrick – CB, Corey Peters – DL, J.R. Sweezy – OL

PRESUMED STARTERS

QB: Kyler Murray

RB: James Conner

WR: DeAndre Hopkins

WR: A.J. Green

WR: Christian Kirk

TE: Maxx Williams

LT: D.J. Humphries

LG: Justin Pugh

C: Rodney Hudson

RG: Justin Murray

RT: Kelvin Beachum

LDE: J.J. Watt

NT: Rashad Lawrence

RDE: Zach Allen

OLB: Chandler Jones

OLB: Markus Golden

ILB: Zaven Collins

ILB: Isaiah Simmons

CB: Byron Murphy Jr.

CB: Malcolm Butler

SS: Jalen Thompson

FS: Budda Baker

K: Matt Prater

P: Andy Lee

FORECAST

The extra game added to the schedule doesn’t help the Cardinals at all as they face off against the Cleveland Browns, a playoff team a year ago. In fact, this has to be one of the toughest schedules in the league. Arizona plays eight playoff teams in its 17 games and that isn’t counting two games against a vastly improved (and healthy) San Francisco 49ers team that went to a Super Bowl two years ago. Arizona held their own against every NFC West team last year except the Rams, who are a deadly match up for Kingsbury’s squad. They should be better and more formidable on the field, but their slate of games is just too tough to get over the hump.

Final Record Prediction: 8-9, fourth place in the NFC West, will not make the playoffs

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