Closer look at Arizona Cardinals’ 2009 schedule
Raise your hand if you saw that Super Bowl run by the Arizona Cardinals last year!
I’m expecting no one has their hand raised, as the Cards shocked the Falcons, Panthers and Eagles to win the NFC crown for the first time and nearly upset the Steelers in the Super Bowl. Can Kurt Warner and Co. do it again?
Well, the team has two new offensive coordinators, with Todd Haley now the head coach of the Chiefs and defensive coordinator Clancy Pendergast having been fired. But Warner is back, and so is, it appears, Anquan Boldin after demanding a trade or a new contract all offseason. So the offense should be just as strong as last year, with Tim Hightower and Chris Wells likely splitting time as the starting running backs.
Arizona’s strength of schedule for 2009 is the sixth-easiest in the league, with the Cards’ opponents having a winning percentage of .441 last year. And of course Arizona gets to play in the weak NFC West, a division in which it went unbeaten in 2008.
Thanks to their newfound success, the Cardinals have three scheduled prime-time game this year. The Week 14 night game with the 49ers is the third straight year the Cards will play San Francisco on Monday. It’s only the third time the team has appeared in primetime games three times in a season, following 1995 and 1999.
The Cards also will open with the 49ers for a fourth straight season, when San Francisco visits University of Phoenix Stadium Sept. 13. The good news is that the team probably won’t have to deal with any wintry weather games this year other than Nov. 29 at Tennessee.
Only one Super Bowl runner-up in the past eight years has returned to the playoffs the following year.
Arizona is +1900 on WagerWeb.com to win Super Bowl XLIV and -105 favorites to win the NFC West.
CARDINALS’ 2009 SCHEDULE
Week 1: Sun, Sept. 13 vs. San Francisco 49ers FOX 4:15 p.m.
Week 2: Sun, Sept. 20 at Jacksonville Jaguars FOX 1 p.m.
Week 3: Sun, Sept. 27 vs. Indianapolis Colts NBC 8:20 p.m.
Week 4: Bye
Week 5: Sun, Oct. 11 vs. Houston Texans CBS 4:15 p.m.
Week 6: Sun, Oct. 18 at Seattle Seahawks FOX 4:05 p.m.
Week 7: Sun, Oct. 25 at New York Giants NBC 8:20 p.m.
Week 8: Sun, Nov. 1 vs. Carolina Panthers FOX 4:15 p.m.
Week 9: Sun, Nov. 8 at Chicago Bears FOX 1 p.m.
Week 10: Sun, Nov. 15 vs. Seattle Seahawks FOX 4:15 p.m.
Week 11: Sun, Nov. 22 at St. Louis Rams FOX 4:05 p.m.
Week 12: Sun, Nov. 29 at Tennessee Titans FOX 1 p.m.
Week 13: Sun, Dec. 6 vs. Minnesota Vikings FOX 4:15 p.m.
Week 14: Mon, Dec. 14 at San Francisco 49ers ESPN 8:30 p.m.
Week 15: Sun, Dec. 20 at Detroit Lions FOX 1 p.m.
Week 16: Sun, Dec. 27 vs. St. Louis Rams FOX 4:05 p.m.
Week 17: Sun, Jan. 3 vs. Green Bay Packers FOX 4:15 p.m.
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