What is an acceptable 2026 season?

[some dumb guy]

The Cardinals’ Schedule Is So Ridiculous the Entire NFL Is Talking About It

The Arizona Cardinals have a schedule so hard it's borderline laughable.

www.si.com

That's a perfect article. Now everyone will have absolutely no hope for the upcoming season and when we do better than expected...natural elation without gummies or Books famous brownies.
Not that artificial stimulation isn't encouraged

 

[ajcardfan]

I can't even answer the poll. If we win even one more game than last year I will be shocked.

 

[Russ Smith]

Just want to be competitive. We have a monster division and a tough schedule I'm not deluding myself that we're a playoff team, but I also think we should be better than last year

If you go back and look at the first 5 games last year and imagine if we had a guy like Love maybe we don't lose some of those.

The more I read about LaFleur the more I like it, he was the run game guy for the Rams so I think the combo of him and Love should significantly improve the run game.

 

[some dumb guy]

I can't even answer the poll. If we win even one more game than last year I will be shocked.

Prepare for a Young Frankenstein style shock my friend...LOL

 

[JRakes]

The more losses the better

 

[Weenus O'Baggins]

The Cards will not be the worst team in the league though, our offensive talent is just to good for that.

I will go so far as to say our skill position players are elite. Best TE in the league, Wilson was like 2nd or 3rd best WR in the second half of last season, RB who should be top 10, Harrison already decent with tons of upside, Borne is a very solid #3, Higgens a good #2 TE, and Algier a good #2 RB.

I will be surprised if they win 4 games. Brissett is horrific as a QB

 

[kerouac9]

I will be surprised if they win 4 games. Brissett is horrific as a QB

We’ve seen horrific QB play. Brissett is not that.

 

[Stout]

Let me revise: An acceptable season for Monti is far different than from the new hires. Monti needs a winning season. Being allowed to suck through three seasons is bad enough, having chosen a horrific coach. Continued suckage is unacceptable.

Monti: Must have a winning season.
MLF and Co: Show out as competitive.

 

[daves]

Let me revise: An acceptable season for Monti is far different than from the new hires. Monti needs a winning season. Being allowed to suck through three seasons is bad enough, having chosen a horrific coach. Continued suckage is unacceptable.

Monti: Must have a winning season.
MLF and Co: Show out as competitive.

Agree 100% - but I think that in reality, if MLF and Co show out as competitive but fail to pull off a miracle winning season, Monti will be retained.

Heck, even if the team is NOT competitive, performing even worse than expected based on the talent level and schedule difficulty, it's hard to imagine that the coaching staff would be fired after one year.

And it would be weird to retain the coaching staff but fire the GM who hired them based on his having hired another batch of underperforming coaches! So in reality there's almost no scenario where Ossenfort gets fired after this season. By giving him the opportunity to hire another coaching staff, Bidwill has essentially given him a free pass for at least one more year... when he'll get to draft a QBOF, which probably buys him ANOTHER year.

What a lousy situation Bidwill has got the team into.

 

[Weenus O'Baggins]

We’ve seen horrific QB play. Brissett is not that.

He was 31st in QB EPA in 2025. That's pretty terrible. Hilariously Slovis was 41st and Minshew was 49th so he is pretty safe in his role despite being really bad

I would love to know that EPA without being the garbage time king though

 

[some dumb guy]

He was 31st in QB EPA in 2025. That's pretty terrible. Hilariously Slovis was 41st and Minshew was 49th so he is pretty safe in his roll despite being really bad

I would love to know that EPA without being the garbage time king though

I'll beat K9 to it. If he was 31st out of 49, that's mid not terrible

 

[Weenus O'Baggins]

I'll beat K9 to it. If he was 31st out of 49, that's mid not terrible

I mean you have to take into account how many teams there are and again 1/3 of his stats and points came in garbage time.

 

[pemory09]

On MSN we're being pegged for two (yes, two) total wins this coming season. See https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nf...3b9af478aae16ce&ocid=edgdhpruby&pc=DCTS&ei=23.

 

[Weenus O'Baggins]

Sorry I don't want to be hyperbolic. 26% not 33% of Brisset's stats came when we had less than a 5% chance to win. So 1/4 of this stats not 1/3rd

 

[some dumb guy]

On MSN we're being pegged for two (yes, two) total wins this coming season. See https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nf...3b9af478aae16ce&ocid=edgdhpruby&pc=DCTS&ei=23.

Again, I say great. The less our expectations the better the season will be.

 

[Weenus O'Baggins]

On MSN we're being pegged for two (yes, two) total wins this coming season. See https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nf...3b9af478aae16ce&ocid=edgdhpruby&pc=DCTS&ei=23.

HOME​

• Philadelphia Eagles - Very Likely Loss
• Washington Commanders - Likely Loss
• Denver Broncos - Very Likely Loss
• Las Vegas Raiders - Toss Up
• Detroit Lions - Very Likely Loss
• New York Jets - Likely Win
• Los Angeles Rams - Very Likely Loss
• San Francisco 49ers - Very Likely Loss
• Seattle Seahawks - Very Likely Loss

ROAD​

• Dallas Cowboys - Likely Loss
• New York Giants - Toss Up
• Kansas City Chiefs - Very Likely Loss
• Los Angeles Chargers - Likely Loss
• New Orleans Saints - Toss Up
• Los Angeles Rams - Very Likely Loss
• San Francisco 49ers - Very Likely Loss
• Seattle Seahawks - Very Likely Loss

So the path to 6 wins requires:

Go 3 out of 4 on the Raiders, Giants, Saints and Jets
Win two of the division games or Lions, Broncos, Chiefs
Go .500 against the Commanders and the Cowboys

I just don't see it without excellent QB play

 

[Weenus O'Baggins]

Left the Saints off

 

[Weenus O'Baggins]

I picked 6-7 wins because that would exceed my expectations right now.

 

[kerouac9]

He was 31st in QB EPA in 2025. That's pretty terrible. Hilariously Slovis was 41st and Minshew was 49th so he is pretty safe in his roll despite being really bad

I would love to know that EPA without being the garbage time king though

He was 31st in EPA with zero. Obviously you want a player who adds more than expected. But Justin Herbert was three one-hundredths of a point better. I don’t love EPA per play because I don’t know if these distinctions are meaningful.

He has a 41 QBR in less than ideal circumstances. That’s in line with his QBR last year with the Pats, but out of line with his historical QBRs.

That said, I think he’s a below-average starting QB. That QBR ranked 28/33 qualifying starters last year.

But Clayton Tune had a 1.2 QBR in one appearance his rookie season. Josh Dobbs had a 52 QBR with us.

That’s horrific. To me.

 

[ajcardfan]

On MSN we're being pegged for two (yes, two) total wins this coming season. See https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nf...3b9af478aae16ce&ocid=edgdhpruby&pc=DCTS&ei=23.

So there is some optimism out there that we perform better than I think we will.

I think we win one game. Because it's incredibly difficult to go winless.

 

[some dumb guy]

So there is some optimism out there that we perform better than I think we will.

I think we win one game. Because it's incredibly difficult to go winless.

Soooo, then you ARE optimistic...

 

[Crimson Warrior]

I will be surprised if they win 4 games. Brissett is horrific as a QB

BBQ is kind of Josh McCownish. You feel like he’s giving you everything he has, and he’s likable.

But he’ll never be anything more than a C level starter.

If you had the best defense in the league, you could probably win a championship with him.

 

[kerouac9]

BBQ is kind of Josh McCownish. You feel like he’s giving you everything he has, and he’s likable.

But he’ll never be anything more than a C level starter.

If you had the best defense in the league, you could probably win a championship with him.

Yup.

Brissett fits into a long line of placeholder QBs you get at the beginning of the game before you unlock it the real QBs. He’s Derek Anderson, not John Skelton.

 

[Ouchie-Z-Clown]

On MSN we're being pegged for two (yes, two) total wins this coming season. See https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nf...3b9af478aae16ce&ocid=edgdhpruby&pc=DCTS&ei=23.

Sign me up

 

[Krangodnzr]

Yup.

Brissett fits into a long line of placeholder QBs you get at the beginning of the game before you unlock it the real QBs. He’s Derek Anderson, not John Skelton.

He's better than Anderson by every conceivable game statistic other than wins, which tells you he's still not a starter. Anderson was one of the least accurate QBs I've ever seen along with John Skelton. Even Kent Graham was more accurate.