2014 Arizona Cardinals season


The 2014 season was the Arizona Cardinals' 95th in the National Football League, their 27th in Arizona and their second under head coach Bruce Arians. Following an explosive 9–1 start to the regular season, they finished at 11–5, achieving their highest win total since 1975 when they were still in St. Louis. The Cardinals clinched their first playoff berth since 2009, and had a chance to become the first team to try to play the Super Bowl on their own home field, University of Phoenix Stadium. However, after season-ending injuries to Carson Palmer and Drew Stanton, they were forced to start third-string quarterback Ryan Lindley in the wild-card round, losing to the 7–8–1 Carolina Panthers by a score of 27–16. The 2014 Cardinals were the sixth team during the Super Bowl-era to qualify for the playoffs in a season in which their stadium hosted the Super Bowl and the first since the 2000 Tampa Bay Buccaneers. They were also the first team since the NFL re-alignment in 2002 to do so. They were followed by the 2016 Houston Texans and the 2017 Minnesota Vikings.

Draft

Final roster

Schedule

Preseason

By defeating the Texans 32–0, this would be the second consecutive season in which the Cardinals shutout their first preseason opponent.

Regular season

Postseason

Playoff roundDateOpponentResultRecordGame siteNFL.com
recap
Wild Cardat Carolina Panthers L 16–270–1Bank of America Stadium

Game summaries

Regular season

Week 1: vs. San Diego Chargers

Week 2: at New York Giants

Week 3: vs. San Francisco 49ers

Week 5: at Denver Broncos

Week 6: vs. Washington Redskins

Week 7: at Oakland Raiders

Week 8: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Week 9: at Dallas Cowboys

Week 10: vs. St. Louis Rams

would suffer a season-ending injury on his left-knee. Drew Stanton would take over as quarterback for the rest of the game. Thanks to the efforts of the defense during the fourth quarter, the Cardinals rallied to beat the Rams 31-14. This is the Cardinals' last home win over the Rams to date.

Week 11: vs. Detroit Lions

Week 12: at Seattle Seahawks

Week 13: at Atlanta Falcons

Week 14: vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Week 15: at St. Louis Rams

Week 16: vs. Seattle Seahawks

Week 17: at San Francisco 49ers

This would snap the 49ers' 4-game losing streak in Levi's Stadium. With the loss, the Cardinals finished their season to 11-5.

Postseason

NFC Wild Card Playoffs: at #4 Carolina Panthers

The Cardinals' offensive performance was historically bad as the team lost to the 7-8-1 Panthers, by a final score of 27-16, and were eliminated from the postseason. They committed three turnovers, gained only 8 first downs and recorded 78 net yards of offense, the fewest yards gained in a playoff game by any team in NFL postseason history. After a 9-1 start, the Cardinals went 2-5 in their final seven games.

Standings

Division

Conference