The Cardinals will need to be road warriors when the 2026 season begins.
That's the message after the NFL released the new schedule on Thursday, with the Cardinals playing six of their first nine games of the season on the road, including opening the season in Los Angeles against the Chargers.
The home opener is in Week 2 against NFC West rival and Super Bowl champion Seattle.
But road games early mean home games late, and the Cardinals will play six of their last eight games at State Farm Stadium, including the final two games of the season against the Raiders and 49ers. The bye comes late, in Week 14. The Cardinals don't open the season until Sept. 13, because of how late Labor Day falls.
The Cardinals do not have a primetime game currently, although flex scheduling could come into play later in the season.
A look at the full 2026 schedule [CLICK HERE FOR DOWNLOADABLE SCHEDULE]:
WEEK 1
Sept. 13 CARDINALS at CHARGERS 1:25 p.m. (CBS)
Two trips to Los Angeles? Two trips to Los Angeles. The Rams trip is a given, but the Cardinals will be in SoFi Stadium for the opener against the Chargers. Mike LaFleur goes back to the stadium he called home the last three seasons, yet not against his former team. Sure, it's a chance to see old friend Tony Jefferson, the former Cardinal fan favorite who continues his remarkable career after being out of the game a couple of times. Jim Harbaugh is going to want to grind it, but the last few meetings between these teams always seems to come down to the end. Khakis optional.
WEEK 2
Sept. 20 SEAHAWKS at CARDINALS 1:25 p.m. (FOX)
The Super Bowl champions are the home opener, with the Seahawks getting extra rest after their Wednesday night lidlifter against the Patriots. All kinds of Super reminders up until that point for Seattle. But LaFleur gets his first game in his new home stadium, and it will be fascinating to see how his offense combats a good Seahawks defense -- especially after being part of a Rams offense that was able to score some points against the Seahawks last season. No, no. As LaFleur keeps noting, the Cardinals are not the Rams or 49ers, they have different pieces. Time to see how LaFleur moves those pieces on the board.
WEEK 3
Sept. 27 CARDINALS at 49ERS 1:05 p.m. (FOX)
Deja vu, baby. Third week of the season at San Francisco, just like 2025. (We won't talk about James Conner that day. Or the incomplete pass to Zay Jones.) Two division games of the first three will set the Cardinals on a path early. It's a battle whether the NFC North or NFC West is the best division in the NFL; the Cards have to make inroads. The last time the teams met, Jacoby Brissett set an NFL record with 47 completions, Michael Wilson had his best game (15 catches, 185 yards) and we will see if LaFleur mentor Kyle Shanahan allows that to happen again.
WEEK 4
Oct. 4 CARDINALS at GIANTS 10 a.m. (CBS)
The Cardinals have a couple of older rivalries (Bears, Packers), but with this trip to New York to play the Giants, it will be the 130th meeting between the franchises, the most the Cardinals have played any other team. (It didn't hurt they were in the same division for 51 years. The Phoenix/Arizona Cardinals in the NFC East for 13 season -- crazy.) The Cardinals have never lost to the Giants at MetLife Stadium in three previous tries. So they will try to make it four in a row by slowing former Sun Devil Cam Skattebo and a couple of guys that were thought to be on Arizona's draft radar -- LB Arvell Reese and OL Francis Mauigoa.
WEEK 5
Oct. 11 LIONS at CARDINALS 1:25 p.m. (FOX)
I know it surprises no one to hear that since 2001, the Cardinals have played no non-division team more than the Lions. This season will be the 19th time in 26 seasons. That's ... a lot. For most of that time, the Lions were not a team in the NFC mix. That's changed. (This game, for instance, is only because both teams finished in fourth in their divisions, although Detroit had a 9-8 record.)
WEEK 6
Oct. 18 CARDINALS at RAMS 1:05 p.m. (FOX)
Plane trip No. 2 to SoFi, where LaFleur gets to face his former team for the first time. LaFleur knows Sean McVay. Then again, McVay knows LaFleur. Thirteen personnel for everyone! (Maybe). Kliff Kingsbury will be roaming the sideline for the Rams as well. Michael Wilson had 16 catches for 241 yards and three touchdowns in two games against the Rams last season; I'm guessing L.A. won't want to let him Puka them again this season.
WEEK 7
Oct. 25 BRONCOS at CARDINALS 1:05 p.m. (CBS)
No one is drawing a straight line to what Bo Nix has been for Denver and what the Cardinals hope Carson Beck can be. Nix was a first-round pick. But Beck had a Nix-like college resumé with lots of games under his belt. For him to turn into a Nix-like QB would be a dream scenario for the Cardinals. Of course, the Broncos didn't nearly reach a Super Bowl because of Nix; whomever is playing QB for the Cardinals will have to make it work against former Cardinals DC/current Denver DC Vance Joseph and his game-wrecker, defensive lineman (and former Cardinal) Zach Allen.
WEEK 8
Nov. 1 CARDINALS at COWBOYS 11 a.m. (FOX)
The Cardinals play well in Dallas. They just do. They won there last year, with Marvin Harrison Jr. looking sharp, Jacoby Brissett playing well, and Walter Nolen III flashing to what the Cardinals believe he can be. Sure, the Cowboys have former Cardinal safety Jalen Thompson and Dak and CeeDee and Pickens. (OK, maybe Pickens.) But they had all that last year and the Cardinals still went into Big D and won for the fourth time in four tries at AT&T Stadium. Who's up for a fifth?
WEEK 9
Nov. 8 CARDINALS at SEAHAWKS 2:25 p.m. (FOX)
We all know that the Lumen Field -- or whatever it might've been called in a particular year -- has been a difficult place to play for visitors. Countless Cardinals have talked about the inability to hear down on the field during a game. That said, it's been far from a house of horrors for the Cards. They have nine wins there since it opened in 2002, not an overwhelming number but far from dominance. These teams know each other well. Budda Baker gets to go home, gets to have his annual pilgrimage to his brother's gravesite before playing his hometown team.
WEEK 10
Nov. 15 RAMS at CARDINALS 2:05 p.m. (CBS)
LaFleur has referenced what the Cardinals did to the Rams at State Farm Stadium in 2024 a couple of times; that kind of performance would be welcoming. A stat to see for James Conner: the veteran running back has seven touchdowns in seven games against the Rams in his career. Can he add to that total? But on the other side of the ball, the battle between Cardinals cornerback Will Johnson and Rams wideout Puka Nacua will be in the spotlight.
WEEK 11
Nov. 22 CARDINALS at CHIEFS 11 a.m. (CBS)
Will Patrick Mahomes be back by now from his ACL rehab? I am guessing yes. But will the bigger story be the chance to go up against former Cardinals running back Emari Demercado? OK, maybe not, but Demercado was an effective guy out of the backfield for Arizona for three seasons. The Cardinals have moved on to a different running back. Jeremiyah Love. Perhaps you've heard of him. A Love-themed offense to control the ball wouldn't be a bad way to keep Mahomes off the field. Assuming he's on it.
WEEK 12
Nov. 29 COMMANDERS at CARDINALS 2:25 p.m. (FOX)
The Commanders have their QB in Jayden Daniels. What they have to make sure is that he doesn't become their new version of Robert Griffin III, a talented quarterback who can run but with injuries never quite made it. Daniels is coming off an injury-ravaged season, and is learning a new system now that Kliff Kingsbury is no longer is OC. He'll be the focal point of the Cardinals' defense -- especially after Daniels played so well in 2024 during a visit to State Farm Stadium, a Commanders' win.
WEEK 13
Dec. 6 EAGLES at CARDINALS 2:05 p.m. (FOX)
Josh Sweat knows the Eagles well. He played there for seven seasons and won a Super Bowl (and was an Eagle when the Cardinals last played them in 2023, a 35-31 Cardinals win at Philadelphia.) He knows what Jalen Hurts is about. The question is what kind of Eagles team will the Cardinals see? Last year the Eagles weren't the machine they were when Sweat last played there. Given that Sweat was hurt when the Eagles didn't keep him in 2025, the guess is that he'd like to share that pain with his old team.
WEEK 14
BYE WEEK
With an extra preseason game this year, a late bye will come after a grind of 17 games in 18 weeks (the Cardinals will have a break Labor Day weekend following the preseason.) That's a haul for any team. The Cardinals have had a Week 14 bye twice before (1991, 2023) but this will be the latest bye date ever -- Dec. 13.
WEEK 15
Dec. 20 JETS at CARDINALS 2:05 p.m. (FOX)
There has been only one NFL coaching job that Mike LaFleur didn't leave by his own choice, and that was his stint as offensive coordinator of the Jets. Yet his path since then has been impressive -- three years as OC of the Rams, and now the head coach of the Cardinals. Here he has a chance to gain a little revenge against his former team, although much has changed since he was in New York. At this point, the bigger story is what the Jets might do with their three first-round picks in 2027, and whether the Cardinals find their QB this season or, like the Jets will, delve into a first-round QB next year.
WEEK 16
Dec. 27 CARDINALS at SAINTS 11 a.m. (FOX)
Back-to-back trips to the Big Easy for the Cardinals, who were not tabbed as the Saints opponent for their game in Paris. Alas. Still, much will have changed since the Cardinals beat the Saints, 20-13, to start the 2025 season. Both teams will have new starting quarterbacks, with the Valley's Tyler Shough having earned his spot in New Orleans and the Cardinals ... TBD. There will also be a look at Saints first-round pick WR Jordyn Tyson, the former Arizona State great. Mostly, the Cardinals want to find a way to create a winning streak in a building where they didn't often win before last season.
WEEK 17
Jan. 3 RAIDERS at CARDINALS 2:05 p.m. (CBS)
Remember Fernando-mania? OK, most won't, when Fernando Valenzuela went 8-0 with a sub-2.00 ERA in his first eight starts for the Dodgers back in 1981. Will there be a new Fernando-mania? I mean, we aren't even sure if it will be Fernando Mendoza, the NFL's top draft pick, behind center as Vegas comes to town or if it will be Kirk Cousins. You like that? Probably not. Mendoza would make for a more interesting game. And of course, we all want to measure who has the better game. Mendoza v No. 3 pick Jeremiyah Love? No, no, no. I'm talking tight end battle: Trey McBride v Brock Bowers.
WEEK 18
Jan. 9/10 49ERS at CARDINALS TBD (TBD)
Wrapping up the season at home against the Niners. Interestingly, of the last 11 seasons, the teams have split only once, with the Cardinals sweeping the Niners six times in that span and the Niners doing it four times. We'll see what result would be needed by the season's final week to have it end all-or-nothing again. Wide receiver Christian Kirk returns to State Farm Stadium for the first time since he played four seasons with the Cardinals. Meanwhile, has Jeremiyah Love gotten his 1,000-yard season yet?
PRESEASON OPPONENTS
HALL OF FAME GAME Aug. 6 CARDINALS vs. PANTHERS, 5 p.m.
WEEK of Aug. 15 CARDINALS at RAIDERS, TBD
WEEK of Aug. 22 COWBOYS at CARDINALS, TBD
WEEK of Aug. 29 CARDINALS at PACKERS, TBD
