The 2016 season was the

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play th ...

' 97th in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the majo ...

, their 118th overall, their 29th in

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

, their 11th at University of Phoenix Stadium and their fourth under

head coach A head coach, senior coach or manager is a professional at training and developing athletes. They typically hold a more public profile and are paid more than other coaches. In some sports, the head coach is instead called the "manager", as in asso ...

Bruce Arians Bruce Charles Arians (born October 3, 1952) is an American football executive and former coach in the National Football League (NFL). Since 2022, he has been a senior football consultant for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Arians was previously the h ...

. In free agency, they signed veteran

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

Tyvon Branch Tyvon A. Branch (born December 11, 1986) is a former American football safety. He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the fourth round (100th overall) of the 2008 NFL Draft and has also played for the Kansas City Chiefs and Arizona Cardinals. H ...

and veteran lineman Evan Mathis, while re-signing several key players. They traded for

Chandler Jones Chandler James Jones (born February 27, 1990) is an American football defensive end for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Syracuse, and was selected by the New England Patriots in the firs ...

from the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East divisio ...

, sending

Jonathan Cooper Jonathan Javell Cooper (born January 19, 1990) is a former American football guard. He was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals seventh overall in the 2013 NFL Draft. He played college football at North Carolina, where he earned All-American hono ...

and a late second-round pick to New England. The Cardinals came into the 2016 season with expectations of improving on their 2015 campaign and reaching the Super Bowl. However, after a 1–3 start, they suffered injuries to quarterback Carson Palmer and most of the offensive line. On October 23, the Cardinals and the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) West, which they rejoined in 2002 a ...

played out a 6–6 tie; this was the Cardinals' first tie since

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal en ...

when they were the St. Louis Cardinals. It was also the lowest-scoring NFL tie since overtime was introduced in

1974 Major events in 1974 include the aftermath of the 1973 oil crisis and the resignation of United States President Richard Nixon following the Watergate scandal. In the Middle East, the aftermath of the 1973 Yom Kippur War determined politics; ...

. The Cardinals were eliminated from playoff contention in Week 15 after a loss to the New Orleans Saints. Despite winning their final two games, the Cardinals ended the season with a losing record at 7–8–1. Because the

Chicago Cubs The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is locate ...

won the 2016 World Series, their first title in 108 years, the Cardinals also finished the season with the longest active championship drought in the four major American professional sports, with their last championship in 1947 as the Chicago Cardinals.

Free agents

Draft

Notes * The Cardinals traded their second-round selection (No. 61 overall) and guard

to the

in exchange for

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

. * The Cardinals traded a conditional seventh-round selection to the

Philadelphia Eagles The Philadelphia Eagles are a professional American football team based in Philadelphia. The Eagles compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. The team play ...

in exchange for

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Am ...

Matt Barkley; the Eagles will only receive this selection if Barkley is on the Cardinals' roster for at least six games during the season. * The Cardinals received a sixth-round compensatory pick (No. 170 overall) as the result of a negative differential of free agent signings and departures that the Cardinals experienced during the free agency period.

Staff

Final roster

Preseason

Regular season

Schedule

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. New England Patriots

With Patriots quarterback Tom Brady suspended and

Jimmy Garoppolo James Richard Garoppolo (born November 2, 1991), nicknamed Jimmy G, is an American football quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Eastern Illinois, where he set the school r ...

starting, the Cardinals were huge favorites to win. The game was close, but was lost last minute, with a missed game-winning Cardinals field goal.

Week 2: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 3: at Buffalo Bills

Week 4: vs. Los Angeles Rams

Week 5: at San Francisco 49ers

Week 6: vs. New York Jets

This was the Cardinals' first win over the Jets since

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, when the Cardinals were based in St. Louis, Missouri.

Week 7: vs. Seattle Seahawks

Cardinals placekicker Chandler Catanzaro and Seahawks placekicker Steven Hauschka each miss game winning field goals as the game finishes in a 6-6 tie and the Cardinals earn their first tie since the 1986 season.

Week 8: at Carolina Panthers

In a rematch of the NFC championship, the Panthers led by as much as 24 points until Arizona ended the game by cutting the lead to 10.

Week 10: vs. San Francisco 49ers

Week 11: at Minnesota Vikings

Week 12: at Atlanta Falcons

Week 13: vs. Washington Redskins

Week 14: at Miami Dolphins

This was the Cardinals' first loss to the Dolphins since

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

Week 15: vs. New Orleans Saints

With the close loss, the Cardinals were eliminated from the playoffs for the first time since 2013.

Week 16: at Seattle Seahawks

Week 17: at Los Angeles Rams

Despite losing running back David Johnson to a knee injury in the first quarter, Arizona still managed to blow out the Rams, 44-6 to finish the year at 7-8-1.