2018 Arizona Cardinals season

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

2018 Arizona Cardinals season
OwnerBill Bidwill
General managerSteve Keim
Head coachSteve Wilks
Home fieldState Farm Stadium
Results
Record3–13
Division place4th NFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersCB Patrick Peterson
Team MVPLarry Fitzgerald
Team ROYChristian Kirk
Uniform

The 2018 season was the Arizona Cardinals' 99th in the National Football League, their 31st in Arizona, and their only season under head coach Steve Wilks. During the off-season, State Farm purchased the naming rights to the Cardinals' home stadium and it was renamed from University of Phoenix Stadium to State Farm Stadium. Although former head coach Bruce Arians retired before the season began, he came out of retirement on January 8, 2019 to become the new coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Carson Palmer, the starting quarterback for the previous five seasons, retired in the offseason. To replace him, the Cardinals signed veteran quarterbacks Sam Bradford and Mike Glennon, also selecting Josh Rosen in the first round of the draft. While Rosen took over the starting job by week 4, he and Bradford struggled throughout the season with Glennon only playing sparingly. All three quarterbacks were released or traded by the Cardinals during or after the season.

With a Week 14 loss to the Detroit Lions, the Cardinals had their first double digit loss season since 2012 and were eliminated from playoff contention for the third consecutive season. One highlight of the Cardinals' 2018 season was their first ever victory against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field, which also resulted in the firing of Packers head coach Mike McCarthy after a nearly 13-year tenure. They finished the season 3–13, their worst record since 2000. The Cardinals also tallied a 1–7 record at home, the worst in franchise history until it was broken four years later with a 1–8 home stretch. Head coach Steve Wilks was fired the day after the season ended.

This was also the last full season under the ownership of Bill Bidwill, who died during the 2019 season.

Draft

2018 Arizona Cardinals Draft
Round Selection Player Position College Notes
1 10 Josh Rosen QB UCLA From Oakland
2 47 Christian Kirk WR Texas A&M
3 97 Mason Cole C Michigan
Compensatory pick
4 134 Chase Edmonds RB Fordham
Compensatory pick
6 182
Chris Campbell
CB Penn State
7 254 Korey Cunningham
G
Cincinnati
Compensatory pick

Draft trades

  • The Cardinals traded their fourth-round selection (115th overall), and their second-, fourth- and sixth-round selections in 2017 (45th, 119th and 197th overall) to Chicago in exchange for Chicago's second-round selection in 2017 (36th overall).
  • The Cardinals were awarded one third-, one fourth- and one fifth-round
    compensatory pick (97th, 134th and 254th overall).[1]
  • The Cardinals traded their sixth-round selection (189th overall) to New Orleans in exchange for running back Adrian Peterson.[2]
  • The Cardinals traded their seventh-round selection (233rd overall) to Kansas City in exchange for cornerback Marcus Cooper.[3]
  • The Cardinals traded center Tony Bergstrom to Baltimore in exchange for Baltimore's seventh-round selection (238th overall). However, the trade was voided as the result of Bergstrom not meeting playing time conditions with the Ravens.[4]

Undrafted free agents

2018 Arizona Cardinals Undrafted Free Agents
Position Player College Notes
DT Hastin Adams
Mary Hardin-Baylor
CB Elijah Battle West Virginia
P
Joe Davidson Bowling Green
OLB
Dennis Gardeck Sioux Falls
LB Frank Ginda San Jose State
DB AJ Howard Appalachian State
DE Alec James Wisconsin
QB Chad Kanoff Princeton
K Matthew McCrane Kansas State
OL
Brant Morris Toledo
LB Mike Needham Southern Utah
CB Deatrick Nichols South Florida
T
Austin Olsen Southern Illinois
LB Matt Oplinger Yale
S Jonathan Owens Missouri Western
FB Austin Ramesh Wisconsin
WR Trent Sherfield Vanderbilt
S Andy Smigiera Robert Morris
DB Tavierre Thomas
Ferris State
WR Jalen Tolliver
Arkansas-Monticello
WR Jonah Trinnaman BYU
S Ezekiel Turner Washington
TE Andrew Vollert Weber State
DB Malcolm Washington Northern Iowa
WR Corey Willis Central Michigan

Staff

2018 Arizona Cardinals staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

Final roster

2018 Arizona Cardinals final roster
Quarterbacks

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

Linebackers

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists
  • 58
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 57
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 52
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 79
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  •  4
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 37
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 74
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 76
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 13
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 50
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 90
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 42
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 72
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 67
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 53
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 68
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)
  • 73
    IRTooltip Injured reserve)


Practice squad


Rookies in italics
53 active, 17 inactive, 8 practice squad

Preseason

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 August 11 Los Angeles Chargers W 24–17 1–0 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap
2 August 17 at New Orleans Saints W 20–15 2–0
Mercedes-Benz Superdome
Recap
3 August 26 at Dallas Cowboys W 27–3 3–0 AT&T Stadium Recap
4 August 30 Denver Broncos L 10–21 3–1 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap

Regular season

Schedule

Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 September 9 Washington Redskins L 6–24 0–1 State Farm Stadium Recap
2 September 16 at Los Angeles Rams L 0–34 0–2 Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum Recap
3 September 23 Chicago Bears L 14–16 0–3 State Farm Stadium Recap
4 September 30 Seattle Seahawks L 17–20 0–4 State Farm Stadium Recap
5 October 7 at San Francisco 49ers W 28–18 1–4 Levi's Stadium Recap
6 October 14 at Minnesota Vikings L 17–27 1–5 U.S. Bank Stadium Recap
7 October 18 Denver Broncos L 10–45 1–6 State Farm Stadium Recap
8 October 28 San Francisco 49ers W 18–15 2–6 State Farm Stadium Recap
9 Bye
10 November 11 at Kansas City Chiefs L 14–26 2–7 Arrowhead Stadium Recap
11 November 18 Oakland Raiders L 21–23 2–8 State Farm Stadium Recap
12 November 25 at Los Angeles Chargers L 10–45 2–9
StubHub Center
Recap
13 December 2 at Green Bay Packers W 20–17 3–9 Lambeau Field Recap
14 December 9 Detroit Lions L 3–17 3–10 State Farm Stadium Recap
15 December 16 at Atlanta Falcons L 14–40 3–11 Mercedes-Benz Stadium Recap
16 December 23 Los Angeles Rams L 9–31 3–12 State Farm Stadium Recap
17 December 30 at Seattle Seahawks L 24–27 3–13
CenturyLink Field
Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1: vs. Washington Redskins

Week One: Washington Redskins at Arizona Cardinals – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Redskins 0 21 0324
Cardinals 0 0 066

at State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

Game information

Week 2: at Los Angeles Rams

Game information

Week 3: vs. Chicago Bears

Game information

Week 4: vs. Seattle Seahawks

Week Four: Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Seahawks 7 0 10320
Cardinals 0 10 0717

at State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

  • Date: September 30
  • Game time: 1:05 p.m. MST
  • Game weather: Played indoors (retractable roof closed)
  • Game attendance: 61,845
  • Referee: John Hussey
  • TV announcers (Fox): Dick Stockton, Mark Schlereth and Jennifer Hale
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

Rosen's first start was a loss as the Seahawks kicked a game-winning field goal. The Cardinals started 0–4 for the first time since 1986 when they were in St. Louis. Coupled with wins by the Raiders and Texans, the Cardinals became the only winless team in the NFL.

Week 5: at San Francisco 49ers

Week Five: Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Cardinals 7 7 01428
49ers 6 0 01218

at Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, California

  • Date: October 7
  • Game time: 1:25 p.m. MST & PDT
  • Game weather: 79 °F (26 °C), clear
  • Game attendance: 68,337
  • Referee: Shawn Smith
  • TV announcers (Fox): Dick Stockton, Mark Schlereth and Jennifer Hale
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

Week 6: at Minnesota Vikings

Week Six: Arizona Cardinals at Minnesota Vikings – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Cardinals 3 7 0717
Vikings 10 3 14027

at

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Game information

Week 7: vs. Denver Broncos

Week Seven: Denver Broncos at Arizona Cardinals – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Broncos 21 14 7345
Cardinals 3 0 7010

at State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

  • Date: October 18
  • Game time: 5:20 p.m. MST
  • Game weather: 78 °F (26 °C), sunny and warm — retractable roof open
  • Game attendance: 62,359
  • Referee:
    Amazon Video: Hannah Storm and Andrea Kremer
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

Week 8: vs. San Francisco 49ers

Game information

The Cardinals swept the 49ers for the fourth consecutive season.

Week 10: at Kansas City Chiefs

Week Ten: Arizona Cardinals at Kansas City Chiefs – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Cardinals 7 0 7014
Chiefs 10 10 0626

at Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri

Game information

Week 11: vs. Oakland Raiders

Week Eleven: Oakland Raiders at Arizona Cardinals – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Raiders 7 7 6323
Cardinals 14 0 0721

at State Farm Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

  • Date: November 18
  • Game time: 2:05 p.m. MST
  • Game weather: 72 °F (22 °C), sunny — retractable roof open
  • Game attendance: 62,435
  • Referee: Jerome Boger
  • TV announcers (CBS): Spero Dedes and Adam Archuleta
  • Recap, Gamebook
Game information

Week 12: at Los Angeles Chargers

Week Twelve: Arizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Chargers – Game summary
Period 1 2 34Total
Cardinals 10 0 0010
Chargers 0 28 14345

at

StubHub Center, Carson, California

Game information