The 2014Arizona Cardinalsseason was the franchise's 95th season in the National Football League, the 27th in Arizona and the second under head coachBruce Arians. Following an explosive 9–1 start to the regular season, they finished at a disappointing 11–5, achieving their highest win total since 1975 when they were still in St. Louis (also their highest total in a 16-game season). 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.
Note: The Cardinals traded their original first-round selection (No. 20 overall) to the New Orleans Saints in exchange for the Saints' first- (No. 27 overall) and third- (No. 91 overall) round selections.
Carson Palmer 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.[1]
Week 11: vs. Detroit Lions
Week Eleven: Detroit Lions at Arizona Cardinals – Game summary
Quarter
1
2
3
4
Total
Lions
3
3
0
0
6
Cardinals
14
0
0
0
14
at University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona
Date: November 16
Game time: 2:25 p.m. MST
Game weather: Played indoors (retractable roof closed)
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 (two of them being red zone interceptions), gained only 8 first downs (and only 2 first downs in the second half) and recorded 78 net yards of offense, the fewest number of 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.
^ abcThe NY Giants defeated both Atlanta and St. Louis head-to-head (Atlanta: Week 5, 30–20; St. Louis: Week 16, 37–27), while Atlanta finished ahead of St. Louis based on conference record.
^When breaking ties for three or more teams under the NFL's rules, they are first broken within divisions, then comparing only the highest-ranked remaining team from each division.
