A staggering 3.5 win total is staring down the Arizona Cardinals for the 2026 season. This isn’t some crazy longshot bet, either, it’s the cold hard truth from DraftKings, and it tells you everything you need to know about where this franchise stands. They are, quite literally, the favorite to win the fewest games in the entire league, a gut punch after what was supposed to be a comeback year in 2025.
Worst Since the Merger, Then What?
Man, last year was rough for Arizona. They finished with their worst record since the merger, a dismal 3-14. Think about that for a second. That’s a huge drop-off from the “sleeper buzz” they had going into 2025 after a “solid season” and “busy offseason.” The wheels just completely fell off in the NFC West. Their former No. 1 overall pick, Kyler Murray, is gone, shipped off to Minnesota. Now, Mike LaFleur is stepping in as head coach, fresh off three successful seasons as offensive coordinator for the Rams. That’s a total reboot for the Cardinals, and it shows. The defense was 29th in scoring in 2025, and they finished with a -133 point differential. Murray only got five starts, which is tough, but even their record of 3-14, which included five losses by four points or fewer, couldn’t hide the overall mess. Their offense, while 16th in yards per rush and 9th in third-down success rate, still couldn’t save them.
The Numbers Don’t Lie: A Bleak Future
The betting odds paint a brutally clear picture for 2026. DraftKings has the Cardinals at +50000 to win the Super Bowl and +20000 to win the NFC. Forget the playoffs, they’re sitting at a staggering -20000 to *miss* them, which is as close to a sure thing as you’ll ever see in football. Their NFC West title odds are way out at +10000, a significant drop from +9000, especially after the Rams pulled off that monster trade for Myles Garrett on June 1. That Garrett move alone spooked the oddsmakers enough to knock Arizona’s projected win total down from 4.5 to a mere 3.5. While there’s still juice on the Over for 3.5 wins, the Under sits at a tempting +115, showing just how much the league doubts them. This team hasn’t sniffed a real contender’s status since their 11-win season in 2021, which ended in the Wild Card round. Since then, it’s been nothing but a struggle, finishing 4th, 4th, 3rd, and 4th in the NFC West, with their actual win totals consistently falling short of preseason projections. The echoes of 2018, when they went 3-13 with the absolute worst scoring offense and a brutal -200 point differential, are getting louder.
So, what’s next for the Cardinals? Everything points to this 2026 campaign being a pure “bridge season” as they desperately search for their next franchise quarterback. They’re stuck in “perhaps the toughest division in football,” facing long odds every single week. It’s not going to be easy, folks. With August here, the focus for Arizona is simply trying to scrape together any victories they can to prove that 3.5 number wrong. Good luck to them, they’re going to need it.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by CBS Sports.
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