Morning body-clock games can be difficult for traveling NFL teams and the Arizona Cardinals begin the 2024 season with a 10 a.m. Arizona time start Sunday in against the Buffalo Bills in Orchard Park.
That will be followed by 10 a.m. games at Green Bay Oct. 13 and Miami Oct. 27, and then 11 a.m. starts at Minnesota (Dec. 1) and Carolina (Dec. 22).
The record is probably better than people think for the 10 a.m. starts (5-5) and 11 am ones (5-6) since the 2019 season. Last season, in Jonathan Gannon’s first as a head coach, the Cardinals lost their only 10 am game to Washington, which was also the season opener.
In four 11 am starts, they were 2-2, but the wins were in the final two games over Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
Depending on the time zone and distance, some will be two-day trips like this week when the Cardinals leave for Buffalo Friday. There will be three others at Green Bay, Miami and Carolina.
Last season, there were also four of five two-day trips to Washington, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. The 11 a.m. start in Houston and the 11 a.m. one this year to Minnesota will involve normal Saturday departures.
Gannon said earlier this week travel to Buffalo doesn’t alter preparation for the game.
“Just that we have to travel a day earlier,” he said. “We’ll practice Friday, (then) get on a plane. It’s just to get them adjusted to the East-Coast clock, but Saturday we will bump it back a little bit. We’ll let them sleep in a little bit, but it’s kind of the same process that we do if it was a one-day (trip) or even at home.”
As for playing on the West Coast and playing in the Eastern time zone, Gannon said, “You get used to it quick. They know the schedule, what’s expected, the why behind doing it and they’re on board. Once you do it the first time, you kind of get your process of how you like to do it and then kind of go from there.”
Gannon said there are no special plans for Saturday’s mock game. Last season, the team was at owner Michael Bidwill’s Georgetown Preparatory School in the Washington area on Saturday and then later in the season at St. Ignatius High School in Cleveland, where Gannon attended.
For the record, here are the results of those games during the last five seasons:
2019
10 a.m.: Lost to Baltimore 23-17, beat Cincinnati 26-23, beat N.Y. Giants 27-21, lost to New Orleans 31-9.
11 a.m.: Lost to Tampa Bay 30-27.
2020
10 a.m.: Lost to Carolina 31-21, beat N.Y. Jets 30-10.
11 a.m.: Lost to New England 20-17, beat N.Y. Giants 26-7.
2021
10 a.m.: Beat Tennessee (season opener) 38-13, beat Jacksonville 31-19.
11 a.m.: Beat Chicago 33-22, lost to Detroit 30-12, beat Dallas 25-22.
2022
10 a.m.: Lost to Minnesota 34-26.
11 a.m.: Lost to Atlanta 20-19.
2023
10 a.m.: Lost to Washington (season opener) 20-16.
11 a.m.: Lost to Cleveland 27-0, lost to Houston 21-16, beat Pittsburgh 24-10, beat Philadelphia 35-31.
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