Cardinals outside of playoffs in NFC projected win totals

The projections by NFL.com’s Cynthia Frelund are not optimistic for the Cardinals.

The 2024 NFL season starts this week and NFL.com’s Cynthia Frelund released her projected win totals for every team in the NFC.

The Philadelphia Eagles are at the top, projected to win 11.2, based on Frelund’s simulations.

As for the Arizona Cardinals, the projections are not as optimistic. Her projections has them with 6.9 wins. The ceiling is 8.5 wins while the floor is 4.6.

Even though Kyler Murray — who is an exceptional runner — only played in eight games last season, NGS shows that the Cardinals’ offense gained +224 rushing yards over expected on designed runs, which ranked fifth. Look for efficient designed runs to again be a point of strength for this team, as prized rookie wideout Marvin Harrison Jr., whose advanced route running in college helps forecast him to be a star, creates even more space for the ground game.

The Cardinals do have a brutal schedule to start the year, facing five 2023 playoff teams in their first 6 games.

But they had an awful roster last season and won four games. They probably should have won seven.

It feels like this team, with a healthy Murray, should be very good on offense. The defense has question marks, but it should be improved over last season’s abysmal unit.

Instead of a win range of 4.6-8.5, this team feels more like a team that will win between seven and nine games. They should be in the postseason mix right down to the end of the season.

If they aren’t, it will be a disappointment.

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