The Arizona Cardinals season was the franchise's 98th season, 77th in the National Football League and ninth in Arizona. The team improved upon their previous output of 4–12, winning seven games.1996 Arizona Cardinals Despite this improvement, the Cardinals failed to qualify for the playoffs for the fourteenth consecutive season.
The low point of the season was providing a notorious New York Jets team with its only win in front of fewer than thirty thousand people. This was the first time the Cardinals had opposed the Jets since 1978 (it was also the first time the Jets visited Arizona and the Cardinals' first home game in the series since 1971).Arizona Cardinals v New York Jets The reason for this is that before the admission of the Texans in 2002, NFL scheduling formulas for games outside a team’s division were much more influenced by table position during the previous season; also, from 1977-93, teams which finished fifth in a five-team division would play only two interconference games the next season.History of the NFL’s Structure and Formats
This was Boomer Esiason's only season with the Cardinals as he would re-sign with the Cincinnati Bengals after this season.
Offseason NFL draft
Undrafted free agents + 1996 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeFred BrockWide receiverSouthern MissMark BultertieldQuarterbackStanfordArt CelestineCornerbackNew MexicoTom ClaroOffensive LinemanHoly CrossKevin JordanWide receiverUCLAAlle LarsenKickerVirginia TechRyan LeahyOffensive LinemanNotre DameRonald McKinnonLinebackerNorth AlabamaErvin WhiteheadWide receiverWestmar
Personnel
Roster
Regular season
Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 1 at Indianapolis Colts L 13–20 0–1 RCA Dome 48,133 2 September 8 Miami Dolphins L 10–38 0–2 Sun Devil Stadium 55,444 3 September 15 at New England Patriots L 0–31 0–3 Foxboro Stadium 59,118 4 September 22 at New Orleans Saints W 28–14 1–3 Louisiana Superdome 34,316 5 September 29 St. Louis Rams W 31–28 2–3 Sun Devil Stadium 33,116 6 Bye 7 October 13 at Dallas Cowboys L 3–17 2–4 Texas Stadium 64,096 8 October 20 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 13–9 3–4 Sun Devil Stadium 27,738 9 October 27 New York Jets L 21–31 3–5 Sun Devil Stadium 28,088 10 November 3 at New York Giants L 8–16 3–6 Giants Stadium 68,262 11 November 10 at Washington Redskins W 37–34 4–6 RFK Stadium 51,929 12 November 17 New York Giants W 31–23 5–6 Sun Devil Stadium 34,924 13 November 24 Philadelphia Eagles W 36–30 6–6 Sun Devil Stadium 36,175 14 December 1 at Minnesota Vikings L 17–41 6–7 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome 45,767 15 December 8 Dallas Cowboys L 6–10 6–8 Sun Devil Stadium 70,763 16 December 15 Washington Redskins W 27–26 7–8 Sun Devil Stadium 34,260 17 December 22 at Philadelphia Eagles L 19–29 7–9 Veterans Stadium 63,658 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries Week 1: at Indianapolis Colts
Week 2: vs. Miami Dolphins
Week 3: at New England Patriots
Week 4: at New Orleans Saints
Week 5: vs. St. Louis Rams
Week 7: at Dallas Cowboys
Week 8: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Week 9: vs. New York Jets
Week 10: at New York Giants
Week 11: at Washington Redskins
Week 12: vs. New York Giants
Week 13: vs. Philadelphia Eagles
Week 14: at Minnesota Vikings
Week 15: vs. Dallas Cowboys
Week 16: vs. Washington Redskins
Week 17: at Philadelphia Eagles
Standings
References