The 2023 NFL schedule was officially released on Thursday, and it's shaping up to be a difficult upcoming campaign for Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals.
Sportsbooks have already put up a spread for every game this season, and saying the odds don't favor the Cards is an understatement.
“The Cardinals are favored in zero games this season and only have three games within a three-point spread either way,” wrote NFL Sports Betting reporter Connor Allen. “Both of those numbers are by far the lowest in the league.”
The first eight games will be a huge test for Arizona, especially as they might have to play them without their superstar quarterback. They'll play six 2022 playoff teams in the first eight weeks of the campaign, including four in a row starting Week 2 against the New York Giants.
That's followed by the Dallas Cowboys, San Francisco 49ers and Cincinnati Bengals. After getting the Los Angeles Rams next, they're right back to two more postseason squads in the Seattle Seahawks and Baltimore Ravens.
The team also didn't receive a single prime-time game in 2023, which includes no Thursday night game after the league changed the rule that once required all teams to have at least one, per Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.
Arizona is scheduled for two reunion games in the second half of next season; one comes against DeAndre Hopkins' former team in the Houston Texans in Week 11, followed by Jonathan Gannon heading back to Philadelphia to play the Eagles in Week 17.
The team's bye is set for Week 14. Overall, ESPN shows the Cards having the 11th hardest strength of schedule in 2023.
It's going to be an uphill battle for Kyler Murray's Arizona Cardinals, and a huge factor in the season will be when he is fit to take the field, and how he performs when that eventually happens.
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