Cardinals eliminated from playoff contention after loss to Broncos

The Arizona Cardinals, sitting at 4-10 through Week 15, have been mathematically eliminated from the playoffs after a 24-15 loss to the Denver Broncos on Sunday.

Only the Houston Texans (1-12-1), Chicago Bears (3-11), Broncos (4-10) and Cardinals have been eliminated from playoff contention to this point.

It’s been a trying season for the Cardinals, who have dealt with a myriad of injuries, most notably to quarterback Kyler Murray. The signal caller’s season was cut short last week after suffering a torn ACL against the New England Patriots. The offensive line has also been a constant carousel of injuries on a near-weekly basis.

On the other side of the coin, the team’s loss to Denver moves Arizona up the 2023 NFL Draft board with the fourth overall pick.

Despite making the playoffs and winning 11 games a season ago, the Cardinals can at best go 7-11 in 2022 with three games remaining against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Atlanta Falcons and San Francisco 49ers.

This marks the first time the Cardinals will post double-digit losses since 2019 when they went 5-10-1 in Kingsbury’s and Murray’s first season in Arizona.

As Arizona approaches the draft eying a top five, maybe even top three pick, it is left without its general manager Steve Keim due to health-related reasons.