The 5: Cardinals’ most recent efforts on Thursday Night Football
Oct 6, 2016, 5:30 AM | Updated: 11:29 am
Thursday evening at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, the Cardinals will try to get their season back on track against the 49ers.
Both teams enter the game with 1-3 records, and the loser will occupy sole possession of last place in the NFC West.
It is a primetime affair and will be the Cardinals’ only appearance on a Thursday night this season.
With that game in mind, here is a look at the last five games the Cardinals have played on the day that comes between Wednesday and Friday.
Dec. 10, 2015
The Cardinals welcomed an injury-riddled Minnesota Vikings team to University of Phoenix Stadium as winners of their last six games. Many thought the Cardinals would coast. They did not. The teams were tied 10-10 at halftime, and after a 23-yard Chandler Catanzaro field goal gave the Cardinals a 10-point lead early in the fourth quarter, it appeared as if the home team was pulling away. But the Vikings clawed their way back, getting a 54-yard field goal from kicker Blair Walsh before then tying the game on a seven-yard TD pass from Teddy Bridgewater to Mike Wallace. The Cardinals regained the lead on their ensuing drive, and Catanzaro’s 47-yard field goal with 1:23 remaining held up as the game-winner when linebacker Dwight Freeney sacked Bridgewater on a 3rd-and-10 play from the Arizona 31. The QB fumbled the ball, and it was recovered by Calais Campbell to preserve the win.
Dec. 11, 2014
The Cardinals were without starting QB Carson Palmer, who tore his ACL earlier in the season against the Rams, when they visited St. Louis with a chance to clinch a playoff spot. The talk all week was of how the Rams had a great defense, and they did — on that night, the Cardinals’ was better. Kerwynn Williams ran for 75 yards on 15 carries, Stepfan Taylor added 61 on 14 totes as the road team won one of the ugliest contests you’ll ever see. The game itself may have set football back a handful of years as neither team scored a touchdown, but when it was all over with the Cardinals had earned a 12-6 victory but lost backup QB Drew Stanton to a knee injury of his own. After the game, Bruce Arians had some choice words for the Rams.
Oct. 17, 2013
The Cardinals were nearing the midpoint of their first season under new coach Bruce Arians, and when this matchup showed up on the schedule they had a modest 3-3 record. It was a rough night. The Seahawks jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the second quarter as the Cardinals’ offense struggled to get going, and though Arizona trimmed the deficit to 17-13 early in the third quarter, it was all downhill from there in a 34-22 loss. Carson Palmer was sacked a whopping seven times in the game, whereas the Seahawks’ Russell Wilson threw three touchdown passes and running back Marshawn Lynch tallied 91 yards and a score on 21 carries. It was a night that showed why the Seahawks would go on to win that year’s Super Bowl, but not one that foretold what was to come with the Cardinals, who went on to win seven of their next eight games and come close to a playoff spot.
Oct. 4, 2012
Somehow, the Cardinals went the first four weeks of the season without a loss. Heading into a Week 5 tilt at the St. Louis Rams few really believed they were a great team, and that night they proved the doubters right in a 17-3 defeat. Cardinals QB Kevin Kolb was sacked nine times and Arizona mustered just a first quarter-field goal in their first loss of the season. The Cardinals gained just 45 yards on 17 carries, and while it was a rough night, it was really just foreshadowed what was to come, as it was the first of nine consecutive losses the team would post.
Nov. 27, 2008
Back before Thursday night games were for everyone, only a select few teams would get to play them on Thanksgiving. When this one was over, the Cardinals probably wished they were anywhere else other than Philadelphia. The score was 21-0 Eagles about midway through the second quarter, and it was 24-7 at halftime. The game was never close. Kurt Warner threw three touchdown passes but was picked off three times, the Cardinals ran for a paltry 25 yards on 10 attempts and the defense had no answer for Donovan McNabb, whose four touchdown passes led the way in a 48-20 Eagles romp. The loss dropped the Cardinals to 7-5, and provided serious doubts as to whether or not they would be worthy of the playoff spot they were heading for. However, Arizona would get its revenge later in the season in the NFC Championship Game, avenging their Thanksgiving night loss with a victory that sent them to Super Bowl XLIII.
