1996 Arizona Cardinals season | |
---|---|
Owner | Bill Bidwill |
Head coach | Vince Tobin |
Home field | Sun Devil Stadium |
Results | |
Record | 7–9 |
Division place | 4th NFC East |
Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
Pro Bowlers | FB Larry Centers WR Rob Moore CB Aeneas Williams |
AP All-Pros | FB Larry Centers (1st team) CB Aeneas Williams (2nd team) |
The 1996 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.[1] 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.[2] 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.[3]
This was Boomer Esiason's only season with the Cardinals as he would re-sign with the Cincinnati Bengals after this season.
Main article: 1996 NFL draft |
1996 Arizona Cardinals draft | |||||
Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 3 | Simeon Rice * | Defensive end | Illinois | |
2 | 32 | Leeland McElroy | Running back | Texas A&M | |
3 | 64 | Johnny McWilliams | Tight end | USC | |
4 | 112 | Aaron Graham | Center | Nebraska | |
5 | 137 | James Dexter | Offensive tackle | South Carolina | |
5 | 161 | Harry Stamps | Offensive tackle | Oklahoma | |
5 | 162 | Dell McGee | Auburn | ||
6 | 169 | Mike Foley | Defensive end | New Hampshire | |
7 | 212 | Jarius Hayes | Tight end | North Alabama | |
Made roster * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career |
Front office
Head coaches
Offensive coaches
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Defensive coaches
Special teams coaches
Strength and conditioning
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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 (OT) | 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. |
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cardinals | 3 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 13 |
Colts | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10 | 20 |
at RCA Dome, Indianapolis, Indiana
Game information | ||
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|
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dolphins | 7 | 17 | 7 | 7 | 38 |
Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 10 |
at Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona
Game information | ||
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|
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Patriots | 7 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 31 |
at Foxboro Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts
Game information | ||
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|
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cardinals | 3 | 3 | 8 | 14 | 28 |
Saints | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
at Louisiana Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana
Game information | ||
---|---|---|
|
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Rams | 7 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 28 |
Cardinals | 0 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 31 |
at Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona
Game information | ||
---|---|---|
|
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
Cowboys | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 |
at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
Game information | ||
---|---|---|
|
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Buccaneers | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 9 |
Cardinals | 3 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
at Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona
Game information | ||
---|---|---|
|
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jets | 3 | 14 | 0 | 14 | 31 |
Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 14 | 7 | 21 |
at Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona
Game information | ||
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|
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cardinals | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
Giants | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 16 |
at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
Game information | ||
---|---|---|
|
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cardinals | 3 | 10 | 0 | 21 | 3 | 37 |
Redskins | 3 | 10 | 14 | 7 | 0 | 34 |
at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, Washington, District of Columbia
Game information | ||
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|
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Giants | 0 | 6 | 7 | 10 | 23 |
Cardinals | 14 | 7 | 7 | 3 | 31 |
at Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona
Game information | ||
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|
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Eagles | 7 | 3 | 3 | 17 | 30 |
Cardinals | 3 | 10 | 3 | 20 | 36 |
at Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona
Game information | ||
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|
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cardinals | 0 | 3 | 0 | 14 | 17 |
Vikings | 3 | 10 | 14 | 14 | 41 |
at Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Game information | ||
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|
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cowboys | 0 | 0 | 7 | 3 | 10 |
Cardinals | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
at Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona
Game information | ||
---|---|---|
|
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Redskins | 3 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 26 |
Cardinals | 7 | 7 | 3 | 10 | 27 |
at Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona
Game information | ||
---|---|---|
|
Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Cardinals | 0 | 3 | 3 | 13 | 19 |
Eagles | 13 | 10 | 3 | 3 | 29 |
at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Game information | ||
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NFC East | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
W | L | T | PCT | PF | PA | STK | |
(3) Dallas Cowboys | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 286 | 250 | L1 |
(5) Philadelphia Eagles | 10 | 6 | 0 | .625 | 363 | 341 | W2 |
Washington Redskins | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 | 364 | 312 | W1 |
Arizona Cardinals | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 300 | 397 | L1 |
New York Giants | 6 | 10 | 0 | .375 | 242 | 297 | L2 |