How many prime-time games will the Arizona Cardinals have in 2026?

The Arizona Cardinals will release their 2026 schedule on Thursday. One of the questions that will come up with the scheduled release is how many prime-time games they get. This year, we shouldn't expect many.

The Cardinals are probably lucky to get one.

Why?

For Sunday night and Monday night games, the league and the TV partners want popular teams, intriguing teams and competitive teams in those games.

The Cardinals aren't a popular team. They don't have any particular intrigue right now because their quarterback situation is pretty boring, and they aren't expected to be competitive.

The other option would be a Thursday night game. For those games, they are often divisional matchups, intriguing storylines or teams expected to be good.

So what can we expect for the Cardinals when the schedule is revealed Thursday night?

They will perhaps have one Thursday night game, either against someone in the NFC West or perhaps the Las Vegas Raiders.

Why? The Raiders have the No. 1 overall pick in QB Fernando Mendoza and the Cardinals have the No. 3 overall pick in RB Jeremiyah Love. Also, if it is late in the season, the Cardinals might have a rookie quarterbacks starting in Carson Beck, which would create a rematch of the College Football Playoff national championship game between Indiana and Miami when Mendoza beat Beck.

Other than that, don't expect anything else.

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