2013 Arizona Cardinals season explained

The 2013 season was the Arizona Cardinals' 94th in the National Football League (NFL), their 26th in Arizona and their first under head coach Bruce Arians. The team finished with a 10–6 record, which was the second time in 37 years that the team finished with at least 10 wins. The Cardinals doubled their win total from 2012, and were in playoff contention heading into the Week 17 regular season finale, but missed the playoffs for a fourth consecutive season.

2013 draft class

See main article: 2013 NFL draft.

Round	Selection	Player	Position	College
	7			North Carolina
2	45			LSU
3	69			LSU
4	103			Texas
	116		G	James Madison
5	140			Stanford
6	174				Texas A&M
	187		RB	Clemson
7	219			Rutgers

Preseason

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	August 9	at Green Bay Packers	W 17–0	1–0	Lambeau Field	Recap
2	August 17	Dallas Cowboys	W 12–7	2–0	University of Phoenix Stadium	Recap
3	August 24	San Diego Chargers	L 7–24	2–1	University of Phoenix Stadium	Recap
4	August 29	at Denver Broncos	W 32–24	3–1	Sports Authority Field at Mile High	Recap

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Recap
1	September 8	at St. Louis Rams	L 24–27	0–1	Edward Jones Dome	Recap
2	September 15	Detroit Lions	W 25–21	1–1	University of Phoenix Stadium	Recap
3	September 22	at New Orleans Saints	L 7–31	1–2	Mercedes-Benz Superdome	Recap
4	September 29	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 13–10	2–2	Raymond James Stadium	Recap
5	October 6	Carolina Panthers	W 22–6	3–2	University of Phoenix Stadium	Recap
6	October 13	at San Francisco 49ers	L 20–32	3–3	Candlestick Park	Recap
7		Seattle Seahawks	L 22–34	3–4	University of Phoenix Stadium	Recap
8	October 27	Atlanta Falcons	W 27–13	4–4	University of Phoenix Stadium	Recap
9	Bye
10	November 10	Houston Texans	W 27–24	5–4	University of Phoenix Stadium	Recap
11	November 17	at Jacksonville Jaguars	W 27–14	6–4	EverBank Field	Recap
12	November 24	Indianapolis Colts	W 40–11	7–4	University of Phoenix Stadium	Recap
13	December 1	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 21–24	7–5	Lincoln Financial Field	Recap
14	December 8	St. Louis Rams	W 30–10	8–5	University of Phoenix Stadium	Recap
15	December 15	at Tennessee Titans	W 37–34	9–5	LP Field	Recap
16	December 22	at Seattle Seahawks	W 17–10	10–5	CenturyLink Field	Recap
17	December 29	San Francisco 49ers	L 20–23	10–6	University of Phoenix Stadium	Recap

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 15: at Tennessee Titans

With the win, the Cardinals were the only NFC West team to defeat all of their AFC South opponents.

Week 17: vs. San Francisco 49ers

The Cardinals finished their regular season at home against the 49ers in hopes of making the playoffs needing not only a win over the 49ers, but also a long shot upset by the Buccaneers over the Saints. After being behind 17–7 at halftime, the Cardinals came back to tie the game but were beaten by their division rivals on a game-winning field goal and finished in 3rd place, barely missing out as they needed to beat the 49ers to win the NFC's last playoff spot. However, even if they had won, they would not have qualified for the playoffs, since the Saints easily defeated the Buccaneers 42–17. They would finish their season 10–6, becoming the league's only team with a winning record to not make the playoffs.