The Arizona Cardinals playing schedule for the next NFL season has been released. As is typically the case, the Cards will be playing some revenge and reunion games.
The team will be facing some of the players they let go during the offseason and, of the 17 games they’re to play, four fall under the category of revenge/reunion as, barring injury, there will be players who will be facing them for the first time since they left the organization and players or coaches who will be reunited for the first time since.
All of the games make for very interesting betting and the BetMGM Arizona sportsbook will be offering odds on them, as well as the other 13.
We take a look at all four of these games below.
Kansas City Chiefs
Arizona will play the Kansas City Chiefs in their season opener, having last played them in 2018, the year before Kliff Kingsbury was appointed as their head coach. Kingsbury was Patrick Mahomes’ coach at Texas Tech and they haven’t had an opportunity to be involved in the same game at the professional level.
The Cardinals coach is still pretty fond of Mahomes, who has gone on to win a Super Bowl and an MVP award since going pro.
Kingsbury will be happy to begin the 2022/23 season with this reunion game, which he will be hoping to win.
Las Vegas Raiders
The Cardinals will have a revenge game the following week as they will be playing the Raiders in Week 2. The Raiders now employ Chandler Jones, who spent six years in Arizona before he departed in the offseason.
Jones finished the season with the second-most sacks and left as a free agent, having requested a trade when he wasn’t offered an extension last year. He will likely be looking to have his best game when he meets the Cardinals early next season.
New Orleans Saints
Arizona is set for another revenge game in Week 7. Tyrann Mathieu has been away from the team since 2017 but it will be the first time he gets to play them. The 29-year-old safety was drafted by the Cards in 2013 and was released after the 2017 season.
The three-time first-team All-Pro has since played for the Houston Texans and Chiefs, with whom he became a Super Bowl Champion in 2020. Despite his success away from Arizona, Mathieu is still bitter over getting cut.
Minnesota Vikings
A revenge game follows right away in Week 8, with Jordan Hicks, Jeff Gladney, and Nick Vigil all poised to be involved when the Vikings take on the Cardinals.
Hicks was cut by Arizona during the offseason after being told Zaven Collins would replace him in the starting lineup and then requesting a trade before winning the starting job back. Gladney is on the Cardinals roster, having gotten cut by Minnesota when he was arrested on assault charges last year.
This one will be a reunion game for Vigil, who spent a season in Minnesota.
The Cardinals will probably have a difficult time winning some of these fixtures as they will be without DeAndre Hopkins for six games. The star wide receiver has been suspended for the aforementioned number of games for violating league policy on performance-enhancing drugs.
Hopkins claimed to be confused and shocked following the news of his suspension but admitted that he was not careful enough, though he tries his best to do his due diligence. His brand manager, Doug Sanders sent a text message to ESPN’s Adam Schefter stating that a test in November revealed “trace elements of a banned substance” but tests the month prior and the month after were negative.
“I was confused and shocked,” Hopkins wrote on Twitter. “I am very mindful of what I put in my body and have always taken a holistic approach, so I am working with my team to investigate how this could’ve happened.
“But even as careful as I have been, clearly I wasn’t careful enough. For that, I apologize to Cardinals fans, my teammates, and the entire Cardinals organization. I never want to let my team down. I fully intend to get to the bottom of this. As soon as I have more information I will share it.”
The suspension followed the Cardinals trading their first-round pick in the recent NFL Draft to the Baltimore Ravens for wide receiver Marquise “Hollywood” Brown.
Brown will be reunited with Kyler Murray, whom he played with at Oklahoma and kept the big scoop from the QB despite being asked if he might get traded on numerous occasions.
Hopkins, though, will be permitted to practice with the Cardinals and play in the preseason. The three-time first-team All-Pro is coming off an injury-ravaged season that saw him play out the worst season of his NFL career.
