As NFL Schedules begin to leak, how many primetime games will the Arizona Cardinals have in 2026?

TEMPE, ARIZONA - MAY 08: Carson Beck #19 of the Arizona Cardinals hands off the ball to Jeremiyah Love #4 during a team rookie mincamp at Dignity Health Arizona Cardinals Training Center on May 08, 2026 in Tempe, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) | Getty Images The NFL announced their first Sunday Night Football matchup of the 2026 NFL season, and not a shock to anyone, it involved two NFC East rivals. THE SNF WEEK 1 MATCHUP IS A GO.

🤩 pic. twitter. com/2s1RDMkjXf — Sunday Night Football on NBC (@SNFonNBC) May 11, 2026 We knew it would not be the Cardinals on any type of National Game early in the season, and while the Dallas Cowboys (7-9-1) and New York Giants (4-13) were not exactly juggernauts in 2025, they both are way bigger franchises in terms of fans and draw than the Cardinals.

It does bring up an interesting question: How many national games do the Arizona Cardinals get in 2026? For those that don’t remember, here are the home and away teams they will face: Home: Los Angeles Rams, San Francisco 49ers, Seattle Seahawks, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Commanders, Denver Broncos, Las Vegas Raiders, New York Jets, Detroit Lions Away: Rams, 49ers, Seahawks, Dallas Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs, Los Angeles Chargers, New York Giants, New Orleans Saints The Cardinals play the Saints and 49ers, both teams have international games this year, so that could be a possibility as national games (not necessarily primetime), as the Saints and Niners both are the “home” team in those scenarios. From there, you have maybe two more options.

First – The standard NFC West Thursday Night Football game, but that may not be something the NFL likes this year for the Cardinals with such a disparity last year between the Cardinals and the division. Think about it, in the first two games the Cardinals were 0-2, losing by a combined four points on last second field goals, and in the other four games they were 0-4 and lost by a combined 167-81, or an average of 41-20. Does the NFL want that on one of their primetime games?