Any chance the Cardinals had at earning a postseason berth was likely destroyed on Sunday when Arizona fell to Miami on a last-second field goal, as FiveThirtyEight now gives the 5-7-1 Cards less than one percent chance of making the playoffs. With most of the focus in the desert turned to the offseason, let’s take a look at the latest out of Arizona…
- The Cardinals are examining the contractual bargaining agreement to determine whether they can internally punish wide receiver Michael Floyd following his DUI arrest, head coach Bruce Arians told Alex Marvez on SiriusXM NFL Radio (Twitter link). Additionally, Arians said it’s possible the Floyd will simply be benched on Sunday against the Saints. Floyd is set to become an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, so these recent developments are the worst possible way for Floyd to finish the 2016 campaign.
- Although a recent report indicated that he may need surgery, the Cardinals have their “fingers crossed” that defensive back Tyrann Mathieu can return to practice on Wednesday, according to Arians (Twitter link). Mathieu has been sidelined for four of Arizona’s past five games, and if he undergoes surgery, he’d presumably be shut down for the year. The Cards already placed two other critical defenders — linebacker Deone Bucannon and safety Tyvon Branch — on injured reserve yesterday.
- Speaking to reporters yesterday, Arians was adamant that the Cards would not make any coaching changes after the season, tweets Darren Urban of AZCardinals.com. Arians was specifically referring to special teams coordinator Amos Jones, per Urban, as Arizona has particularly struggled on teams this season. On the year, the Cardinals rank dead last in special teams DVOA, according to Football Outsiders.
- The move to replace Drew Butler with fellow punter Matt Wile would have occurred last week, but Arizona wanted to ensure that Wile was a capable holder on field goal attempts, per Arians (Twitter link).