2012 Arizona Cardinals season

The 2012 season was the Arizona Cardinals' 93rd in the National Football League (NFL), their 25th in Arizona, and their sixth and final season under head coach Ken Whisenhunt. After a surprising 4–0 start, which included a major upset of the New England Patriots in week 2, the Cardinals lost 11 of their final 12 games, and missed the playoffs for a third consecutive season, resulting in the firing of head coach Ken Whisenhunt after six seasons. This was Rod Graves' last season as general manager of the Cardinals. A day after the final game of the regular season, he was fired after 6 seasons.

2012 Arizona Cardinals season
OwnerBill Bidwill
General managerRod Graves
Head coachKen Whisenhunt
Home fieldUniversity of Phoenix Stadium
Results
Record5–11
Division place4th NFC West
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro BowlersWR Larry Fitzgerald
LB Daryl Washington
CB Patrick Peterson
Uniform

2012 draft class

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Arizona at the New York Jets in week 13
2012 Arizona Cardinals draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 13 Michael Floyd  Wide receiver Notre Dame
3 80 Jamell Fleming  Defensive back Oklahoma
4 112 Bobby Massie  Tackle Ole Miss
5 151 Senio Kelemete  Guard Washington
6 177 Justin Bethel *  Defensive back Presbyterian The Cardinals acquired this sixth-round selection (No. 177 overall) and defensive end Vonnie Holliday in a trade that sent running back Tim Hightower to the Washington Redskins.
6 185 Ryan Lindley  Quarterback San Diego State
7 221 Nate Potter  Tackle Boise State
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

[A]

Staff

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2012 Arizona Cardinals staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning


Final roster

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2012 Arizona Cardinals roster
Quarterbacks (QB)

Running backs (RB)

Wide receivers (WR)

Tight ends (TE)

Offensive linemen (OL)

Defensive linemen (DL)

Linebackers (LB)

Defensive backs (DB)

Special teams

Practice squad

Reserve

Rookies in italics
53 active, 11 reserve, 8 practice squad

Preseason

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Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
HOF August 5 vs. New Orleans Saints L 10–17 0–1 Fawcett Stadium (Canton, Ohio) Recap
1 August 10 at Kansas City Chiefs L 17–27 0–2 Arrowhead Stadium Recap
2 August 17 Oakland Raiders W 31–27 1–2 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap
3 August 23 at Tennessee Titans L 27–32 1–3 LP Field Recap
4 August 30 Denver Broncos L 13–16 1–4 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap

Regular season

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Schedule

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Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Recap
1 September 9 Seattle Seahawks W 20–16 1–0 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap
2 September 16 at New England Patriots W 20–18 2–0 Gillette Stadium Recap
3 September 23 Philadelphia Eagles W 27–6 3–0 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap
4 September 30 Miami Dolphins W 24–21 (OT) 4–0 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap
5 October 4 at St. Louis Rams L 3–17 4–1 Edward Jones Dome Recap
6 October 14 Buffalo Bills L 16–19 (OT) 4–2 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap
7 October 21 at Minnesota Vikings L 14–21 4–3 Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Recap
8 October 29 San Francisco 49ers L 3–24 4–4 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap
9 November 4 at Green Bay Packers L 17–31 4–5 Lambeau Field Recap
10 Bye
11 November 18 at Atlanta Falcons L 19–23 4–6 Georgia Dome Recap
12 November 25 St. Louis Rams L 17–31 4–7 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap
13 December 2 at New York Jets L 6–7 4–8 MetLife Stadium Recap
14 December 9 at Seattle Seahawks L 0–58 4–9 CenturyLink Field Recap
15 December 16 Detroit Lions W 38–10 5–9 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap
16 December 23 Chicago Bears L 13–28 5–10 University of Phoenix Stadium Recap
17 December 30 at San Francisco 49ers L 13–27 5–11 Candlestick Park Recap
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

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Week 1: vs. Seattle Seahawks

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Week One: Seattle Seahawks at Arizona Cardinals – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Seahawks 3 0 10316
Cardinals 3 7 3720

at University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

The Cardinals began their season at home against their divisional rival Seahawks with quarterback John Skelton at the starting helm. The team started their season 1–0 despite Skelton finishing the game 14/28 for 149 yards and an interception. Kevin Kolb later on made an appearance in relief of Skelton going 6/8 for 66 yards and a touchdown pass.

Week 2: at New England Patriots

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Week Two: Arizona Cardinals at New England Patriots – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Cardinals 6 0 7720
Patriots 3 3 3918

at Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, Massachusetts

Game information

In a huge upset at Gillette Stadium, the Cardinals beat the Patriots to become 2–0. This was the Cardinals' first win against the Patriots since 1991.

Week 3: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

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Week Three: Philadelphia Eagles at Arizona Cardinals – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Eagles 0 0 606
Cardinals 10 14 0327

at University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

Game information

With the win, the Cardinals started 3–0 for the first time since 1974.

Week 4: vs. Miami Dolphins

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Week Four: Miami Dolphins at Arizona Cardinals – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34OTTotal
Dolphins 0 13 08021
Cardinals 0 0 714324

at University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

  • Date: September 30
  • Game time: 1:05 pm. MDT
  • Game weather: Played indoors (retractable roof closed)
  • Game attendance: 60,183
  • Referee: Scott Green
  • TV announcers (CBS): Bill Macatee and Steve Tasker
Game information

Week 5: at St. Louis Rams

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Week Five: Arizona Cardinals at St. Louis Rams – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Cardinals 3 0 003
Rams 7 3 0717

at Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri

This was the Cardinals' 700th loss. They became the first team in NFL history to do this.

Week 6: vs. Buffalo Bills

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Week Six: Buffalo Bills at Arizona Cardinals – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34OTTotal
Bills 9 0 70319
Cardinals 3 7 33016

at University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

  • Date: October 14
  • Game time: 1:05 pm. MDT
  • Game weather: Played indoors (retractable roof closed)
  • Game attendance: 60,385
  • Referee: Alberto Riveron
  • TV announcers (CBS): Bill Macatee and Steve Tasker

With the tough loss, the Cardinals fell to 4–2 and also with the Seahawks' win over the Patriots and the 49ers' loss to the Giants, the team remained in a tie for first place in the NFC West.

Week 7: at Minnesota Vikings

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Week Seven: Arizona Cardinals at Minnesota Vikings – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Cardinals 0 7 0714
Vikings 7 7 7021

at Mall of America Field at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome, Minneapolis, Minnesota

  • Date: October 21
  • Game time: 12:00 pm. CDT/10:00 am. MDT
  • Game weather: Played indoors (dome stadium)
  • Game attendance: 61,068
  • Referee: Terry McAulay
  • TV announcers (Fox): Chris Myers, Tim Ryan and Jaime Maggio

Week 8: vs. San Francisco 49ers

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Week Eight: San Francisco 49ers at Arizona Cardinals – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
49ers 7 10 7024
Cardinals 0 0 303

at University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

Week 9: at Green Bay Packers

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Week Nine: Arizona Cardinals at Green Bay Packers – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Cardinals 0 7 10017
Packers 7 14 10031

at Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin

Losing their fifth straight game of the season by remaining winless at Lambeau Field (0–7), the Cardinals headed into their bye week at 4–5.

Week 11: at Atlanta Falcons

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Week Eleven: Arizona Cardinals at Atlanta Falcons – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Cardinals 13 3 0319
Falcons 0 16 0723

at Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia

Week 12: vs. St. Louis Rams

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Week Twelve: St. Louis Rams at Arizona Cardinals – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Rams 0 14 14331
Cardinals 7 10 0017

at University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

  • Date: November 25
  • Game time: 2:25 pm. MST
  • Game weather: Played indoors (retractable roof closed)
  • Game attendance: 60,062
  • Referee: Tony Corrente
  • TV announcers (Fox): Dick Stockton, John Lynch and Jennifer Hale

Week 13: at New York Jets

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Week Thirteen: Arizona Cardinals at New York Jets – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Cardinals 0 3 036
Jets 0 0 077

at MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

  • Date: December 2
  • Game time: 1:00 pm. EST/11:00 am. MST
  • Game weather: 46 °F (8 °C), cloudy
  • Game attendance: 79,088
  • Referee: Walt Anderson
  • TV announcers (Fox): Thom Brennaman, Brian Billick and Laura Okmin
Game information

Week 14: at Seattle Seahawks

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Week Fourteen: Arizona Cardinals at Seattle Seahawks – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Cardinals 0 0 000
Seahawks 10 28 13758

at CenturyLink Field, Seattle, Washington

  • Date: December 9
  • Game time: 2:25 pm. MST
  • Game weather: 48 °F (9 °C), rain
  • Game attendance: 67,685
  • Referee: Carl Cheffers
  • TV announcers (Fox): Chris Myers, Tim Ryan, and Jaime Maggio
Game information

With the loss, the Cardinals were not only eliminated from postseason contention and also falling to 4–9, but the 58-point loss was the worst in franchise history. They committed 8 turnovers, which was the most that the Cardinals have ever committed in a game. Arizona only had 154 yards of total offense while the defense gave up 493 yards.

The Cardinals also became the first team in NFL history to lose 9 consecutive games after starting 4–0.

Week 15: vs. Detroit Lions

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Week Fifteen: Detroit Lions at Arizona Cardinals – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Lions 0 7 3010
Cardinals 0 21 31438

at University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

  • Date: December 16
  • Game time: 2:05 pm. MST
  • Game weather: 57 °F (14 °C), sunny, clear skies (retractable roof open)
  • Game attendance: 60,483
  • Referee: Jerome Boger
  • TV announcers (Fox): Chris Myers, Tim Ryan and Jaime Maggio

With this win the Cardinals ended their 9 game losing streak.

Week 16: vs. Chicago Bears

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Week Sixteen: Chicago Bears at Arizona Cardinals – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Bears 7 14 7028
Cardinals 3 3 0713

at University of Phoenix Stadium, Glendale, Arizona

  • Date: December 23
  • Game time: 2:25 pm. MST
  • Game weather: 62 °F (17 °C), sunny (retractable roof open)
  • Game attendance: 62,734
  • Referee: Terry McAulay
  • TV announcers (Fox): Dick Stockton, John Lynch and Jennifer Hale

Week 17: at San Francisco 49ers

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Week Seventeen: Arizona Cardinals at San Francisco 49ers – Game summary
Quarter 1 2 34Total
Cardinals 3 3 0713
49ers 0 7 101027

at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, California

  • Date: December 30
  • Game time: 2:25 pm. MST
  • Game weather: 50 °F (10 °C), sunny
  • Game attendance: 69,732
  • Referee: Pete Morelli
  • TV announcers (Fox): Gus Johnson, Charles Davis and Kristina Pink

With this loss, the Cardinals surpassed the 1989 Chicago Bears for the worst record by an NFL team starting 4–0.[2]

Standings

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NFC West
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
(2) San Francisco 49ers 11 4 1 .719 3–2–1 7–4–1 397 273 W1
(5) Seattle Seahawks 11 5 0 .688 3–3 8–4 412 245 W5
St. Louis Rams 7 8 1 .469 4–1–1 6–5–1 299 348 L1
Arizona Cardinals 5 11 0 .313 1–5 3–9 250 357 L2

Footnotes

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  1. ^ The Cardinals traded their second-round selection and cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie to the Philadelphia Eagles in exchange for quarterback Kevin Kolb.

References

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  1. ^ "2012 Arizona Cardinals Draftees". Pro Football Reference. Retrieved May 18, 2024.
  2. ^ Pro Football Reference; Team Record Finder Query Results: From 1961 to 2017, excluding 1982 and 1987, show the final records of teams that started 4–0
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