1996 Arizona Cardinals season

1996 Arizona Cardinals season
Head coach	Vince Tobin
Owner	Bill Bidwill
Home field	Sun Devil Stadium
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	4th NFC East
Playoff finish	did not qualify

The 1996 Arizona Cardinals season was the 77th season the team was in the league and 9th in Arizona. The team improved upon their previous output of 4–12, winning seven games.^[1] Despite the improvement, the Cardinals failed to qualify to the playoffs for the fourteenth consecutive season.

The low point of the season was providing a notorious New York Jets team with its only win in front of less than thirty thousand people. This was the first time the Cardinals had opposed the Jets since 1978.^[2] The reason for this is that before the admission of the Texans in 2002, NFL scheduling formulas for games outside a team’s division were much more influenced by table position during the previous season.^[3]

Personnel

Staff

1996 Arizona Cardinals staff
	Front office President – Bill Bidwill Vice President – Larry Wilson Assistant General Manager – Joe Woolley Assistant to the President – Bob Ferguson Director of Pro Scouting – Keith Kidd Director of College Scouting – Bo Bolinger Head coaches Head Coach – Vince Tobin Offensive coaches Offensive Coordinator – Jim Fassel Running Backs – Jim Skipper Wide Receivers – Vic Rapp Tight Ends/Quality Control – Geep Chryst Offensive Line – Carl Mauck			Defensive coaches Defensive Coordinator – Dave McGinnis Defensive Line – Joe Greene Linebackers – Glenn Pires Defensive Backs – Larry Marmie Special teams coaches Special Teams – Al Everest Strength and conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Bob Rogucki

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Notes	Attendance
1	September 1, 1996	at Indianapolis Colts	L 13–20	Boomer Esiason ran in a two-yard touchdown	48,133
2	September 8, 1996	Miami Dolphins	L 10–38	Kent Graham replaced Esiason	55,444
3	September 15, 1996	at New England Patriots	L 0–31	Cardinals held to 170 yards	59,118
4	September 22, 1996	at New Orleans Saints	W 28–14	Kent Graham won despite only 165 passing yards	34,316
5	September 29, 1996	St. Louis Rams	W 31–28 (OT)	First meeting with Rams since move to St. Louis	33,116
6	Bye
7	October 13, 1996	at Dallas Cowboys	L 3–17	Graham sacked three times	64,096
8	October 20, 1996	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 13–9	Larry Centers caught a five-yard touchdown	27,738
9	October 27, 1996	New York Jets	L 21–31	Only win of the season for the Jets	28,088
10	November 3, 1996	at New York Giants	L 8–16	Boomer Esiason returned and threw two interceptions	68,262
11	November 10, 1996	at Washington Redskins	W 37–34	Boomer Esiason broke 500 yards passing in the game	51,929
12	November 17, 1996	New York Giants	W 31–23	Cardinals forced two fumbles and two interceptions	34,924
13	November 24, 1996	Philadelphia Eagles	W 36–30	Esiason threw three touchdowns; both teams combined for 37 4th-quarter points	36,175
14	December 1, 1996	at Minnesota Vikings	L 17–41	Esiason had two interceptions	45,767
15	December 8, 1996	Dallas Cowboys	L 6–10	Leeland McElroy rushed for 90 yards	70,763
16	December 15, 1996	Washington Redskins	W 27–26	Kevin Butler kicked game-winning field goal in final seconds	34,260
17	December 22, 1996	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 19–29	Cardinals scored two 4th-quarter touchdowns	63,658

Standings

NFC East
	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	STK
^(3) Dallas Cowboys	10	6	0	.625	286	250	L1
^(5) Philadelphia Eagles	10	6	0	.625	363	341	W2
Washington Redskins	9	7	0	.563	364	312	W1
Arizona Cardinals	7	9	0	.438	300	397	L1
New York Giants	6	10	0	.375	242	297	L2

References

1. 1996 Arizona Cardinals
2. Arizona Cardinals v New York Jets
3. History of the NFL’s Structure and Formats