1994 Arizona Cardinals season

Last updated

1994 Arizona Cardinals season
Owner Bill Bidwill
Head coach Buddy Ryan
Home field Sun Devil Stadium
Results
Record8–8
Division place3rd NFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify
Pro Bowlers LB Seth Joyner
FS Aeneas Williams

The 1994 Arizona Cardinals season was the franchise's 75th season with the National Football League (NFL), the seventh season in Arizona and the first season as the "Arizona Cardinals". Buddy Ryan became the 32nd head coach in Cardinals history. After being given a large share of the credit for the success of the Houston Oilers in 1993, Ryan was named head coach of the Arizona Cardinals in 1994. Also named general manager of the Cardinals, Ryan went 8–8 his first year, the Cardinals’ first non-losing season since 1984.

Contents

The Cardinals finished the season ranked third in the NFL in total defense, although it allowed only two fewer points in 1994 than they had in 1993. An anemic offense, one which saw three quarterbacks start at least one game, held the team back. Arizona scored 89 points fewer in 1994 than it did in 1993, and it finished with a minus-32-point differential after finishing at plus-57 in 1993.

Arizona lost its first two games by a combined five points, then were shut out 32–0 by the Cleveland Browns. The Cardinals recovered to enter the final week of the season with a shot at the playoffs, but those hopes were ended by a 10–6 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.

Offseason

NFL Draft

1994 Arizona Cardinals draft
RoundPickPlayerPositionCollegeNotes
110 Jamir Miller  *  Linebacker UCLA
238 Chuck Levy   Running back Arizona
376 Rich Braham   Center West Virginia
389 Eric England   Defensive end Texas A&M
4107 Perry Carter   Defensive back Southern Miss
4113John Reece Defensive back Nebraska
4115 Terry Irving  Linebacker McNeese State
5139 Anthony Redmon   Guard Auburn
6172 Terry Samuels   Tight end Kentucky
7204 Frank Harvey  Running back Georgia
      Made roster    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

[1]

Personnel

Staff

1994 Arizona Cardinals staff

Front office

Head coaches

Offensive coaches

Defensive coaches

Special teams coaches

Strength and conditioning

  • Strength and conditioning – Bob Rogucki


Roster

1994 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

53 active, 5 inactive, 2 practice squadReserve

Rookies in italics

Regular season

Schedule

WeekDateOpponentResultRecordVenueAttendance
1September 4at Los Angeles Rams L 12–140–1 Anaheim Stadium 32,969
2September 11 New York Giants L 17–200–2Sun Devil Stadium60,066
3September 18at Cleveland Browns L 0–320–3 Cleveland Municipal Stadium 62,818
4 Bye
5October 2 Minnesota Vikings W 17–71–3Sun Devil Stadium67,950
6October 9at Dallas Cowboys L 3–381–4 Texas Stadium 64,518
7October 16at Washington Redskins W 19–16 (OT)2–4 RFK Stadium 50,019
8October 23 Dallas Cowboys L 21–282–5Sun Devil Stadium71,023
9October 30 Pittsburgh Steelers W 20–17 (OT)3–5Sun Devil Stadium65,690
10November 6at Philadelphia Eagles L 7–173–6 Veterans Stadium 64,952
11November 13at New York Giants W 10–94–6 Giants Stadium 71,719
12November 20 Philadelphia Eagles W 12–65–6Sun Devil Stadium62,779
13November 27 Chicago Bears L 16–19 (OT)5–7Sun Devil Stadium65,922
14December 4at Houston Oilers W 30–126–7 Houston Astrodome 39,821
15December 11 Washington Redskins W 17–157–7Sun Devil Stadium53,790
16December 18 Cincinnati Bengals W 28–78–7Sun Devil Stadium50,110
17December 24at Atlanta Falcons L 6–108–8 Georgia Dome 35,311
Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Game summaries

Week 1

1234Total
Cardinals066012
Rams707014

[2]

Week 2

1234Total
Giants6140020
Cardinals370717

[3]

Week 3

1234Total
Cardinals00000
Browns03151432

[4]

Week 5

1234Total
Vikings07007
Cardinals7001017

[5]

Week 6

1234Total
Cardinals00303
Cowboys21710038

[6]

Week 7

1234OTTotal
Cardinals03013319
Redskins01402016

[7]

Week 8

1234Total
Cowboys7701428
Cardinals0140721

[8]

Week 9

1234OTTotal
Steelers01403017
Cardinals71000320

[9]

Week 10

1234Total
Cardinals00077
Eagles0314017

[10]

Week 11

1234Total
Cardinals003710
Giants72009

[11]

Week 12

1234Total
Eagles03036
Cardinals333312

[12]

Week 13

1234OTTotal
Bears7360319
Cardinals03310016

[13]

Week 14

1234Total
Cardinals01002030
Oilers930012

[14]

This ninth successive defeat for the Oilers has the unusual distinction of being the most recent NFL game as of 2017 during which both teams scored a safety, and one of only eight since at least 1940. [15]

Week 15

1234Total
Redskins330915
Cardinals7001017

[16]

Week 16

1234Total
Bengals00707
Cardinals1470728

[17]

Week 17

1234Total
Cardinals03036
Falcons703010

[18]

Standings

NFC East
WLTPCTPFPASTK
(2) Dallas Cowboys 1240.750414248L1
New York Giants 970.563279305W6
Arizona Cardinals 880.500235267L1
Philadelphia Eagles 790.438308308L7
Washington Redskins 3130.188320412W1

[19]

Awards and records

References

  1. "1994 Arizona Cardinals Draftees". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved January 2, 2014.
  2. Arizona Cardinals at Los Angeles Rams – September 4th, 1994. Retrieved 2018-Sep-15.
  3. New York Giants at Arizona Cardinals – September 11th, 1994. Retrieved 2018-Sep-15.
  4. Arizona Cardinals at Cleveland Browns – September 18th, 1994. Retrieved 2018-Sep-15.
  5. Minnesota Vikings at Arizona Cardinals – October 2nd, 1994. Retrieved 2018-Sep-15.
  6. Arizona Cardinals at Dallas Cowboys – October 9th, 1994. Retrieved 2018-Sep-11.
  7. Arizona Cardinals at Washington Redskins – October 16th, 1994. Retrieved 2018-Sep-11.
  8. Dallas Cowboys at Arizona Cardinals – October 23rd, 1994. Retrieved 2018-Sep-11.
  9. Pittsburgh Steelers at Arizona Cardinals – October 30th, 1994. Retrieved 2018-Sep-11.
  10. Arizona Cardinals at Philadelphia Eagles – November 6th, 1994. Retrieved 2018-Sep-11.
  11. Arizona Cardinals at New York Giants – November 13th, 1994. Retrieved 2014-May-18.
  12. Philadelphia Eagles at Arizona Cardinals – November 20th, 1994. Retrieved 2014-Jul-06.
  13. Chicago Bears at Arizona Cardinals – November 27th, 1994. Retrieved 2018-Sep-10.
  14. Arizona Cardinals at Houston Oilers – December 4th, 1994. Retrieved 2018-Sep-10.
  15. Pro Football Reference ; In a single game, from 1940 to 2017, requiring opp Safeties >= 1 and Safeties >= 1, sorted by ascending Date
  16. Washington Redskins at Arizona Cardinals – December 11th, 1994. Retrieved 2014-Jul-06.
  17. Cincinnati Bengals at Arizona Cardinals – December 18th, 1994. Retrieved 2018-Sep-15.
  18. Arizona Cardinals at Atlanta Falcons – December 24th, 1994. Retrieved 2018-Sep-15.
  19. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN   0-7611-2480-2, p. 291
  20. NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, ISBN   0-7611-2480-2, p. 453