How Many Super Bowls Have The Cardinals Won?

The Arizona Cardinals are one of two charter teams still left in the NFL. They, along with the Chicago Bears, have been around since the NFL started in 1920. Although they’ve been around for so long, the Cardinals have yet to win a Super Bowl. They did, however, take home two NFL Championship trophies in the pre-Super Bowl era of American football: one in 1925 and another in 1947.

This article will focus on Arizona’s previous championship wins before the Super Bowl began in 1967. It will also discuss the Cardinals’ 2009 Super Bowl, which they narrowly lost.

1925 NFL Championship

Before the Super Bowl era, especially in the earliest days of the NFL, college football teams were often as good, if not better, than professional football teams. As a result, the Pottsville Maroons set up an exhibition game against Notre Dame’s all-star team. The Maroons won the game 9-7, but playing this game would haunt them at the season’s end.

The Maroons went on to beat the Cardinals in the 1925 NFL Championship later that season by a score of 21-7. However, there was only one problem. It turned out that Notre Dame, who the Maroons played earlier in the season, was located in the Frankford Yellow Jackets' territory. Since the NFL had rules about territorial rights back then, the Yellow Jackets disputed the Notre Dame-Maroons game. Their complaint caused the NFL commissioner, Joseph Carr, to remove the championship title from the Maroons and give it to the Cardinals. Although this championship is still controversial, it gave the Arizona Cardinals their first NFL Championship.

1947 NFL Championship

The Arizona Cardinals won the 1947 NFL Championship back when they were the Chicago Cardinals. With four quarters consisting of only one touchdown, the Chicago Cardinals came out victorious against the Philadelphia Eagles, who only scored one touchdown in each of the last three quarters.

After a tough battle, the 10-3 Cardinals defeated the 9-5 Eagles for their second official NFL Championship, the only one they did not win by default.

Super Bowl XLIII

Super Bowl XLIII took place on February 1st, 2009, in Tampa, Florida, between the Arizona Cardinals and the Pittsburgh Steelers. It would mark a chance to make history for both teams. If the Cardinals won, they would end the longest championship drought in American football history, as they had not won a championship since 1947. On the flip side, if the Steelers won, they would be the first NFL team to win six Super Bowls. 

The game was intense, with a lot of back and forth, and all its viewers were kept on the edge of their seats. But ultimately, the Steelers came out on top, winning 27-23. Arizona Cardinals fans felt cheated after the game because the officials refused to review a Kurt Warner fumble that, by one angle, really looked like an incomplete pass.

With Kurt Warner and Larry Fitzgerald’s incredible seasons, Super Bowl XLIII seemed like the stars had aligned perfectly for Arizona to win for the first time in 60 years. Sadly, that was not the case, and the Cardinals will have to be immortalized in football glory another year.

FAQ