The Arizona Cardinals opened the 2026 NFL season with a road game against the Los Angeles Chargers at SoFi Stadium.
It was Mike LaFleur’s first regular-season game as Arizona’s head coach after taking over the team during the offseason. The Cardinals entered the matchup after a difficult 2025 campaign, which ended with 14 losses and 3 wins.
Arizona was also facing a Chargers team expected to compete in the AFC West. Los Angeles had won 11 games in each of the previous two seasons and entered Week 1 with Jim Harbaugh unbeaten in his previous NFL season openers as a head coach.
The Cardinals, however, delivered a strong performance in Los Angeles. The result gave LaFleur an important first win and ended a lengthy run in franchise history.
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Mike LaFleur leads Cardinals to 26-14 win over Chargers
The Cardinals beat the Chargers 26-14 to begin the LaFleur era with a road victory.
Arizona scored enough points to control the game and held Los Angeles to 14 points. The win gave the Cardinals a 1-0 record after a season in which they finished with one of the NFL’s worst records.
LaFleur became the first Cardinals coach since Don Coryell in 1973 to win his first game in charge.
Darren Urban noted that LaFleur was the first Arizona coach in 53 years to achieve the feat.
Don Coryell was the last Cardinals coach to win his debut
Coryell was the last Cardinals coach to win his first game before LaFleur’s victory over the Chargers.
That gap covered more than five decades of coaching changes for the franchise. LaFleur ended it in his first regular-season game with Arizona.
The result also handed the Chargers a Week 1 loss at home. Arizona will now turn its attention to the next game on its schedule after starting the season with a road win.
LaFleur’s first game offered the Cardinals an early result to build on as they continue their 2026 campaign.
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