The Cardinals' struggles on the East Coast again will on public display this week as the club prepares to travel to Carolina a second time this season.
The Cardinals are 0-5 in the Eastern time zone this year, including a 27-23 loss at Carolina in late October.
Since 2003, the Cardinals are 2-19 when playing in the East, with their last victory coming in 2007 against the Bengals.
It's a big reason the Cardinals opened the week as 10-point underdogs to the Panthers, the No. 2 seed.
The Cardinals have had numerous chances this season to prove they can be competitive when traveling across two or three time zones to play. They failed each time, and some of the losses were embarrassing, especially late in the year.
They lost by 40 in New England and 28 in Philadelphia.
Those games obscured the fact that the club played some decent games on the road early in the year. They lost to the Redskins by a touchdown and to the Panthers by four points, after leading by 14 in the third quarter.
The game earlier this year in Carolina gives them confidence that they can compete on the road. But Saturday's divisional playoff game is another test of this team's maturity.
