When the schedule comes out in April, everybody knows exactly what it means -- one what holidays you play, when you have a short week, and (with just a little bit a legwork) what the situation of the teams you are playing have coming into your game. So the Cardinals understood their road tests this season. And they understood how much prep time their opponents had for them.

Saturday's Christmas Eve game in Seattle marks the fifth time -- and four of their road trips -- that the Cards' opponent has had extra time to prepare for the Cardinals. The Panthers and Falcons were coming off byes. The Redskins, Bills and now the Seahawks were coming off Thursday games.

"It is what it is," coach Bruce Arians said. "We've got Sunday to Saturday (to prepare). It's better than Sunday to Thursday."

Whether the extra time is really a factor here can be debated. The Cards came out slow in Carolina and were just bad in Buffalo. The Falcons simply outplayed them after a fairly even start. The Cards actually beat Washington in the one home instance. It's not ideal, especially from the rest aspect, but this season, the way the Cardinals have played, the blame goes well beyond schedules.

-- With all the Fitz retirement talk, I thought this week's Cardinals Underground podcast -- in which we have lots of Fitz analysis -- was one of our better podcasts of the season.