The release of the Arizona Cardinals’ 2023 schedule revealed that not much went right for them.
They have an early stretch of the season in which they play all three of their divisional road games in four weeks. They have December road trips to Pittsburgh, Chicago and Philadelphia, giving the potential for three bad-weather games.
They have the latest bye in the league.
But their schedule is not all bad.
It includes one extremely small thing that benefits them.
It is what is called the “rest effect,” which is how often opponents play a team with extra rest.
According to FOX Sports’ Warren Sharp, the Cardinals are one of only six teams who will face only one opponent in 2023 who has extra rest (coming off a bye or a Thursday game the previous week).
Those six teams are the Cardinals, Jets, Ravens, Bears, Titans and Browns.
The Cardinals are one of the teams most helped by the net rest effect.
The Cardinals need all the help they can get, as they are not expected to be good in 2023 and have a tough slate of games as well.
But if we are looking for any little thing to take as a positive for the upcoming season’s schedule, this is it.
They are the least affected by opponent rest.
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