One of the more interesting plot lines of the 2008 NFL season was the plight of West Coast teams traveling to the Eastern time zone, and not having much success, and that’s putting things mildly.

That is exactly what the Arizona Cardinals face in the NFC Divisional Playoffs this weekend as they head to Charlotte to take on the Carolina Panthers.

The Cardinals made 5 trips back east this season (including one to Charlotte), and came back to the desert each time with a loss. In week three, they lost to Washington 24-17. In week four, after opting to stay on the east coast for an entire week, they were embarrassed by the New York Jets 56-35. In week 8, they dropped a tight one to Carolina 27-23. On Thanksgiving night, the Philadelphia Eagles blitzed the Cards 48-20, and in week 16, in the snow and sleet of New England, the Patriots ran roughshod over the Cardinals 47-7.

Examine the history of the Cardinals, and you’ll find this wasn’t an anomaly. Since 2002, Arizona is an awful 3-21 in games played in the Eastern time zone. Their last win was last season, when they defeated the Cincinnati Bengals 35-27. In 2004, they beat the Miami Dolphins 24-23, and back in 2002, they scored a victory over the Panthers, 16-13. That’s it.

But it’s not only the Cardinals that struggle when traveling across the country to play. Including the Cardinals (who spend part of the year on Pacific time), there are four other West coast teams; the Oakland Raiders, the San Diego Chargers, the San Francisco 49ers and the Seattle Seahawks. The five teams combined are, get ready for this, 30-82 when playing games in the Eastern Time Zone.

Many people will be churning out facts and figures over the next 4 or 5 days, trying to dig up a nugget that will point to some shred of optimism for the Cardinals. Those people may very well succeed. But this one trumps all the others.