If schedule is everything, then maybe the Arizona Cardinals aren't baking in a desert in a stadium with 40,000 empty seats and a roster starving for big playmakers.

Sure, I've seen the injury report. The Cardinals lost a hustling defensive end (Kyle Vanden Bosch) and a shutdown cornerback (Duane Starks) for the season. I know that Jeff Blake got dinged with a concussion on the first play of the Cardinals' exhibition finale. I know that the cornerback position for the Cardinals is thin, particularly in an NFC West division that carves up average cornerbacks.

But if schedule is everything, then maybe the Cardinals have hope. They have the league's easiest schedule. They face winning teams only five times. Their opponents' winning percentage is .443. Of all the lovable losers in the NFL, could the Cardinals parlay the schedule formula to a possible playoff appearance?

It's hard to go with the Bengals because they play 10 quality teams. The Jaguars and Texans each play 12. The Lions have a shot because they play seven quality teams, but if you've seen them, you know that they are a long way from winning, and they lost halfback James Stewart and linebacker Brian Williams Thursday night with busted-up shoulders.

As for the Dallas Cowboys, winning nine games in a schedule that has 11 quality opponents is pretty tough unless you believe Quincy Carter can take Bill Parcells to the promised land.

All right, then let's ride these Cardinals for a second. They went 5-11 last year. Their biggest downfall was division games. They went 1-5, and the division got tougher this year because the Rams appear to be back at playoff form and the Seahawks are serious challengers.

Outside the division, though, the Cardinals have a chance. They were 4-6 in non-division games last year. They open in Detroit. That's a possible win. In Week 3, they play one of their three non-division quality teams (the Packers) at 1 p.m. Phoenix time in the 100-degree heat. If they can hide the water and Gatorade, maybe the Cards can pull an upset.

The only other games against teams with winning records are on the road -- Nov. 9 in Pittsburgh and Nov. 16 in Cleveland. If the Browns are indeed down, maybe the Cardinals can pull the upset there. Winning in Pittsburgh will be tough, so let's call that a split. Going 2-1 against non-division winning teams would be huge.

Even if the Cardinals can pull a 2-4 record in their division, they have the longshot chance of going 8-2 in non-division games. A win over Detroit, a hide-the-Gatorade home win over the Packers and a split against Pittsburgh and Cleveland gives them a 3-1 start.

The rest of their non-division games are at home against Baltimore, Cincinnati, Carolina and Minnesota. The other road games are at Dallas and Chicago. The Cards beat the Cowboys and Bears in the preseason.

Maybe Emmitt Smith saw something when he left the Cowboys for the Cardinals. Maybe he's a schedule watcher. A 10-6 Cardinals team? Oh, well, let's dream.

John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.