Four weeks are in the can, so there's no enough data (or almost enough data) that we can start looking at strength of schedule. Based on how teams have played so far, it looks like teams in the NFC East and the NFC North will tend to see the easiest schedules the rest of the way.
For this study, Week 17 is left out. Most fantasy leagues are done at that time.
And what's used here are points allowed so far. So you take those points, then look at each team's schedule for the next 12 weeks.
The Cowboys, Eagles and Packers seem to play the easiest schedules (that is, if defenses keep playing the way they've played so far). The Rams, Falcons and Dolphins project to play the hardest schedules.
Three of the heralded offenses project to play hard schedules -- Broncos, Patriots, Saints. But let's not take this scheduling stuff too seriously. Those offenses should be just fine.
| Strength of Schedule -- Points (Weeks 5-16) | |
|---|---|
| Points | |
| 27.2 | Dallas |
| 27.1 | Philadelphia |
| 27.1 | Green Bay |
| 26.6 | NY Giants |
| 26.2 | Chicago |
| 25.8 | Detroit |
| 25.5 | Washington |
| 24.8 | Minnesota |
| 24.1 | Baltimore |
| 23.3 | Oakland |
| 23.1 | Cleveland |
| 23.1 | San Diego |
| 23.0 | Seattle |
| 22.9 | Jacksonville |
| 22.5 | Tampa Bay |
| 22.1 | Cincinnati |
| 22.0 | Kansas City |
| 22.0 | Pittsburgh |
| 21.7 | Arizona |
| 21.5 | Houston |
| 21.5 | San Francisco |
| 21.3 | Tennessee |
| 21.2 | Carolina |
| 21.1 | Buffalo |
| 20.9 | Indianapolis |
| 20.8 | New England |
| 20.5 | New Orleans |
| 20.3 | Denver |
| 20.2 | NY Jets |
| 20.1 | Miami |
| 20.0 | Atlanta |
| 19.8 | St. Louis |
--Ian Allan
