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Strength of schedule data

Lions, Eagles should play easiest schedules

Ian Allan takes a look at strength of schedule information after five weeks. Which teams have benefited from easy schedules? Which teams have been hurt by playing hard schedules? And what can we expect going forward?

The following four teams have been hurt by scheduling: Dolphins, Falcons, Ravens and 49ers. Those four teams have played the toughest schedules (which is why Atlanta is now in a really tight spot). The Harbaugh brothers, they've had it through the tough portions of their schedules; those teams will be fine.

At the other end, Kansas City, Carolina and St. Louis have benefited from easy schedules. With KC, it's played against five teams that are a combined 7-18. The Giants are 0-5, and Jacksonville ... well, that's just shooting dead fish in a barrel. On our chart, we leave out teams own games to be fair, so we've got KC at 7-13. Carolina and St. Louis have both struggled despite playing easy schedules, which is not a good sign.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE -- WINS (Weeks 1-5)
TeamWLPct
Miami146.700
Atlanta137.650
Baltimore137.650
San Francisco127.632
Tampa Bay106.625
Houston128.600
Jacksonville128.600
Buffalo118.579
Chicago108.556
Cincinnati108.556
Dallas119.550
Indianapolis119.550
Green Bay87.533
Cleveland109.526
NY Giants109.526
Philadelphia109.526
Tennessee109.526
New Orleans910.474
Oakland910.474
Seattle910.474
Denver911.450
Arizona810.444
New England811.421
NY Jets811.421
Detroit710.412
Minnesota69.400
Pittsburgh69.400
San Diego812.400
Washington69.400
Kansas City713.350
Carolina511.313
St. Louis515.250

Going forward, the easiest schedules appear to below to the Eagles, Lions, Packers and Seattle. Look for good things from those offenses. San Francisco, Chicago, Atlanta and Dallas -- they're also up there.

When looking for tough schedules, I see San Diego, St. Louis, Pittsburgh and New England. Note that St. Louis is already struggling despite playing the EASIEST schedule so far. Now it's getting one of the hardest, with three games against Seattle and St. Louis. That's troubling for the Rams.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE -- WINS (Weeks 6-17)
TeamWLPct
Philadelphia1833.353
Detroit1932.373
Green Bay2235.386
Seattle2132.396
San Francisco2131.404
Chicago2130.412
Atlanta2128.429
Dallas2229.431
Washington2633.441
New Orleans2329.442
NY Giants2328.451
Miami2428.462
Minnesota2630.464
Tampa Bay2830.483
Baltimore2526.490
Carolina2829.491
Cleveland2626.500
Arizona2827.509
Tennessee2827.509
Buffalo2726.509
Cincinnati2726.509
Indianapolis2926.527
Oakland2925.537
NY Jets2924.547
Denver3024.556
Kansas City3024.556
Houston3124.564
Jacksonville3124.564
New England3023.566
Pittsburgh3425.576
St. Louis3122.585
San Diego3321.611

-- Ian Allan

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