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) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | Pct |
| Miami | 14 | 6 | .700 |
| Atlanta | 13 | 7 | .650 |
| Baltimore | 13 | 7 | .650 |
| San Francisco | 12 | 7 | .632 |
| Tampa Bay | 10 | 6 | .625 |
| Houston | 12 | 8 | .600 |
| Jacksonville | 12 | 8 | .600 |
| Buffalo | 11 | 8 | .579 |
| Chicago | 10 | 8 | .556 |
| Cincinnati | 10 | 8 | .556 |
| Dallas | 11 | 9 | .550 |
| Indianapolis | 11 | 9 | .550 |
| Green Bay | 8 | 7 | .533 |
| Cleveland | 10 | 9 | .526 |
| NY Giants | 10 | 9 | .526 |
| Philadelphia | 10 | 9 | .526 |
| Tennessee | 10 | 9 | .526 |
| New Orleans | 9 | 10 | .474 |
| Oakland | 9 | 10 | .474 |
| Seattle | 9 | 10 | .474 |
| Denver | 9 | 11 | .450 |
| Arizona | 8 | 10 | .444 |
| New England | 8 | 11 | .421 |
| NY Jets | 8 | 11 | .421 |
| Detroit | 7 | 10 | .412 |
| Minnesota | 6 | 9 | .400 |
| Pittsburgh | 6 | 9 | .400 |
| San Diego | 8 | 12 | .400 |
| Washington | 6 | 9 | .400 |
| Kansas City | 7 | 13 | .350 |
| Carolina | 5 | 11 | .313 |
| St. Louis | 5 | 15 | .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) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | Pct |
| Philadelphia | 18 | 33 | .353 |
| Detroit | 19 | 32 | .373 |
| Green Bay | 22 | 35 | .386 |
| Seattle | 21 | 32 | .396 |
| San Francisco | 21 | 31 | .404 |
| Chicago | 21 | 30 | .412 |
| Atlanta | 21 | 28 | .429 |
| Dallas | 22 | 29 | .431 |
| Washington | 26 | 33 | .441 |
| New Orleans | 23 | 29 | .442 |
| NY Giants | 23 | 28 | .451 |
| Miami | 24 | 28 | .462 |
| Minnesota | 26 | 30 | .464 |
| Tampa Bay | 28 | 30 | .483 |
| Baltimore | 25 | 26 | .490 |
| Carolina | 28 | 29 | .491 |
| Cleveland | 26 | 26 | .500 |
| Arizona | 28 | 27 | .509 |
| Tennessee | 28 | 27 | .509 |
| Buffalo | 27 | 26 | .509 |
| Cincinnati | 27 | 26 | .509 |
| Indianapolis | 29 | 26 | .527 |
| Oakland | 29 | 25 | .537 |
| NY Jets | 29 | 24 | .547 |
| Denver | 30 | 24 | .556 |
| Kansas City | 30 | 24 | .556 |
| Houston | 31 | 24 | .564 |
| Jacksonville | 31 | 24 | .564 |
| New England | 30 | 23 | .566 |
| Pittsburgh | 34 | 25 | .576 |
| St. Louis | 31 | 22 | .585 |
| San Diego | 33 | 21 | .611 |
-- Ian Allan

