A revised look at strength of schedule data, based on team's win-loss records at the end of Week 6. Two of the heavy hitters in the NFC West project to play the easiest schedules, along with two in the NFC North.
These are based on how teams have played so far. Seattle's final 10 games are against teams that are currently a combined 21-36. That's a shade better than the 49ers and Lions, who are a game and half back. Packers come next.
The Broncos, Rams and Chargers project to play the hardest remaining schedules.
| Strength of Schedule -- Points (Weeks 7-17) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | Pct. |
| Seattle | 21 | 36 | .368 |
| San Francisco | 22 | 34 | .393 |
| Detroit | 22 | 34 | .393 |
| Green Bay | 25 | 37 | .403 |
| Philadelphia | 23 | 34 | .404 |
| Atlanta | 26 | 34 | .433 |
| New Orleans | 25 | 31 | .446 |
| Tennessee | 27 | 33 | .450 |
| Dallas | 26 | 31 | .456 |
| NY Giants | 26 | 30 | .464 |
| Jacksonville | 28 | 32 | .467 |
| Miami | 30 | 33 | .476 |
| Chicago | 27 | 29 | .482 |
| Washington | 31 | 33 | .484 |
| Buffalo | 27 | 28 | .491 |
| Cincinnati | 28 | 29 | .491 |
| Carolina | 30 | 31 | .492 |
| New England | 28 | 28 | .500 |
| Oakland | 30 | 29 | .508 |
| Arizona | 30 | 29 | .508 |
| Indianapolis | 31 | 29 | .517 |
| Minnesota | 33 | 30 | .524 |
| Tampa Bay | 32 | 29 | .525 |
| Baltimore | 30 | 27 | .526 |
| Cleveland | 30 | 27 | .526 |
| Houston | 32 | 28 | .533 |
| Kansas City | 32 | 27 | .542 |
| Pittsburgh | 35 | 29 | .547 |
| NY Jets | 32 | 25 | .561 |
| San Diego | 34 | 24 | .586 |
| St. Louis | 34 | 24 | .586 |
| Denver | 35 | 24 | .593 |
With strength of schedules, we can also look at what teams are done so far. That can help us understand if a team's actually good or bad -- or maybe it's been affected by scheduling.
The Jaguars have played the hardest schedule -- by far. Kansas City and Denver are both undefeated, and they also played at Seattle. Jacksonville's opponents are a combined 26-10. That drops to 20-10 when you leave out the 6 games involving the Jaguars (which we'll do here to give more of an apples-to-apples comparision -- we don't want teams getting rewarded for losing).
Falcons and Giants also have played hard schedules.
Carolina and the Rams have played the easiest schedules so far.
| Strength of Schedule -- Points (Weeks 1-6) | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | Pct. |
| Jacksonville | 20 | 10 | .667 |
| Atlanta | 15 | 9 | .625 |
| NY Giants | 18 | 11 | .621 |
| San Francisco | 17 | 12 | .586 |
| Tennessee | 17 | 12 | .586 |
| Green Bay | 14 | 10 | .583 |
| Miami | 14 | 10 | .583 |
| Baltimore | 16 | 12 | .571 |
| Cincinnati | 16 | 12 | .571 |
| Houston | 17 | 13 | .567 |
| Buffalo | 16 | 13 | .552 |
| Dallas | 16 | 13 | .552 |
| Oakland | 16 | 13 | .552 |
| Tampa Bay | 13 | 12 | .520 |
| New Orleans | 14 | 13 | .519 |
| Indianapolis | 15 | 14 | .517 |
| Arizona | 14 | 14 | .500 |
| Cleveland | 14 | 14 | .500 |
| New England | 14 | 14 | .500 |
| Seattle | 14 | 15 | .483 |
| San Diego | 14 | 16 | .467 |
| Chicago | 13 | 15 | .464 |
| Philadelphia | 13 | 15 | .464 |
| Pittsburgh | 11 | 13 | .458 |
| Washington | 11 | 13 | .458 |
| Detroit | 12 | 15 | .444 |
| Minnesota | 10 | 13 | .435 |
| Denver | 11 | 19 | .367 |
| Kansas City | 11 | 19 | .367 |
| NY Jets | 9 | 18 | .333 |
| St. Louis | 9 | 20 | .310 |
| Carolina | 7 | 17 | .292 |
Some prefer the version with "points" rather than wins. I'll post that later in the week.
--Ian Allan

