Checking in with the weekly look at strength of schedule. A chance to see which teams have benefitted so far from playing easy schedules – and which ones might benefit from the future.
For remaining schedules, Kansas City, Detroit, Houston and Indianapolis have the easiet projected schedules in these remaining three weeks. None of those teams have anyone left on their schedule with a winning record.
The Giants, Ravens and Packers appear to have the hardest schedules. Baltimore and Cleveland, by the way, are the only teams that will play teams with winning records in each of their remaining games.
| STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE (Weeks 15-17) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | Pct | >.500 |
| Kansas City | 13 | 26 | .333 | 0 |
| Detroit | 14 | 25 | .359 | 0 |
| Houston | 14 | 25 | .359 | 0 |
| Indianapolis | 14 | 25 | .359 | 0 |
| New Orleans | 15 | 24 | .385 | 0 |
| New England | 16 | 23 | .410 | 1 |
| Washington | 16 | 23 | .410 | 0 |
| Jacksonville | 17 | 22 | .436 | 0 |
| Pittsburgh | 17 | 22 | .436 | 1 |
| Buffalo | 18 | 21 | .462 | 1 |
| Carolina | 18 | 21 | .462 | 0 |
| Chicago | 18 | 21 | .462 | 1 |
| Cincinnati | 18 | 21 | .462 | 1 |
| St. Louis | 18 | 21 | .462 | 1 |
| San Francisco | 19 | 20 | .487 | 1 |
| Seattle | 19 | 20 | .487 | 1 |
| Dallas | 20 | 19 | .513 | 1 |
| Miami | 20 | 19 | .513 | 1 |
| Minnesota | 20 | 19 | .513 | 1 |
| Oakland | 20 | 19 | .513 | 2 |
| Denver | 21 | 18 | .538 | 2 |
| NY Jets | 21 | 18 | .538 | 1 |
| San Diego | 21 | 18 | .538 | 1 |
| Arizona | 23 | 16 | .590 | 2 |
| Atlanta | 23 | 16 | .590 | 1 |
| Philadelphia | 23 | 16 | .590 | 1 |
| Tampa Bay | 23 | 16 | .590 | 1 |
| Tennessee | 23 | 16 | .590 | 1 |
| Cleveland | 24 | 15 | .615 | 3 |
| Green Bay | 25 | 14 | .641 | 2 |
| Baltimore | 26 | 13 | .667 | 3 |
| NY Giants | 27 | 12 | .692 | 2 |
We can also look at where teams have come from. The two New York teams, Tampa Bay and Tennessee thus far have played the easiest schedules. The Jets’ 13 games have been against opponents that have gone 69-87 in their other games (plus going 5-8 against the Jets themselves, which we’re not counting).
The Lions, Colts and Texans have played the league’s hardest schedules, with Detroit also playing a league-high eight games against teams with winning records.
| STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE (Weeks 1-14) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | Pct | >.500 |
| NY Jets | 69 | 87 | .442 | 1 |
| NY Giants | 70 | 86 | .449 | 2 |
| Tampa Bay | 70 | 86 | .449 | 1 |
| Tennessee | 70 | 86 | .449 | 2 |
| Arizona | 71 | 85 | .455 | 4 |
| Miami | 71 | 85 | .455 | 3 |
| Atlanta | 72 | 84 | .462 | 2 |
| Baltimore | 72 | 84 | .462 | 5 |
| Jacksonville | 72 | 84 | .462 | 3 |
| Carolina | 75 | 81 | .481 | 2 |
| Cincinnati | 76 | 80 | .487 | 5 |
| Cleveland | 76 | 80 | .487 | 6 |
| Green Bay | 77 | 79 | .494 | 5 |
| Oakland | 77 | 79 | .494 | 7 |
| Philadelphia | 77 | 79 | .494 | 3 |
| Denver | 78 | 78 | .500 | 5 |
| Minnesota | 78 | 78 | .500 | 5 |
| San Diego | 78 | 78 | .500 | 7 |
| Washington | 79 | 77 | .506 | 3 |
| New England | 80 | 76 | .513 | 3 |
| Buffalo | 83 | 73 | .532 | 5 |
| Chicago | 83 | 73 | .532 | 7 |
| Kansas City | 83 | 73 | .532 | 6 |
| San Francisco | 83 | 73 | .532 | 7 |
| St. Louis | 83 | 73 | .532 | 7 |
| Dallas | 84 | 72 | .538 | 4 |
| New Orleans | 84 | 72 | .538 | 3 |
| Pittsburgh | 84 | 72 | .538 | 6 |
| Seattle | 84 | 72 | .538 | 6 |
| Houston | 85 | 71 | .545 | 5 |
| Indianapolis | 85 | 71 | .545 | 5 |
| Detroit | 87 | 69 | .558 | 8 |
With three weeks left, it is also appropriate at this point to consider draft order. Three teams are tied at 3-10 – the Chargers, Titans and Browns. One of those teams most certainly will be picking No. 1 overall.
Recall that when breaking ties for draft order, head-to-head doesn’t count. It doesn’t matter, therefore, that the Chargers beat the Browns earlier in the year, nor that Tennessee lost at Cleveland.
The Titans have by far the easiest schedule of these three teams. Their 16 opponents are currently a combined 103-105, six games ahead of the Chargers and seven games ahead of the Browns. So if the Titans lose out, they will hold the No. 1 pick of the draft.
With the Browns and Chargers being just a game apart, it’s too early to say which of those teams will finish higher should they both go 3-13. If they wind up tied, the Browns would pick earlier because they lost at San Diego earlier in the year. But it’s early to get into that; the Chargers are hosting Miami this week and certainly could win that game.
—Ian Allan