The schedule came out about a week back. That’s not a gigantic deal, since we’ve all known all along which teams would be playing which opponents and where. It’s really just the order of the games that was revealed. But there was one factor I wanted to circle back and address.
For fantasy purposes, Week 17 is largely a throwaway. Most leagues are done at that time. So one of the most important factors for those leagues is those game. If you’re drafting a player, you want him to have that hardest, least desirable game in Week 17. Similarly, you don’t want to miss that cupcake opponent.
A few teams that come to mind:
Atlanta: Misses out on home game against Saints. That’s a downgrade (Falcons project to have hardest schedule overall).
Oakland/San Antonio/Las Vegas: They play at Denver in Week 17, which is a huge plus. Raiders have an offense on the rise, and their projected worst game is on the road against that tough Broncos defense. They duck that one.
Pittsburgh: Miss a home game against the Browns. That’s bad.
Seattle: On the road at San Francisco. Seahawks usually struggle against the Rams’ talented defensive line, so if you were picking, you would prefer to have them playing the Rams in Week 17 (but Rams are playing Cardinals in other NFC West game).
Chicago: Bears duck a road game at Minnesota, helping them move up into the No. 1 spot, with the league’s easiest schedule.
Here are the revised numbers, showing the Weeks 1-16 totals. The final column “previous” shows the rank using all 17 weeks.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE, Wins (Weeks 1-16) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Team | W | L | Pct | Previous |
Chicago | 107 | 133 | .446 | 3-4 |
NY Giants | 109 | 131 | .454 | 3-4 |
Detroit | 109 | 131 | .454 | 5-6 |
Dallas | 110 | 130 | .458 | 1-2 |
Green Bay | 110 | 130 | .458 | 1-2 |
Tennessee | 112 | 128 | .467 | 8-10 |
Baltimore | 112 | 128 | .467 | 13-14 |
Jacksonville | 113 | 127 | .471 | 8-10 |
Cleveland | 113 | 127 | .471 | 12 |
Cincinnati | 114 | 126 | .475 | 5-6 |
Philadelphia | 116 | 124 | .483 | 7 |
Oakland | 116 | 124 | .483 | 18 |
Indianapolis | 117 | 123 | .488 | 11 |
Pittsburgh | 118 | 122 | .492 | 8-10 |
Minnesota | 119 | 121 | .496 | 15 |
San Diego | 119 | 121 | .496 | 20 |
Washington | 120 | 120 | .500 | 16 |
Miami | 120 | 120 | .500 | 22 |
Houston | 121 | 119 | .504 | 13-14 |
Denver | 122 | 118 | .508 | 19 |
Kansas City | 123 | 117 | .513 | 17 |
Buffalo | 123 | 117 | .513 | 23 |
Tampa Bay | 124 | 116 | .517 | 27-28 |
Carolina | 125 | 115 | .521 | 21 |
New England | 128 | 112 | .533 | 24 |
NY Jets | 128 | 112 | .533 | 25-26 |
Los Angeles | 128 | 112 | .533 | 30 |
Arizona | 129 | 111 | .538 | 25-26 |
New Orleans | 132 | 108 | .550 | 29 |
San Francisco | 132 | 108 | .550 | 31-32 |
Seattle | 134 | 106 | .558 | 27-28 |
Atlanta | 135 | 105 | .563 | 31-32 |
If you prefer points allowed rather than wins, it works out this week.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE, Points (Weeks 1-16) | ||
---|---|---|
Team | Points | Previous |
Dallas | 24.7 | 1 |
Chicago | 24.0 | 3 |
Detroit | 23.7 | 5 |
Minnesota | 23.7 | 2 |
Tennessee | 23.5 | 8 |
Green Bay | 23.5 | 4 |
San Diego | 23.5 | 11 |
Baltimore | 23.5 | 14 |
NY Giants | 23.3 | 6 |
Oakland | 23.2 | 17 |
Kansas City | 23.2 | 9 |
Houston | 23.0 | 10 |
Washington | 23.0 | 7 |
Cincinnati | 23.0 | 13 |
Cleveland | 22.9 | 19 |
Denver | 22.9 | 15 |
Philadelphia | 22.9 | 16 |
Pittsburgh | 22.9 | 12 |
Jacksonville | 22.7 | 18 |
Los Angeles | 22.5 | 23 |
Carolina | 22.4 | 21 |
Indianapolis | 22.3 | 20 |
Tampa Bay | 22.3 | 24 |
Atlanta | 22.1 | 22 |
New Orleans | 22.0 | 26 |
Buffalo | 21.9 | 27 |
Seattle | 21.8 | 25 |
Arizona | 21.7 | 29 |
Miami | 21.5 | 30 |
San Francisco | 21.5 | 31 |
NY Jets | 21.4 | 28 |
New England | 21.0 | 32 |
—Ian Allan