A month into the season, let’s take a quick look at Strength of Schedule. And teams have played enough now that I’m not going to use 2015 data; I’m going to use how they have played so far – how defenses have played.
Specifically, I’m looking at how many points have been allowed by each defense. Five have allowed 16 or fewer points per game; they’re the ones you want to avoid: Eagles, Vikings, Seahawks, Patriots and Broncos.
And six defenses are allowing over 28 points per game. These are the ones you want to play: Tampa Bay, New Orleans, Indianapolis, Atlanta, Carolina and Cleveland.
I then ran the numbers through the meat grinder, leaving out Week 17 (since most fantasy leagues are done at that time).
The data shows that Kansas City, Tampa Bay, Carolina and Tennessee project to play the friendliest schedules the rest of the way.
Washington, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Detroit and the Giants appear to have the hardest schedule.
Scheduling isn’t the cure-all. It’s not a silver bullet. But it can help to swing things a little bit.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE, Points (Weeks 5-16) | |
---|---|
Team | Avg |
Kansas City | 26.30 |
Tampa Bay | 25.84 |
Carolina | 25.77 |
Tennessee | 25.60 |
Oakland | 24.70 |
Denver | 24.68 |
Chicago | 24.54 |
Houston | 24.39 |
San Diego | 24.34 |
New Orleans | 24.25 |
Arizona | 23.80 |
Los Angeles | 23.57 |
Minnesota | 22.83 |
Seattle | 22.44 |
Buffalo | 22.05 |
San Francisco | 21.80 |
NY Jets | 21.70 |
Miami | 21.66 |
Atlanta | 21.64 |
Philadelphia | 21.63 |
Dallas | 21.55 |
Indianapolis | 21.21 |
New England | 21.09 |
Green Bay | 21.06 |
Baltimore | 20.89 |
Cleveland | 20.48 |
Jacksonville | 20.30 |
Detroit | 20.25 |
Cincinnati | 20.25 |
Pittsburgh | 19.91 |
NY Giants | 19.60 |
Washington | 19.08 |
—Ian Allan