Fantasy Index

header banner img
OUR FANTASY BASEBALL MAGAZINE IS BACK! PRE-ORDER NOW
Win here.

Scheduletron

Strength of schedule

Easy schedule could help Falcons keep humming

Atlanta has the league’s No. 1 offense so far, and I’m not sure they’ll be going away anytime soon. They just got done with a two-game road trip through Denver and Seattle, so now their remaining schedule projects to be the easiest in the league.

That’s based on wins and losses. It also doesn’t include Week 17 (I’m leaving that one out, figuring most fantasy leagues are done at that time).

Using current records as a guide, the Falcons’ next nine games are against teams that are currently a combined 23-32.

Other teams with easy remaining schedules: 49ers, Titans, Bills and Rams.

The Eagles, Lions and Jaguars, meanwhile, project to play the hardest schedules. All of those teams will play their remaining games against teams that collectively have won over 60 percent of their games.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE, Wins (Weeks 7-16)
TeamWLPct
Atlanta2332.418
San Francisco2329.442
Tennessee2531.446
Buffalo2632.448
Los Angeles2632.448
Miami2733.450
NY Jets2733.450
New England2732.458
San Diego2731.466
Tampa Bay2933.468
Houston2730.474
Baltimore2831.475
Cincinnati2831.475
Kansas City3033.476
Minnesota3033.476
NY Giants2830.483
New Orleans3032.484
Seattle3032.484
Oakland2829.491
Cleveland3030.500
Pittsburgh2727.500
Washington2928.509
Arizona3026.536
Dallas3026.536
Green Bay3429.540
Carolina3125.554
Denver3224.571
Indianapolis3224.571
Chicago3223.582
Jacksonville3925.609
Detroit3421.618
Philadelphia4122.651

With these schedules, we can also look at not only what is coming but what has occurred. That is, which teams so far have been saddled with hard schedules? (Or benefitted from playing cupcakes?)

The Giants, Packers and Texans, the numbers show, have played the hardest schedules. I also see the Vikings up there, even though they’re the only unbeaten, untied team. In the case of New York, it’s played five games against Dallas, Washington, Minnesota, Green Bay and Baltimore, who’ve all lost 0-2 games in their work against other teams.

The Jaguars, Broncos, Seahawks and Eagles, on the other hand, have benefited from easier schedules.

On these numbers below, they do not include each team’s own games. That is, Cleveland’s opponents actually are a combined 20-15. They are 6-0 against the Browns, and 14-15 against the rest of the league. To avoid the dynamic of penalizing teams with good records (and rewarding those with poor records) we leave those games out.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE, Wins (Weeks 1-6)
TeamWLPct
NY Giants198.704
Green Bay167.696
Houston1711.607
Minnesota1410.583
Cincinnati1713.567
Atlanta1512.556
Washington1613.552
NY Jets1513.536
Oakland1513.536
Kansas City1312.520
San Francisco1514.517
Tennessee1514.517
Chicago1414.500
Los Angeles1414.500
Baltimore1415.483
Cleveland1415.483
Miami1415.483
Carolina1314.481
San Diego1314.481
Tampa Bay1213.480
Buffalo1416.467
New England1416.467
Pittsburgh1315.464
Arizona1316.448
Dallas1316.448
New Orleans1114.440
Detroit1216.429
Indianapolis1217.414
Philadelphia1015.400
Seattle1015.400
Denver1118.379
Jacksonville816.333

—Ian Allan

Fantasy Index