At this time of the year, it makes sense to pay a lot more attention to strength of schedule. Now we’ve got a pretty good idea of what offenses are all about, but we also know a lot more about defenses – not what they did way back in 2016, but what they’re doing right now. And schedule says a lot about teams like the Jaguars, Lions and Rams.

Jacksonville, Detroit, Tennessee and Baltimore aren’t elite teams. But they could ride easy schedules to playoff berths. Not a lot of meat left on the schedules of those teams. And Kansas City, while it has lost three of its last fourth, should get back on the upswing.

On the flip side, the Rams, Cardinals, Saints and Raiders have difficult remaining schedules.

On the numbers here, I’m looking at the next six games for each team. (For fantasy football, most aren’t interested in Week 17.)

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE (next 6 games)
TeamWLPct
Jacksonville1831.367
Detroit1831.367
Tennessee1931.380
Baltimore2029.408
Kansas City2129.420
Green Bay2129.420
San Francisco2226.458
Chicago2327.460
Cleveland2326.469
Denver2427.471
Cincinnati2325.479
Houston2426.480
Dallas2426.480
Tampa Bay2425.490
Philadelphia2425.490
Pittsburgh2525.500
LA Chargers2524.510
NY Giants2725.519
NY Jets2624.520
Washington2523.521
New England2623.531
Carolina2623.531
Seattle2723.540
Atlanta2622.542
Minnesota2722.551
Buffalo2822.560
Miami2821.571
Indianapolis2821.571
Oakland2921.580
New Orleans2921.580
Arizona2820.583
LA Rams3217.653

Some are more interested not in wins and losses but what defenses are doing. Which teams are facing the leakiest defenses?

If we go that route, we still see Baltimore, Jacksonville and Tennessee up at the top. Denver winds up in the No. 4 spot, but it doesn’t seem to have the quarterback or offensive system to do much with that favorable schedule.

The Colts, Browns, Packers and Saints project to play the toughest defenses.

As with the first chart, I’m not looking at the remaining 7-8 games for each team. The chart below shows the average points allowed for just the next six games for each team.

POINTS VERSION (next 6 games)
TeamW
Baltimore23.9
Jacksonville23.8
Tennessee23.8
Denver23.4
NY Giants23.3
Oakland23.0
Pittsburgh23.0
Chicago22.8
Tampa Bay22.6
Buffalo22.5
Dallas22.4
Kansas City22.1
Philadelphia21.9
San Francisco21.8
Miami21.8
Carolina21.7
Houston21.5
Cincinnati21.5
NY Jets21.4
Detroit21.4
Washington21.4
New England21.4
LA Chargers21.4
Seattle21.2
Arizona21.2
Atlanta21.1
LA Rams21.0
Minnesota21.0
New Orleans20.7
Green Bay20.7
Cleveland19.9
Indianapolis19.6

—Ian Allan