It’s never too early to start looking at 2018, right? The opponents for next year are locked in, and it looks like Houston and Tennessee are the favorites to play the easiest schedules.

That’s according to regular season win-loss records.

Houston’s 16 games are against teams that went a combined 116-140 in the just-completed regular season. Tennessee isn’t far behind. Plenty will change, of course. The Colts went 4-12 last year, and they’ll presumably be a lot better with a healthy Andrew Luck. But you’ve got to start somewhere.

Cincinnati and Oakland tie for 3rd in schedule difficulty.

The Packers, at the other end of the scale, project to play the league’s hardest schedule. Their opponents went a combined 138-118 in the just-completed season. Green Bay is followed by Detroit and New Orleans.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE (2018, wins)
TeamWLPct
Houston116140.453
Tennessee119137.465
Cincinnati121135.473
Oakland121135.473
Denver122134.477
Jacksonville122134.477
NY Jets122134.477
Pittsburgh122134.477
LA Chargers123133.480
Indianapolis124132.484
New England124132.484
Baltimore125131.488
Kansas City126130.492
Philadelphia126130.492
Buffalo127129.496
Dallas128128.500
Miami128128.500
San Francisco128128.500
Washington129127.504
Atlanta130126.508
Seattle130126.508
Carolina131125.512
Arizona133123.520
Chicago133123.520
Minnesota133123.520
NY Giants133123.520
Cleveland134122.523
LA Rams134122.523
Tampa Bay136120.531
Detroit137119.535
New Orleans137119.535
Green Bay138118.539

—Ian Allan