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Strength of schedule

San Francisco, KC had to overcome hard schedules

Kansas City and San Francisco will meet in the Super Bowl, and both got there fair and square. Neither was helped much at all by scheduling.

Instead, both played bottom-10 schedules. San Francisco’s 16 opponents went a combined 125-113-2 in the regular season (that was their combined record in their other 240 games – they went just 3-13 against the 49ers). Kansas City’s opponents were almost identical, combining for a record of 126-113-1.

Kansas City’s opponents not only combined for a winning record, they also allowed a league-low 21.0 points per game. Kansas City’s offense sputtered to hit top form for most of the regular season (scoring more than 3 TDs, for example, in only 1 of its last 12 regular-season games). A harder schedule probably played some role in that dip, along with injuries to key players.

San Francisco tended to see leakier defenses during the regular season, with opponents allowing 23.9 points per game, on average – almost 3 more points per week.

Seattle and Atlanta played the league’s hardest schedules in 2019. They were the only two teams whose opponents combined to win 130 games.

The Giants and Eagles, meanwhile, played the league’s easiest schedules. New York’s opponents combined to go 108-130-2 against other opponents.

DIFFICULTY OF SCHEDULE, 2019
TeamWLTPct
NY Giants1081302.454
Philadelphia1091301.456
NY Jets1121280.467
Buffalo1121280.467
Green Bay1121262.471
Miami1131270.471
Jacksonville1141260.475
Dallas1141251.477
Oakland1141251.477
Washington1151241.481
New England1161240.483
Minnesota1151232.483
Indianapolis1171230.488
Detroit1171230.488
Tennessee1181220.492
Tampa Bay1181202.496
Pittsburgh1201191.502
LA Chargers1201191.502
New Orleans1211181.506
Denver1211181.506
Chicago1211172.508
Baltimore1241151.519
Arizona1251150.521
San Francisco1251132.525
Cleveland1261131.527
Kansas City1261131.527
Houston1271130.529
Cincinnati1271121.531
Carolina1291101.540
LA Rams1291092.542
Atlanta1301091.544
Seattle1301082.546

—Ian Allan

Fantasy Index