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 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Team | W | L | T | Pct |
NY Giants | 108 | 130 | 2 | .454 |
Philadelphia | 109 | 130 | 1 | .456 |
NY Jets | 112 | 128 | 0 | .467 |
Buffalo | 112 | 128 | 0 | .467 |
Green Bay | 112 | 126 | 2 | .471 |
Miami | 113 | 127 | 0 | .471 |
Jacksonville | 114 | 126 | 0 | .475 |
Dallas | 114 | 125 | 1 | .477 |
Oakland | 114 | 125 | 1 | .477 |
Washington | 115 | 124 | 1 | .481 |
New England | 116 | 124 | 0 | .483 |
Minnesota | 115 | 123 | 2 | .483 |
Indianapolis | 117 | 123 | 0 | .488 |
Detroit | 117 | 123 | 0 | .488 |
Tennessee | 118 | 122 | 0 | .492 |
Tampa Bay | 118 | 120 | 2 | .496 |
Pittsburgh | 120 | 119 | 1 | .502 |
LA Chargers | 120 | 119 | 1 | .502 |
New Orleans | 121 | 118 | 1 | .506 |
Denver | 121 | 118 | 1 | .506 |
Chicago | 121 | 117 | 2 | .508 |
Baltimore | 124 | 115 | 1 | .519 |
Arizona | 125 | 115 | 0 | .521 |
San Francisco | 125 | 113 | 2 | .525 |
Cleveland | 126 | 113 | 1 | .527 |
Kansas City | 126 | 113 | 1 | .527 |
Houston | 127 | 113 | 0 | .529 |
Cincinnati | 127 | 112 | 1 | .531 |
Carolina | 129 | 110 | 1 | .540 |
LA Rams | 129 | 109 | 2 | .542 |
Atlanta | 130 | 109 | 1 | .544 |
Seattle | 130 | 108 | 2 | .546 |
—Ian Allan