With only three weeks left, Strength of Schedule isn’t particularly useful drawing up expectations of what’s the come. It can, however, give us an indication of which teams have benefitted from the luck of the schedule makers thus far.
The Dolphins, most notably, have played their games against teams that have gone a combined 65-90-1 against the rest of the league. That’s played a role in Miami being 8-5. (A lot of teams would have likes to play the Jets twice this year.)
Other teams that have benefitted from easy schedules: Chargers, Packers, Saints, Seahawks. (For the Chargers, this is particularly damning – they’ve had an easy schedule and have still managed to be lousy.)
At the other end of the scale, the Ravens stand out as a third-place (in the AFC North) team that probably should be better. They’ve played by far the league’s hardest schedule. I still see them as a tough out in the postseason.
Four other teams have played their 13 games against teams that have gone a combined 87-69 in their other games: Bucs, Jets, Raiders, Broncos.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE, WINS (Weeks 1-14) | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Team | W | L | T | Pct |
Miami | 65 | 90 | 1 | .420 |
LA Chargers | 68 | 87 | 1 | .439 |
Green Bay | 70 | 85 | 1 | .452 |
New Orleans | 71 | 84 | 1 | .458 |
Seattle | 71 | 84 | 1 | .458 |
Washington | 71 | 83 | 2 | .462 |
Cleveland | 71 | 82 | 3 | .465 |
Indianapolis | 72 | 83 | 1 | .465 |
Arizona | 74 | 82 | 0 | .474 |
Pittsburgh | 73 | 81 | 2 | .474 |
NY Giants | 73 | 80 | 3 | .478 |
Atlanta | 75 | 81 | 0 | .481 |
Detroit | 75 | 81 | 0 | .481 |
Kansas City | 75 | 81 | 0 | .481 |
Minnesota | 76 | 80 | 0 | .487 |
Carolina | 77 | 79 | 0 | .494 |
Cincinnati | 77 | 79 | 0 | .494 |
Tennessee | 77 | 78 | 1 | .497 |
Dallas | 77 | 77 | 2 | .500 |
Jacksonville | 78 | 77 | 1 | .503 |
LA Rams | 79 | 76 | 1 | .510 |
Chicago | 81 | 75 | 0 | .519 |
New England | 81 | 75 | 0 | .519 |
Buffalo | 84 | 72 | 0 | .538 |
Houston | 84 | 72 | 0 | .538 |
Philadelphia | 85 | 71 | 0 | .545 |
San Francisco | 85 | 70 | 1 | .548 |
Denver | 87 | 69 | 0 | .558 |
Las Vegas | 87 | 69 | 0 | .558 |
NY Jets | 87 | 69 | 0 | .558 |
Tampa Bay | 87 | 69 | 0 | .558 |
Baltimore | 91 | 63 | 2 | .590 |
If you prefer to look at points rather than wins, we’ve got those numbers as well.
The Colts have tended to play the softest defenses so far, with their opponents tending to allow about 26.7 points in their other games. That’s what more than any other team.
Three other teams fall just short of 26 points on average: Falcons, Jaguars, Vikings.
The 49ers have drawn the short straw in this category, way down at 22.7 points – almost a point lower than everyone else.
The Cowboys, Rams and Eagles also have tended to play against more rugged defenses.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE, POINTS (Weeks 1-14) | |
---|---|
Team | Points |
Indianapolis | 26.69 |
Atlanta | 25.95 |
Jacksonville | 25.94 |
Minnesota | 25.92 |
Miami | 25.33 |
Pittsburgh | 25.28 |
New Orleans | 25.24 |
Green Bay | 25.20 |
Kansas City | 25.20 |
Cincinnati | 25.14 |
Chicago | 25.12 |
Carolina | 25.06 |
Houston | 25.02 |
LA Chargers | 24.96 |
Washington | 24.92 |
Cleveland | 24.89 |
New England | 24.87 |
Tennessee | 24.78 |
NY Jets | 24.66 |
Detroit | 24.44 |
Las Vegas | 24.33 |
Arizona | 24.18 |
Denver | 24.11 |
Baltimore | 23.99 |
Buffalo | 23.99 |
NY Giants | 23.79 |
Tampa Bay | 23.79 |
Seattle | 23.74 |
Philadelphia | 23.49 |
LA Rams | 23.38 |
Dallas | 23.31 |
San Francisco | 22.69 |
—Ian Allan