If Kansas City is going to turn things around, it will do so despite having the hardest remaining schedule in the league. That’s what the current win-loss records show.
KC has already played some quality opponents, of course, including Cleveland, Baltimore, Tennessee, Buffalo and the Chargers. But they’ve got plenty more in their final 10, including the Raiders twice, Chargers, Bengals, Packers and Cowboys. Kansas City’s remaining 10 games are against teams with a combined record of 41-26 – best in the league.
Carolina, Minnesota and Cleveland are the other teams with the hardest remaining schedules.
Philadelphia, Tennessee and Buffalo, meanwhile, have the easiest remaining schedules.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE, wins (Wks 8-18) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Team | W | L | Pct |
Philadelphia | 25 | 41 | .379 |
Tennessee | 25 | 41 | .379 |
Buffalo | 29 | 43 | .403 |
NY Jets | 32 | 41 | .438 |
Miami | 29 | 37 | .439 |
LA Chargers | 33 | 42 | .440 |
Tampa Bay | 29 | 36 | .446 |
Jacksonville | 33 | 40 | .452 |
Houston | 30 | 36 | .455 |
Arizona | 32 | 36 | .471 |
NY Giants | 33 | 35 | .485 |
Dallas | 36 | 38 | .486 |
New England | 32 | 33 | .492 |
Denver | 33 | 34 | .493 |
Atlanta | 35 | 36 | .493 |
Chicago | 33 | 33 | .500 |
Las Vegas | 34 | 34 | .500 |
Seattle | 35 | 33 | .515 |
Washington | 35 | 33 | .515 |
Cincinnati | 34 | 32 | .515 |
Indianapolis | 34 | 32 | .515 |
LA Rams | 34 | 32 | .515 |
Green Bay | 36 | 32 | .529 |
Detroit | 36 | 31 | .537 |
New Orleans | 39 | 33 | .542 |
Pittsburgh | 41 | 34 | .547 |
Baltimore | 38 | 29 | .567 |
San Francisco | 42 | 32 | .568 |
Cleveland | 40 | 28 | .588 |
Minnesota | 43 | 30 | .589 |
Carolina | 39 | 27 | .591 |
Kansas City | 41 | 26 | .612 |
If we instead look at what’s happened so far, the Bears have played the league’s hardest schedule. By far. Their opponents have gone a combined 28-14 in games against other teams.
The Chargers and Steelers are next in schedule difficulty.
The Falcons, Panthers and Bills, meanwhile, have played the easiest schedules through Week 7.
On this chart, I’ve removed the games involving the teams themselves. That is, Arizona’s opponents have gone 22-24. They’re 22-17 against the rest of the league, but 0-7 against Arizona. To avoid the bias of teams being penalized (or rewarded) for being good or bad themselves, I’ve removed those games.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE, wins (Wks 1-7) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Team | W | L | Pct |
Chicago | 28 | 14 | .667 |
LA Chargers | 22 | 13 | .629 |
Pittsburgh | 22 | 13 | .629 |
Detroit | 23 | 17 | .575 |
Arizona | 22 | 17 | .564 |
Philadelphia | 22 | 17 | .564 |
Seattle | 21 | 17 | .553 |
Washington | 21 | 17 | .553 |
Kansas City | 22 | 18 | .550 |
Tampa Bay | 22 | 18 | .550 |
Dallas | 19 | 16 | .543 |
NY Giants | 21 | 18 | .538 |
Cleveland | 21 | 19 | .525 |
LA Rams | 22 | 20 | .524 |
Baltimore | 21 | 20 | .512 |
Minnesota | 18 | 18 | .500 |
Cincinnati | 19 | 20 | .487 |
Miami | 19 | 20 | .487 |
Tennessee | 19 | 20 | .487 |
Houston | 19 | 21 | .475 |
Las Vegas | 19 | 21 | .475 |
Jacksonville | 17 | 19 | .472 |
Green Bay | 18 | 21 | .462 |
New Orleans | 16 | 20 | .444 |
San Francisco | 16 | 20 | .444 |
Indianapolis | 18 | 23 | .439 |
Denver | 17 | 22 | .436 |
NY Jets | 15 | 20 | .429 |
New England | 15 | 23 | .395 |
Buffalo | 13 | 22 | .371 |
Carolina | 14 | 24 | .368 |
Atlanta | 11 | 24 | .314 |
—Ian Allan