Kansas City played at home in the AFC Championship game, and it can’t be said it didn’t earn it. That team played the hardest schedule in the league in the regular season.
I ran the numbers for each team, totaling up the wins and losses of the opponents that they played. Kansas City’s 17 games were against teams that went a combined 150-121-1 in their other games. That’s 7 more combined wins than the schedules of any other team.
The Bengals also made it to the AFC title game, and of course won, but their opponents went only 128-141-3 in the regular season.
The other two teams playing last Sunday had schedules against opponents that went about .500. That might seem surprising, with the NFC West being a tough division. But both the Rams and 49ers played everyone in the AFC South and NFC North, including the Texans, Jaguars, Lions and Bears.
In the chart below, it also includes scoring. Kansas City’s opponents in the regular season allowed only 22.4 points per game, 4th-fewest in the league. Cincinnati had a far friendlier schedule (up at 23.7 points per week), with only Denver seeing softer defenses.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE (2021 season) | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Team | W | L | T | Pct | PA | (rank) |
Miami | 126 | 146 | 0 | .463 | 23.1 | 11 |
Atlanta | 126 | 145 | 1 | .465 | 22.9 | 18 |
Philadelphia | 127 | 144 | 1 | .469 | 23.7 | 3 |
Cincinnati | 128 | 141 | 3 | .476 | 23.7 | 2 |
Denver | 129 | 141 | 2 | .478 | 24.8 | 1 |
Buffalo | 130 | 141 | 1 | .480 | 23.0 | 15 |
Houston | 131 | 141 | 0 | .482 | 23.0 | 16 |
Tampa Bay | 131 | 141 | 0 | .482 | 22.4 | 30 |
Tennessee | 131 | 140 | 1 | .483 | 22.7 | 27 |
New England | 132 | 140 | 0 | .485 | 22.9 | 17 |
Jacksonville | 134 | 138 | 0 | .493 | 22.7 | 25 |
Green Bay | 133 | 136 | 3 | .494 | 23.1 | 10 |
LA Rams | 134 | 137 | 1 | .494 | 22.8 | 22 |
Carolina | 135 | 137 | 0 | .496 | 23.1 | 8 |
Indianapolis | 135 | 137 | 0 | .496 | 22.8 | 21 |
NY Jets | 135 | 137 | 0 | .496 | 21.6 | 32 |
Arizona | 135 | 136 | 1 | .498 | 22.8 | 24 |
Dallas | 136 | 136 | 0 | .500 | 22.7 | 26 |
San Francisco | 137 | 134 | 1 | .506 | 23.2 | 7 |
Minnesota | 136 | 133 | 3 | .506 | 23.1 | 9 |
Detroit | 139 | 133 | 0 | .511 | 23.0 | 14 |
Cleveland | 138 | 131 | 3 | .513 | 23.4 | 6 |
LA Chargers | 139 | 132 | 1 | .513 | 22.4 | 31 |
Seattle | 139 | 131 | 2 | .515 | 23.1 | 12 |
New Orleans | 140 | 132 | 0 | .515 | 22.9 | 19 |
Chicago | 139 | 130 | 3 | .517 | 23.6 | 4 |
Las Vegas | 140 | 131 | 1 | .517 | 22.8 | 23 |
NY Giants | 142 | 130 | 0 | .522 | 23.5 | 5 |
Pittsburgh | 143 | 129 | 0 | .526 | 22.8 | 20 |
Washington | 143 | 129 | 0 | .526 | 22.6 | 28 |
Baltimore | 143 | 126 | 3 | .531 | 23.0 | 13 |
Kansas City | 150 | 121 | 1 | .553 | 22.4 | 29 |
—Ian Allan