What NFL Team Has the Weakest Schedule?

It’s never too early to start thinking about next season and which NFL team has the easiest road to the playoffs.

Introduction

The National Football League (NFL) is America’s top professional American football league. Each year, the NFL hosts a regular season of games, usually from September to December, followed by a postseason postseason of playoffs and culminating in the championship game, the Super Bowl.

In recent years, there has been growing concern that some NFL teams may be schedule-makers may be creating an unfair playing field by deliberately creating easier schedules for certain teams. This theory suggests that teams with easier schedules are more likely to make it to the playoffs and ultimately win the Super Bowl.

So, what NFL team has the weakest schedule? As it turns out, this is a difficult question to answer definitively. One way to try to answer this question is to look at each team’s opponents and compare their win-loss records from the previous season. This method is not perfect, but it can give us some idea of which teams may have an easier path to success in the upcoming season.

The NFL’s scheduling process

The NFL’s scheduling process is a complex algorithm that takes into account a variety of factors, including each team’s record from the previous season, where they finished in their division, who they played the most recently, and more.

Using this information, the NFL assigns each team a “strength of schedule” rating, which is based on the difficulty of their opponents and where those games are played (home or away, for example).

The team with the weakest schedule, according to this rating system, is said to have an “easy” schedule. The teams with the toughest schedules are said to have “hard” schedules.

How to evaluate a team’s schedule

When looking at a team’s schedule, it is important to consider a few things. First, look at the teams they are playing and where those games are being played. Are the teams they are playing typically strong or weak? Are the games being played at the team’s home stadium or away?

Second, look at how many divisional games the team has. Divisional games are always going to be tough, no matter who the opponent is. The reason for this is that these opponents know each other very well and there is usually a lot of bad blood between these rival teams.

Third, look at the bye week. Having a bye week in between two tough opponents can be beneficial, as it gives the team an extra week to prepare. However, if a team has a bye week early in the season, it could hurt them as they may not be as sharp as they would like to be.

Finally, look at the schedule as a whole and determine if there are any easy stretches or tough stretches. An easy stretch could be a string of games against weaker opponents or all of the games being played at home. A tough stretch could be a string of games against stronger opponents or all of the games being played away from home.

Keep in mind that these are just some things to consider when looking at a team’s schedule. There is no sure-fire way to determine which team has the easiest or hardest schedule. It is up to each individual to decide how much weight to give each factor.

The five teams with the weakest schedules in 2020

The NFL released its full schedule for the 2020 season on Thursday evening, and there are a few teams that seem to have caught a break. Here are the five teams with the weakest schedules in 2020, based on their opponents’ 2019 win-loss records.

1. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Opponents’ record: 123-131 (.484)

2. Indianapolis Colts
Opponents’ record: 124-130 (.488)

3. Green Bay Packers
Opponents’ record: 125-129 (.492)

4. Minnesota Vikings
Opponents’ record: 126-128 (.496)

5. Baltimore Ravens
Opponents’ record: 127-127 (.500)

The five teams with the strongest schedules in 2020

1. Green Bay Packers: The Packers have the fourth-easiest schedule in 2020 based on their opponents’ 2019 win-loss records. They’ll face just five teams that made the playoffs last season, and they have the benefit of playing four of those games at home.

2. Pittsburgh Steelers: The Steelers have the fifth-easiest schedule in 2020. They’ll face just four teams that made the playoffs last season, and three of those games will be at home. They also avoid playing any of the NFC West teams.

3. Los Angeles Rams: The Rams have the sixth-easiest schedule in 2020. They’ll face just four teams that made the playoffs last season, but three of those games will be on the road. They also miss out on playing any of the AFC East teams.

4. Seattle Seahawks: The Seahawks have the seventh-easiest schedule in 2020. They’ll face six teams that made the playoffs last season, but four of those games will be at home. They also miss out on playing any of the AFC South teams.

5. Houston Texans: The Texans have the ninth-easiest schedule in 2020, which is actually tied with the Dallas Cowboys for eighth-easiest if you include strength of opponent as a tiebreaker (the Texans’ opponents had a combined winning percentage of .473, while the Cowboys’ opponents had a combined winning percentage of .469). The Texans will face five teams that made the playoffs last season, but four of those games will be at home

Conclusion

After looking at the entire NFL schedule, it appears that the Green Bay Packers have the weakest schedule.