Who Has The Easiest NFL Schedule?

The NFL schedule was just released and we take a look at which teams have the easiest and hardest roads to the playoffs.

Introduction

In the NFL, there’s a lot that can go into having a successful season. Obviously, you need talent – but you also need to have some luck. A big part of that luck is having a favorable schedule. If you have an easy schedule, you’re more likely to win games and make the playoffs. But if you have a tough schedule, it’ll be that much harder to succeed.

So, which teams have the easiest schedules in 2020? We took a look at all 32 NFL teams and ranked their schedules from easiest to hardest. Here’s what we found:

1. Indianapolis Colts
The Colts have one of the easiest schedules in the NFL. They play eight games against teams that finished below .500 last year, including the Jaguars twice. They also get to play the Lions, Bengals and Vikings – all teams that are in rebuilding mode.

2. Green Bay Packers
The Packers also have a very easy schedule. They play just four games against teams that made the playoffs last year (Bears twice, Saints and Seahawks). The rest of their opponents were all below .500 in 2019.

3. New Orleans Saints
Like the Colts and Packers, the Saints also benefit from playing in a weak division (the NFC South). They’ll play the Panthers and Falcons twice each – two teams that are in rebuild mode – and they also get to play the Lions and Vikings. In total, they play eight games against teams that were below .500 last year.

4. Kansas City Chiefs
The Chiefs have a bit of a tougher schedule than the teams listed above, but it’s still not too difficult. They’ll play six games against playoff teams from 2019 (Bills, Patriots twice, Texans twice, Ravens), but they also get to play some weaker opponents like the Jets, Raiders and Jaguars.

The NFL’s Easiest Schedules

The NFL preseason is underway and teams are preparing for the start of the regular season. While every team has a different schedule, some teams have an easier road to the playoffs than others. In this article, we’ll take a look at the NFL’s easiest schedules.

The Cleveland Browns

The Cleveland Browns will have the NFL’s easiest schedule in 2020, according to strength of schedule. The Browns’ opponents have a combined winning percentage of .430, based on last season’s records. The Browns will play five games against teams that made the playoffs last season, but they will also get to play the New York Jets and Washington Redskins, who were among the worst teams in the NFL in 2019.

The Indianapolis Colts

In the NFL, every team plays 16 regular season games. Each team also plays one preseason game and four preseason games. The regular season is 17 weeks long, and the preseason is four weeks long.

The Indianapolis Colts have the easiest schedule in the NFL. They play seven games against teams that finished below .500 last year, and they have a bye week.

The Green Bay Packers

The Green Bay Packers have the easiest schedule in 2020, according to NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah.

The Packers’ opponents have a combined record of 107-149-0, a winning percentage of .419, which is the lowest in the NFL. The New England Patriots have the second-easiest schedule with their opponents’ combined record at 112-144-0, a winning percentage of .438.

The New Orleans Saints

The New Orleans Saints have the NFL’s easiest schedule in 2020, according to ESPN’s NFL strength of schedule metric. The metric gives the Saints a rating of 0.453, which is the lowest in the NFL. The Saints’ opponents have a combined record of 107-149-0 (.418) from last season.

The NFL’s Toughest Schedules

The NFL schedule was just released, and there are a few teams that got unlucky with their slate of games. The Seahawks, Panthers, and Saints all have tough roads ahead if they want to make it back to the playoffs. Who has the easiest schedule? That would be the Browns, who get to play the AFC East and NFC North.

The Dallas Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys have the honor of being the team with the NFL’s toughest schedule in 2019. They’ll face off against five teams that made the playoffs last year, including the defending champion New Orleans Saints. In addition, they’ll play each of their division rivals twice and also take on the Green Bay Packers, Los Angeles Rams, and Seattle Seahawks.

The Arizona Cardinals

The Arizona Cardinals have the NFL’s toughest schedule in 2020, based on their opponents’ winning percentages from last season.

The Cardinals are set to face opponents with a combined winning percentage of .578, which is the highest of any team in the league. Six of their opponents made the playoffs last season, including the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs.

The Cardinals will also have to deal with a tough divisional schedule, as they are set to face the San Francisco 49ers (who had the best record in the NFL last season) and the Seattle Seahawks (who made the playoffs) a total of four times.

The Baltimore Ravens

The Baltimore Ravens have the NFL’s toughest schedule in 2019, according to an analysis by CBS Sports.

The Ravens’ opponents have a combined record of 136-120 (.531) from last season. That includes eight games against teams that made the playoffs and five against division winners.

The Ravens open the season with a tough stretch, playing four of their first six games on the road. They also have to play three of their final four games on the road, including a trip to Arrowhead Stadium to face the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 16.

The Ravens’ toughest stretch might come in Weeks 11-13 when they have to play the Houston Texans, Los Angeles Rams and San Francisco 49ers in consecutive weeks.

The Pittsburgh Steelers

The Pittsburgh Steelers have the toughest NFL schedule in 2020, based on their opponents’ records from last season. Their opponents had a combined record of 136-120-0, for a winning percentage of .532.

The Steelers will face five teams that made the playoffs last season: the Baltimore Ravens (10-6), the Dallas Cowboys (8-8), the Indianapolis Colts (11-5), the Los Angeles Rams (9-7), and the Miami Dolphins (10-6). They’ll also face a number of tough non-playoff teams, including the Cincinnati Bengals (4-11-1), the Cleveland Browns (6-10), and the Philadelphia Eagles (9-7).

Conclusion

We can see that there are some teams with very difficult early schedules, including the Los Angeles Rams, who face the Seahawks, Packers, and Cowboys in their first three games. On the other end of the spectrum, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have what looks like an easy start to the season, with games against the 49ers, Panthers, and Giants. Of course, it’s impossible to know how any team will fare before the season starts, but based on last year’s records and this year’s strength of schedule, these are the teams that look like they could have rough starts (or finishes) to their season.