Ian Allan

Bad news for the rest of the NFL. The Saints are not only 6-0, they also project to play the easiest schedule the rest of the way. They’ve already played two of their tough games – at Philadelphia and at home against the Giants. Left on New Orleans’ schedules are a lot of punching-bag type opponents, including St. Louis, Washington and Tampa Bay twice.

Things look particularly bleak, on the other hand, for Washington. It’s sitting at only 2-4, even though it’s played the easiest schedule in the league. Washington’s last five games have been against teams that are a combined 1-23 in games against the rest of the league. But from this point going forward, Washington’s schedule projects to be the hardest in the league.

Other teams that will play much harder schedules from this point going forward: Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Philadelphia and the Giants.

Teams that will play much easier schedules: Arizona, Cincinnati, San Diego, San Francisco, New Orleans.

The complete numbers appear below:



STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE – REMAINING

Projected strength of schedule for weeks 7-17, using the combined win-loss records of each opponent. The Saints, Seahawks and Cardinals project to play the easiest schedules. The Giants, Bucs and Washington project to play the hardest.

    W  L  Pct.  
  23  37  .383  New Orleans
  22  34  .393  Seattle
  25  37  .403  Arizona
  24  33  .421  Jacksonville
  26  35  .426  San Francisco
  28  36  .438  San Diego
  26  32  .448  Cincinnati
  25  30  .455  Tennessee
  26  31  .456  Cleveland
  30  35  .462  Indianapolis
  26  30  .464  Houston
  29  33  .468  Green Bay
  30  34  .469  Miami
  27  29  .482  Buffalo
  27  28  .491  New England
  28  29  .491  Denver
  30  31  .492  Atlanta
  28  28  .500  Detroit
  28  28  .500  NY Jets
  29  29  .500  Oakland
  28  26  .519  St. Louis
  33  29  .532  Chicago
  31  27  .534  Pittsburgh
  30  25  .545  Minnesota
  33  27  .550  Dallas
  32  26  .552  Kansas City
  33  24  .579  Baltimore
  38  22  .633  Philadelphia
  39  22  .639  Carolina
  34  19  .642  NY Giants
  34  19  .642  Tampa Bay
  36  17  .679  Washington



STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE – SO FAR

Strength of schedule figures for each team so far, not including their own games. For Washington, for example, their opponents have gone a combined 9-26 – 4-2 against Washington, and 5-24 against the rest of the league. This is the fairer, more accurate way to compile this data; otherwise, a team is essentially “rewarded” in terms of schedule difficulty when it loses (an 0-16 team would appear to have a much harder schedule than a 16-0 team if both played the same schedule). Easiest schedules so far: Washington, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

    W  L  Pct.  
    5  24  .172  Washington
    9  19  .321  Pittsburgh
    8  15  .348  Philadelphia
  10  18  .357  Jacksonville
  11  17  .393  Buffalo
  11  17  .393  Minnesota
  11  16  .407  Tampa Bay
    9  13  .409  Carolina
  12  17  .414  Houston
  12  16  .429  NY Giants
  10  13  .435  Indianapolis
  13  15  .464  Kansas City
  13  15  .464  NY Jets
  13  15  .464  St. Louis
  12  12  .500  Dallas
  12  12  .500  Green Bay
  13  13  .500  Seattle
  15  14  .517  Baltimore
  12  11  .522  Chicago
  16  13  .552  New England
  16  13  .552  Tennessee
  13  10  .565  San Francisco
  16  12  .571  Denver
  16  12  .571  Oakland
  14  10  .583  New Orleans
  14  10  .583  San Diego
  13    9  .591  Miami
  14    9  .609  Arizona
  13    8  .619  Atlanta
  18  11  .621  Cincinnati
  20  10  .667  Cleveland
  18    9  .667  Detroit


Updated through Monday night game.

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