I like what the Bears have done. They’ve got the great defense, which has been able to smother some teams, and Matt Nagy has been able to scheme the offense to success in a lot of games. But it’s also a team that’s benefited from scheduling.

Chicago’s first 14 games have been against teams that have gone 80-99-3, the worst combined record in the league. (This is after setting aside Chicago’s 10-4 record, so those teams have actually gone 84-109-3 overall, which is even worse – to level the field, I have removed each team’s own record out of its schedule.)

I’m not saying the Bears can’t potentially hang with the Saints and Rams; both of those teams seem to be tailing off. But Chicago has probably been helped along the way by not having to play as many strong opponents.

The Rams and Raiders, meanwhile, have played the league’s hardest schedules, with the Broncos and Bengals just behind.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE (Weeks 1-15)
TeamWLTPct
Chicago80993.448
San Francisco81992.451
Washington84971.464
Indianapolis86960.473
Arizona86942.478
Miami86942.478
Carolina87932.484
NY Jets87932.484
Detroit88922.489
Seattle88922.489
Houston89921.492
Minnesota89921.492
Pittsburgh89921.492
New Orleans89912.495
Atlanta89903.497
Baltimore89903.497
Green Bay90911.497
LA Chargers90902.500
NY Giants91910.500
Buffalo91892.505
Philadelphia92891.508
Dallas93890.511
Kansas City93872.516
Tampa Bay93872.516
Tennessee94880.516
New England94853.525
Cleveland96851.530
Jacksonville96851.530
Cincinnati96842.533
Denver96842.533
LA Rams97832.538
Oakland97832.538

—Ian Allan