schedules

[Portis-DA-Great]

Can someone tell me how they do the schedules and how does dallas continue to get the easiest one.


Sorted Hardest to Easiest

Strength of Schedule (SofS): In this chart, SofS is the actual average strength rating of opponents according to Fanbay.net NFL Team Power Ratings. Higher is easier. Lower is more difficult. The number is the average opponents team ranking. Teams are ranked 1 to 32 from Hardest/Strongest Schedule to Easiest/Weakest Schedule.

Analysis: The toughest schedule in 2004 belongs to the Miami Dolphins. Be sure to take a look at the bottom of the list. Several competitive teams have relatively easy schedules this year, including: Tampa Bay, the Broncos, Eagles, Titans, and Packers.

Rank Team SoS W (03) L (03) T (O3) Pts O Pts D Yds O Yds D Power
1 Miami Dolphins 14.891 10 6 0 19.4 16.3 288 299 11.58
2 Arizona Cardinals 15.255 4 12 0 14.1 28.3 281 344 24.34
3 Oakland Raiders 15.392 4 12 0 16.9 23.7 286 369 24.50
4 Houston Texans 15.398 5 11 0 15.9 23.8 269 380 23.56
5 Cincinnati Bengals 15.400 8 8 0 21.6 24 333 351 20.05
6 Seattle Seahawks 15.522 10 6 0 25.3 20.4 352 327 14.38
7 New England Patriots 15.563 14 2 0 21.8 14.9 315 292 7.91
8 St. Louis Rams 15.634 12 4 0 27.9 20.5 341 316 12.77
9 Chicago Bears 15.976 7 9 0 17.7 21.6 274 309 21.10
10 Buffalo Bills 16.028 6 10 0 15.2 17.4 272 270 16.25
11 New Orleans Saints 16.033 8 8 0 21.3 20.4 340 327 15.70
12 San Diego Chargers 16.125 4 12 0 19.6 27.6 323 350 23.14
13 Washington Redskins 16.216 5 11 0 17.9 23.3 291 338 22.14
14 Atlanta Falcons 16.245 5 11 0 18.7 26.4 272 382 23.00
15 Carolina Panthers 16.347 11 5 0 20.3 19 321 295 14.30
16 New York Jets 16.359 6 10 0 17.7 18.7 309 332 18.03
17 Kansas City Chiefs 16.426 13 3 0 30.3 20.8 369 357 12.85
18 Jacksonville Jaguars 16.509 5 11 0 17.3 20.7 335 291 16.75
19 Indianapolis Colts 16.605 12 4 0 27.9 21 367 299 8.77
20 Baltimore Ravens 16.605 10 6 0 24.4 17.6 308 271 11.61
21 San Francisco 49ers 16.831 7 9 0 24 21.1 355 308 14.05
22 Minnesota Vikings 17.155 9 7 0 26 22.1 393 335 16.16
23 Detroit Lions 17.263 5 11 0 16.9 23.7 266 335 23.10
24 Pittsburgh Steelers 17.270 6 10 0 18.8 20.4 300 299 17.94
25 Tennessee Titans 17.273 12 4 0 27.2 20.3 344 306 10.56
26 Green Bay Packers 17.290 10 6 0 27.6 19.2 362 319 10.99
27 Cleveland Browns 17.316 5 11 0 15.9 20.1 282 310 19.34
28 Philadelphia Eagles 17.530 12 4 0 23.4 17.9 315 332 11.69
29 Denver Broncos 17.634 10 6 0 23.8 18.8 350 277 10.58
30 Tampa Bay Buccaneers 17.778 7 9 0 18.8 16.5 341 279 13.30
31 New York Giants 18.039 4 12 0 15.2 24.2 309 333 22.84
32 Dallas Cowboys 18.092 10 6 0 18.1 16.3 323 254 14.70



*Stats Explanations

AWM- Average Winning Margin (average point difference of victories)
ALM- Average Losing Margin (average point difference of losses)

SofS- Strength of Schedule. In this chart, SofS is the actual average strength rating of opponents according to Fanbay.net NFL Team Power Ratings. Higher is easier. Lower is more difficult. The number is the average opponents team ranking. So, a rating of 12 means that team plays teams that are, on average, the 12th best team in the NFL. The average SofS (strength of schedule) in our analysis is a 16.5. Note: Teams are ranked 1 to 32 from Hardest/Strongest Schedule to Easiest/Weakest Schedule.

S 1st H- Strength of Schedule in the first half of the season.
S 2nd H- Strength of Schedule in the second half of the season.

[InsomniaKiller]

Every team in a division plays the exact same schedule except for 2 games. Obviously they play each team in their division twice, so there's 6 games. Then each division is assigned two other divisions which they will all play, accounting for 8 more games. Two games are left. Those are the only games which are decided by the individual team records, so our 2 remaining games are against teams who had a worse record last year than the teams that either Dallas or Philly will play.

Why is Dallas' schedule so easy? Simple. We lost a lot of games last year and so did the Giants. It's not that their schedule is really any easier than ours, it's just that, well, they play *us.* Twice.

[PyroGenic]

the teams with the crappier records from the previous season get matched up with similarly ranked teams... it's as simple as that

[InsomniaKiller]

psssshhhhhhhhh that only accounts for 2 of the games! as a result, the whole "strength of schedule" is terribly over-rated. especially considering how quickly teams can fall apart due to free agency and all that jazz.

bottom line is that our schedule differs from the cowboys in only 2 games. those 2 games are "harder" than ours.

[PyroGenic]

psssshhhhhhhhh that only accounts for 2 of the games! as a result, the whole "strength of schedule" is terribly over-rated. especially considering how quickly teams can fall apart due to free agency and all that jazz.

bottom line is that our schedule differs from the cowboys in only 2 games. those 2 games are "harder" than ours.

those 2 games can be the difference in going to the playoffs... every game counts my friend

[InsomniaKiller]

oh, of course every game is important. im just saying that the strength of a team's schedule within their division is usually pretty irrelevant. when comparing teams from different division it makes a little more sense, but within the division, considering that

a) there are only 2 games that are different

and

b) great teams fall apart and bad teams turn around *so* quickly these days

it's usually not that much of an issue. word.

[IowaSkinsFan]

Every team in a division plays the exact same schedule except for 2 games. Obviously they play each team in their division twice, so there's 6 games. Then each division is assigned two other divisions which they will all play, accounting for 8 more games. Two games are left. Those are the only games which are decided by the individual team records, so our 2 remaining games are against teams who had a worse record last year than the teams that either Dallas or Philly will play.

Why is Dallas' schedule so easy? Simple. We lost a lot of games last year and so did the Giants. It's not that their schedule is really any easier than ours, it's just that, well, they play *us.* Twice.

Exactly. And coversely, ours is 'harder' because we play the Cowboys and Iggles twice.

[davaj]

Next year we may be like the AFC east this year. All 4 teams are in the top 16.

[Farbod]

I think we have the easiest schedule we could ask for...

- We play the NFC North, which is arguably the weakest division in NFC (maybe the west, but its definetly not as good as the south)

- We play easily the weakest division in the AFC, the AFC north

- Our other two games are against San Fransisco and the bucs... The 49ers could be the worst team in football and we get to play the bucs in DC...

I am thrilled about our schedule this year!

BTW - Dallas plays exact same teams except they get the Seahawks (much better than 49ers) and they play New Orleans instead of Tampa...

[BandWagon]

I think we have the easiest schedule we could ask for...

- We play the NFC North, which is arguably the weakest division in NFC (maybe the west, but its definetly not as good as the south)

- We play easily the weakest division in the AFC, the AFC north

- Our other two games are against San Fransisco and the bucs... The 49ers could be the worst team in football and we get to play the bucs in DC...

I am thrilled about our schedule this year!

BTW - Dallas plays exact same teams except they get the Seahawks (much better than 49ers) and they play New Orleans instead of Tampa...

Yeah I'm pumped about the schedule too...wish the Iggles had the harder out of division games away (like us they get GB, Minn, Bmore, and Cincy at home)...but I feel real good about it!