2016 NFL toughest schedule - Seahawks tied for 5th

here's the 2016 strength of schedule for each NFL team (Combined 2015 record of all 16 opponents, combined winning percentage)

T-1. San Francisco 49ers: 142-114, .555

T-1. Atlanta Falcons: 142-114, .555

3. Los Angeles Rams: 141-115, .551

4. New Orleans Saints: 140-116, .547

T-5. Seattle Seahawks: 139-117, .543

T-5. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 139-117, .543

T-7. Arizona Cardinals: 136-120, .531

T-7. New York Jets: 136-120, .531

9. New England Patriots: 134-122, .523

10. Buffalo Bills: 133-123, .520

11. Miami Dolphins: 132-124, .516

12. Carolina Panthers: 131-125, .512

13. San Diego Chargers: 130-126, .508

14. Denver Broncos: 129-127, .504

15. Oakland Raiders: 128-128, .500

16. Kansas City Chiefs: 127-129, .496

17. Washington Redskins: 126-130, .492

18. Minnesota Vikings: 125-131, .488

T-19. Houston Texans: 124-132, .484

T-19. Baltimore Ravens: 124-132, .484

21. Cleveland Browns: 123-133, .480

22. Indianapolis Colts: 122-134, .477

T-23. Pittsburgh Steelers: 121-135, .473

T-23. Tennessee Titans: 121-135, .473

T-23. Jacksonville Jaguars: 121-135, .473

26. Philadelphia Eagles: 120-136, .469

T-27. Cincinnati Bengals: 119-137, .465

T-27. Detroit Lions: 119-137, .465

T-27. Dallas Cowboys: 119-137, .465

T-30. Chicago Bears: 118-138, .461

T-30. New York Giants: 118-138, .461

32. Green Bay Packers: 117-139, .457

Meh...we'll know more for sure about how 'tough' the schedule is when we get the actual game dates and travel schedule. IMHO, the sequence of home/away killed us as much in '15 as the teams we played.

sutz":2egltgdw said:

Meh...we'll know more for sure about how 'tough' the schedule is when we get the actual game dates and travel schedule. IMHO, the sequence of home/away killed us as much in '15 as the teams we played.

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agreed.

We face the AFC East which means a toss up game against NE and three games where we will be the clear favorites against the Bills, Jets and Dolphins. The NFC South with the underwhelming Falcons, Saints and Bucs. The only difficult game from that division will be against the Panthers who will be weaker both mentally and roster wise than they were in 2015. The numbers 2s from the north and east are GB and Philly. Should be the favorites in both in the state both os those are.

Then of course 6 games in our own division which are always tough.

Even though I have a hard time seeing us below 11-5 with this schedule.

I'd rather have a tough schedule and see how the Hawks shake out. It feels like the teams with weaker schedules who coast into the playoffs don't do as well against the great teams because they haven't prepared for teams that good.

sutz":re8s4xwt said:

Meh...we'll know more for sure about how 'tough' the schedule is when we get the actual game dates and travel schedule. IMHO, the sequence of home/away killed us as much in '15 as the teams we played.

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And don't forget that we played four (4) teams that were coming off their bye weeks... one of which was when we were coming off our bye week... advantage negated.

Odds are our 2016 schedule is more favorable than 2015.

Surprised the Pack ended up with the easiest schedule, at least on paper...

onanygivensunday":33y0c2av said:

sutz":33y0c2av said:

Meh...we'll know more for sure about how 'tough' the schedule is when we get the actual game dates and travel schedule. IMHO, the sequence of home/away killed us as much in '15 as the teams we played.

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And don't forget that we played four (4) teams that were coming off their bye weeks... one of which was when we were coming off our bye week... advantage negated.

Odds are our 2016 schedule is more favorable than 2015.

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Five teams (Rams came off a bye after TNF the week before). And three of those were in one stretch.

DangerousDoug":c82b7cfn said:

Surprised the Pack ended up with the easiest schedule, at least on paper...

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The answer lies in the fact that their division plays the AFC South (the worst division in the league) and the NFC East (likely the 2nd worst).

Yeesh I guess the Packers have the inside track right now to home field in the NFC playoffs. Carolina had the cake schedule this past season.

Winning at Green Bay just became a lot more important.

Anyone wants to argue which is the toughest division in the league need look no farther than the top of that list.

All of our teams are in the top 7. Pretty tough when you have two teams with 23 regular season wins, and adding a third gets you to 30 wins.

^ this times 1000.

NFC West is the by far the toughest conference top to bottom.

Good. Iron sharpens iron.

CANHawk":1blexqat said:

Good. Iron sharpens iron.

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I know that's a popular phrase, is it wrong that I still envy the Patriots and their cupcake division pretty much outside of QB injury guaranteeing them a home playoff game year after year which has left to how many conference championship appearances?

ZagHawk":36qg3t5e said:

CANHawk":36qg3t5e said:

Good. Iron sharpens iron.

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I know that's a popular phrase, is it wrong that I still envy the Patriots and their cupcake division pretty much outside of QB injury guaranteeing them a home playoff game year after year which has left to how many conference championship appearances?

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Yes... yes it is.

Their cupcake schedule does them no real favors. Their fantastic coaching and fairly good drafting (and better than average scheming/cheating? :stirthepot: ) do the hard work of winning in the playoffs, too.

ZagHawk":2exygxag said:

CANHawk":2exygxag said:

Good. Iron sharpens iron.

Click to expand...

I know that's a popular phrase, is it wrong that I still envy the Patriots and their cupcake division pretty much outside of QB injury guaranteeing them a home playoff game year after year which has left to how many conference championship appearances?

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I agree w/Zag, it definitely helps not just in terms of winning but how easier teams are less likely to cause injuries but also to give your backups more time. There is also an argument that harder teams make you better but not every week. It's too hard on a team.

Strength of schedule on paper is always a bit silly at this point in the year when it's using last year's records and without consideration of schedule and start times. Our road games in GB and Boston will look significantly different if they are prime time games versus 10 am or Thursday starts. The byes matter too, even though we managed to look completely unprepared against Arizona's blitzing last year after the extra week.

I do think there's more uncertainty around the teams we play this year than usual, specifically regarding the Falcons, Bills, Dolphins, Eagles, Jets, and Rams. I wouldn't be surprised if those six teams combined for anywhere from 30 to 80 wins next season.

I like having a strong division. It hurts our Super Bowl chances a little bit but I'd rather watch six entertaining games each year over six divisional games circa 2010.