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Strength of schedule

AFC South defenses could benefit from scheduling

I will throw one more Strength of Schedule chart at you. Call it a make-good, since I made such a mess of the others. One this one, I’ll flip it around and look at the defenses. That is, which defenses might benefit from getting to face quarterbacks who cough up more interceptions and sacks.

For the feeder numbers, I am not using team totals from last year but instead the last 16 games for each of the expected starting quarterbacks. So if a guy didn’t start 16 games last year, I’ve dipped into his previous seasons. And if a player doesn’t have 16 career starts, I went with a prorated total.

For one team, San Francisco, I went with combined totals from last year for Blaine Gabbert and Colin Kaepernick. Both of those guys might start games.

Anyway, the feeder stats are as follows:

QUARTERBACKS: LAST 16 STARTS
TeamPlayerIntSack
ArizonaCarson Palmer1125
AtlantaMatt Ryan1630
BaltimoreJoe Flacco1621
Buffalo• Tyrod Taylor741
CarolinaCam Newton1033
ChicagoJay Cutler1131
CincinnatiAndy Dalton1125
ClevelandRobert Griffin III1456
DallasTony Romo1228
DenverMark Sanchez2240
DetroitMatthew Stafford1344
Green BayAaron Rodgers846
Houston• Brock Osweiler1153
IndianapolisAndrew Luck2131
JacksonvilleBlake Bortles1851
Kansas CityAlex Smith745
Los Angeles• Case Keenum1028
MiamiRyan Tannehill1245
MinnesotaTeddy Bridgewater944
New EnglandTom Brady738
New OrleansDrew Brees1433
NY GiantsEli Manning1427
NY JetsRyan Fitzpatrick1519
OaklandDerek Carr1331
PhiladelphiaSam Bradford1530
PittsburghBen Roethlisberger1823
San DiegoPhilip Rivers1340
San Francisco• Kaepernick/Gabbert1553
SeattleRussell Wilson845
Tampa BayJameis Winston1527
Tennessee• Marcus Mariota1351
WashingtonKirk Cousins1126

If we take those numbers and then project them into the 256 regular season games that will be played in 2016, we can see the totals that will be faced by defenses. Gives an idea of which teams – defenses – might be helped along by poor quarterback play.

The differences are pretty significant. The Titans, for example, will see quarterbacks who were sacked a combined 692 times last year. That’s 200 more than the 49ers, Steelers and Browns, who are down at the other end of the scale.

Kansas City comes out No. 1 in interceptions, with 24 more interceptions than any other defense.

Earlier I pointed out that scheduling was going to be touch for San Francisco’s offense. It also projects to be tough on their defense, which is sitting way down at only 166 combined interceptions – 16 fewer than any other defense.

Note that a few days back I was pointing out that Jacksonville might have a breakout-type defense. Note that the schedule indicates this group also could be helped along by who it’s playing.

STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE, DEFENSES
RkTeamIntSacksTotal
1.Tennessee226692918
2.Indianapolis215671886
3.San Diego229641870
4.Houston219649868
5.Jacksonville210652862
6.Chicago206644850
7.Oakland219625844
8.Green Bay206609815
9.Kansas City253555808
10.Denver203603806
11.Minnesota201596797
12.Detroit195599794
13.New England204579782
14.NY Jets182600782
15.Arizona183594777
16.Cincinnati221555776
17.Atlanta200569768
18.Carolina209557765
19.Miami194571764
20.Buffalo202562763
21.Tampa Bay202558759
22.Los Angeles189570759
23.New Orleans210546755
24.Baltimore210544754
25.Dallas210542752
26.Philadelphia198527725
27.Washington200525725
28.Seattle188536724
29.NY Giants200519718
30.Cleveland207484691
31.Pittsburgh189478667
32.San Francisco166493659

—Ian Allan

Fantasy Index