As the Bills try to claw back into the playoffs, they’ll have to overcome one of the league’s hardest schedules. Their next two games are at Philadelphia and at Kansas City, and they also still need to play the Cowboys and Dolphins.
Strictly off wins, Buffalo’s remaining opponents right now are 36-24. That ties as the 3rd-hardest remaining schedule, trailing only the Bengals and Cowboys.
The three easiest remaining schedules belong to the three teams competing for the NFC South title: Atlanta, Tampa Bay and New Orleans. In the case of the Falcons, they have no remaining games left against teams with winning records. (The Bucs and Saints both have one game left against a division leader.)
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE, Wins (Wks 12-18) | |||
---|---|---|---|
Team | W | L | Pct |
Atlanta | 27 | 44 | .380 |
Tampa Bay | 27 | 43 | .386 |
New Orleans | 28 | 43 | .394 |
Kansas City | 31 | 42 | .425 |
Green Bay | 32 | 41 | .438 |
Carolina | 31 | 39 | .443 |
Pittsburgh | 33 | 39 | .458 |
Philadelphia | 34 | 40 | .459 |
Indianapolis | 33 | 38 | .465 |
Cleveland | 34 | 37 | .479 |
Jacksonville | 34 | 37 | .479 |
Houston | 34 | 36 | .486 |
New England | 35 | 37 | .486 |
LA Rams | 36 | 38 | .486 |
Detroit | 36 | 37 | .493 |
Miami | 36 | 37 | .493 |
Chicago | 31 | 31 | .500 |
Denver | 36 | 35 | .507 |
LA Chargers | 38 | 35 | .521 |
NY Jets | 37 | 34 | .521 |
Minnesota | 33 | 29 | .532 |
San Francisco | 39 | 34 | .534 |
Tennessee | 38 | 32 | .543 |
NY Giants | 33 | 27 | .550 |
Las Vegas | 34 | 27 | .557 |
Arizona | 35 | 26 | .574 |
Seattle | 41 | 30 | .577 |
Baltimore | 35 | 25 | .583 |
Washington | 36 | 24 | .600 |
Buffalo | 36 | 24 | .600 |
Dallas | 44 | 29 | .603 |
Cincinnati | 44 | 27 | .620 |
If we instead look not at wins and losses but points allowed by defenses, the Saints, Steelers and Titans project to play the easiest schedules over the next month.
The Seahawks, Eagles, Jaguars and Raiders will tend to see the toughest defenses in their next four. Seattle’s upcoming schedule is particularly daunting – 49ers, at Dallas, at San Francisco and Eagles.
On the chart below, I’m looking at the next four games for each team. So that’s Weeks 12-15 for most, but Weeks 12-16 for teams that haven’t yet had their bye week.
STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE, Points (next 4) | |
---|---|
Team | Avg |
New Orleans | 24.5 |
Pittsburgh | 24.3 |
Tennessee | 24.3 |
Cleveland | 23.8 |
Tampa Bay | 23.6 |
Detroit | 23.2 |
Minnesota | 23.0 |
San Francisco | 22.7 |
NY Jets | 22.5 |
Miami | 22.5 |
Houston | 22.3 |
Dallas | 22.0 |
Atlanta | 21.9 |
LA Rams | 21.9 |
Chicago | 21.9 |
LA Chargers | 21.8 |
Cincinnati | 21.5 |
New England | 21.4 |
Denver | 21.4 |
Green Bay | 21.3 |
NY Giants | 21.3 |
Washington | 20.9 |
Indianapolis | 20.9 |
Arizona | 20.8 |
Carolina | 20.7 |
Baltimore | 20.5 |
Kansas City | 20.4 |
Buffalo | 19.7 |
Las Vegas | 19.4 |
Jacksonville | 19.4 |
Philadelphia | 18.1 |
Seattle | 17.5 |
—Ian Allan