Every team's strength of schedule for the season. 👀
Where does your team land?
📺: NFL Schedule Release — Wednesday 8pm ET on NFLN/ESPN2
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus pic.twitter.com/saMdDwJXIf— NFL (@NFL) May 14, 2024
The NFL schedule released Wednesday evening and revealed when the New Orleans Saints will play their opponents. The Saints have the easiest schedule in the NFL, but they aren’t alone. Solely based off the opponent’s record last year, New Orleans and the Atlanta Falcons have the easiest schedule in the NFL. The NFC South as a whole has the easiest schedule in the league
But the Saints found themselves in this position last year and still weren’t successful. Strength of schedule will never outweigh strength of team. The Saints will have to improve to take advantage of this opportunity. Also, in a way the entire division having an easy schedule devalues the advantage in the race for the divisional crown.
Strength of schedule is greatly influenced by your divisional opponents. That’s emphasized by Tampa Bay having the highest in the division but fifth-lowest in the league. That’s even with playing the other divisional leaders in the NFC.
Playing Carolina twice a year brings down your rating significantly. They had the worst record in the league, but it’s hard to place too much onus on them when no team hit double-digit wins in 2023. Here’s how each NFC South team ranks:
- New Orleans Saints / Atlanta Falcons: .453 (32nd)
- Carolina Panthers: .467 (29th)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: .478 (27th)
