tends to side with those that say that there is so little difference between the best and worst teams in the NFL that the differences in schedule may not be all that important. However, over short stretches, schedules can distort how teams perform. Let’s look at past schedules first. Below are the rankings of the strength of teams’ opponents during the first quarter of the season (based on PossessionPoints Relative Performance Measure -RPM).
It is interesting to note that two undefeated teams, the Bills and the Giants, have had the easiest road so far while two winless teams, the Rams and Bengals, have had the hardest. That is easy to figure, right? Well, look at the Redskins and Panthers, they are 3-1 while having the 3rd and 4th toughest schedules so far from a PossessionPoints RPM point of view.
So, what about going forward? What do the teams’ schedules look like for the final three quarters of the season? Below is the chart showing how teams’ future schedules rank based on the RPM of their future opponents:
We found this chart extremely interesting in that the 4-0 Titans have the easiest schedule going forward. Either their opponents have to improve their performance immensely or they should have a relatively easy walk into the playoffs. The 2-2 Bears are also well positioned with the second easiest schedule. The road is toughest for the Giants, Eagles and, unfortunately, for the 1-3 Chiefs and the 1-3 Browns. The easiest future schedule of any NFC East team belongs to the Redskins whose future opponents RPM ranks 20th. The other NFC East teams are all in the top 5 of toughest schedules
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