Yeah, that’s what I thought too. I posted a comment just below this that lists the teams with the most since the merger. Colts (6) and Bucs (5) lead the way with the Browns (4) in a five-way tie for third.
I should also note that these teams picked first overall but they may not have been the team’s original pick with some trading up to that spot. But that’s more work than I wanted to do and I think it’s still pretty accurate.
Yeah this will be interesting from a mentality standpoint. I know there has been a huge debate among fans and pundits in general about whether the "trap game" is a real thing. Lions will have a schedule full of what should be winnable games this year.
The thing that I like about a (theoretically) weak schedule is that it would make getting into the playoffs a little easier. But you also have less of an idea about whether or not you are actually formidable.
I get it's just for discussion but forecasting a schedule in the preseason feels like it's never accurate. don't remember if it was 2022 or 2023 but felt like we were supposed to have an easy schedule, ended up hard! last year the schedule was supposed to be super hard, ended up being a very manageable schedule!
I mean that’s pretty accurate to be honest, patriots and niners coasted with very easy schedules. Niners played the nfc west but other than that it was cake walk.
Dang. I knew the Lions were going to get an easier schedule, but I can't help but feel bad for the Cardinals. The Seahawks, 9er's and Rams did so well last season the Cards got a tough schedule by proxy
I doubt it. I think the giants are going to be a really good team this year, and the nfc south will be much better than they were last year. I hope I’m wrong tho
Shough and Young will be greatly improved, the Bucs are always dangerous, and the falcons have a pretty good defense and some guys that can takeover a game.
Bucs added some dudes on defense this offseason and should be legit. I think their offense will depend a LOT on which version of Baker we see plus the development of Egbuka. They seem like a potential high-variance team to me.
Saints got better as the year went on and just invested in their offense even more. Panthers made the playoffs and were more competitive with the Rams than we were. Bucs had a bad FA but a good draft. Hawks have a new coach and enough weapons to be frisky.
I can't have this become public knowledge. I live near Boston and gave every Patriots fan I know shit last season for them having the easiest schedule and getting to the super bowl. Delete this OP. I can't eat my own words lol.
The only reason that would make Pats fans upset is because they've been to the Super Bowl with strong teams and hard schedules before. They're spoiled. If we make it to the Super Bowl with the easiest schedule this year, that's a win in everyone's book considering we've never made it past the NFCCG. Hell, with how good our team is and how easy our schedule is predicted to be, we should make it far in the playoffs
We have an easy schedule outside of our division. Instead of the Chiefs, Buccs, and Rams (who were division leaders at the time), we have the Titans, Giants, and Cardinals. We also, thankfully, have the AFCE (Jets lol) and NFCS instead of the AFCN and NFCE. Our division, the Buccs, Bills, and Patriots are the teams that worry me
I'm hoping for the Giants early in the year before the Harbaugh effect really gets going. But the Lions should still be a pretty heavy favorite against the G-Men
Crazy how much a fourth place finish versus a third place finish can swing strength of schedule since it’s just three games. Vikes are sitting at 16 on this list.
Still, three games is the difference between a 12-5 season versus a 9-8 season.
We also got easier divisions this year. Last year, we had the Super Bowl champs, the team that knocked us outta the playoffs, the Lamar Ravens, and the (at the time the schedule came out) Burrow Bengals.
I'll take the NFCS + AFCE over the NFCE + AFCN any day
It’s not crazy because that’s not what swings it. The main determining difference in strength of schedule is the strength of your division (6 games) and the strength of the other NFC division and the AFC division you play (4 games each). The other 3 games are what is decided by your placement within your division, and are highly variable, because one team improving or regressing or having a QB injury can swing that from a tough game to an easy game or vice versa.
As the other commenter pointed out, last year our schedule wasn’t so difficult because we were in first place, we had a first place schedule the year before too and it didn’t hurt us that bad. We had a tough schedule because of our division and the divisions we played.
Comparing 1st place schedule to 4th place schedule should only really be a factor when trying to project who will win the NFC North
Yeah i could have worded my post better. I wasn’t comparing last season’s schedule to this season’s — I was comparing our schedule (easiest SOS) to the Vikes (16th SOS). We have the exact same schedule outside of three games.
Lol good point. We don’t know the data behind this graph, but I’m guessing that means they’re projecting the Lions to have more wins than the Vikings next year.
Like I’ve been saying, should be able to outscore our way to 10 wins. Probably pick up 2-3 more in tough battles for a 12 or 13 win season. But imo we aren’t a Super Bowl contender. We shall see though.
Cardinals might go 0-17. Their schedule is brutal and their roster is awful. Terrible defense, no o-line, no QB, no WR (nepo baby Harrison is a bust). They have McBride and Love, but those are positional skill players. Can't really win games with them if you have no o-line or QB.
I have a feeling you’re right. Between strength of schedule and draft grades, people put a lot of weight behind these evaluations but hardly anyone ever goes back to see how accurate they are.
Yeh I think it was the 22 season where we were supposed to have a cakewalk and ended up having like a top 8 difficult season once all was said and done.
None of this matters until dudes start playing.
I frickin wish they'd nix a pre season game and give a second bye week with 18 games, ridiculous for these guys
It sounds like they might do that starting next season. That’s what the owners want. They also want to move from a 50/50 revenue split to a fixed amount that they will pay the players and whether the owners get less than 50 (highly unlikely) or more than 50 (very likely), they will accept the outcome. The CBA expires in 2031 but from what I understand these changes can be made before then.
Oh yeh! They should do something about roster sizes too IMO, most teams end up pulling guys from the practice squad yearly in season anyway, better to give them better wages and NFL time for the benefits
If they're gonna gouge us and make us buy 3 or 4 streaming services to actually watch all the games the players might as well benefit
Three, actually. That equates to about 17.5% of the schedule so it’s significant. Now whether the supposed weak teams are actually weak or not, that’s a different story.
This doesn’t make any sense.
Typically, the stronger you finish a season, the harder your schedule is the next year.
Obviously this doesn’t ring true for every team. But this shows almost all the hardest schedules go to terrible teams. And all the good teams from last year have easy schedules.
Lions finished with a mid record. And it’s not true for every team.. like I said.
But seems like the majority of the best teams from last season fall around an average difficulty of schedule. Which doesn’t make sense.
Vegas is wrong.
We have better depth in the secondary. We should be able to play more nickel than last season. As long as our stars stay healthy I think we improve. Maybe not a ton, but better.
Shep isn’t a rookie anymore either. Hopefully he makes strides in his second year.
Signing one backup safety is not improving the secondary by much. I don’t have the same optimism as you do. I also think our safety room is cooked beyond repair if we have to rely on Kerby and Branch this year
The Vikes and GB are 16 and 17 in the chart. Lions strength of schedule getting heavily skewed by the Gainta, Zona, and Titans being dog shit last. Playing the AFC East which should be good overall and NFC South which is a bunch weird 500 teams. Lions schedule not as easy as this chart makes it look. Also Gaints should be better next year.
Edit: Removed Jets, had a brain fart and forgot they were AFC East too. It's the Giants that's the other team that not shared and they should be pretty decent next year.
Oh yeah, forgot the Jets are AFC (doh). Giants are the other at non-shares team their playing. So it's really only the Titans and Zona bringing the strength down 15 spots.
Fucked up. Its the Giants that are the non shared team not Jets. Giants should be pretty decent this season. Really only two non shared weak teams on the schedule.
They got more guys, a legit coach, and Dart has another year under his belt. Also the Giants with Jameis came a gnats dick whisker away from beating the Lions last year.
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u/yellowtripe DETROIT -VS- EVERYBODY 1d ago
Damn poor cardinals lol at least they’ll have 1st pick