The schedule was released yesterday in the NFL. There were some lucky teams, and some unlucky teams.
Here are some statistics that standout to me.
Combined opponents record from last year:
Steelers: 153-103
Colts: 152-104
Patriots: 99-157
No one will be surprised to see the Patriots go 16-0 again with that schedule. They can’t do anything about it thought, sadly. They play in the worst division in the league, and they play the worst NFC division as well. The two added games are @Indianapolis and home against Pittsburgh. Not bad, but the Colts are coming off a Monday night game at Tennessee. It doesn’t get better than that for the Patriots, now all they have to do is win the Superbowl.
As for the Colts and Steelers.
The Steelers two extra games besides the inter-divisional contests include the Chargers and the Patriots.
And you guessed it, the Colts are up against the Chargers and Patriots as well.
I’m not sure how fair that is, but I guess the Patriots can’t play themselves.
The problem all lies in the divisions. The AFC South (Colts) had a total of 42 wins last year. The AFC East (Patriots) had a total of 28 wins. That explains a lot in the strength of schedule area.
Now I’ve been reading stories about the most intriguing games, and I’m not sure what league some of these people are watching.
The NYTimes highlights the Patriots vs. Jets game as a high point of the season. I know about the video scandals and how the coaches hate each other. The Jets had four wins last year, that is a whole 12 less than the Patriots. Not on anyone’s priority to watch except New Yorkers and New Englanders.
I think they also forgot to add Sept. 21 to that list, as we see match ups between the Colts and Jaguars, and the Cowboys and Giants. Divisional rivalries WITH playoff teams.
I know this guy created a spreadsheet and all, but those games don’t stand that far from the rest. Especially with the Seahawks in the three of them. Please, they were a decent team at best in a weak division. The only team they beat last year with a winning record was the Bucs, and that was the first game of the season.
So obviously, all their games stand out (not).
That list is forgetting key games of teams like the Colts and Cowboys who did not win a playoff game last year.
Cowboys vs Packers, Patriots vs Colts, Browns vs Steelers, Patriots vs Chargers, Giants vs Cowboys
These five games are huge. They include divisional battles and conference battles of teams that will find each other again come January.
This sums up everything by far.
