NFL Schedule Preview: Strength Of Schedule

With all 312 games calculated in our NFL schedule previews, there’s certain things you can do with that information. One possibility which we will explore today is the idea of a strength of schedule.

So what exactly does strength of schedule mean? Simply put, you take the win-loss records of every team that any given team faces in a season, put them all together and come up with the total win-loss record of all opponents. With division rivals, their records are added twice because you must add the win-loss total for every game you’ve played and not just the individual teams.

Pretty simple right? So – why are we bothering with it now? Well for one thing, traditionally strength of schedule in the preseason is calculated using the results of the previous year. What we’re going to do differently is take the predictions for this season and use those win-loss totals instead. This will give us a slightly different perspective on how each team’s individual schedule works as opposed to be fixated on previous results.

Calculating strength of schedule is done for two distinct reasons – to help with analysis of the schedule and because strength of schedule is used in the calculation of certain formulas, in particular those concerning playoff seeding ties and NFL draft order ties. Now you’ve already seen the results of the playoff seeding in yesterday’s playoff predictions. Tomorrow we’ll go that extra step further and give you a projected 2013 NFL draft order which on Sunday NFL Spin Zone Senior Editor Josh Sanchez will use to create his first mock draft for the 2013 class.

Ok, enough talking – here’s our projected 2012 strength of schedule:

• 1. Baltimore Ravens 150-106
• 2. New York Giants 147-109
• 3. Jacksonville Jaguars 142-114
• 4= Arizona Cardinals 140-116
• 4= Cleveland Browns 140-116
• 4= Tennessee Titans 140-116
• 4= Minnesota Vikings 140-116
• 8. Miami Dolphins 137-119
• 9. Indianapolis Colts 133-123
• 10. St Louis Rams 132-124
• 11= Dallas Cowboys 131-125
• 11= Seattle Seahawks 131-125
• 13. Detroit Lions 130-126
• 14. Carolina Panthers 129-127
• 15= Denver Broncos 126-130
• 15= Green Bay Packers 126-130
• 17= Tampa Bay Buccaneers 124-132
• 17= Chicago Bears 124-132
• 19= Atlanta Falcons 123-133
• 19= Pittsburgh Steelers 123-133
• 19= San Diego Chargers 123-133
• 19= New York Jets 123-133
• 23. New Orleans Saints 122-134
• 24= Washington Redskins 118-138
• 24= Kansas City Chiefs 118-138
• 24= Houston Texans 118-138
• 24= San Francisco 49ers 118-138
• 24= Buffalo Bills 118-138
• 29. Philadelphia Eagles 117-139
• 30= Oakland Raiders 115-141
• 30= Cincinnati Bengals 115-141
• 30= New England Patriots 115-141

Be sure to check in tomorrow when we take this strength of schedule along with the win-loss projections to create our own unique 2013 projected NFL draft order.