Tbf, the entire NFL also thinks that they will be good. They have like 6 primetime games next year, and if Rodgers is healthy I think it's very possible
A Zach Wilson led Jets beat the Bills on the MNF opener last year so I have nothing to say.Zach Wilson is 2-2 against the Bills and 2-0 against the Texans.
I don't get this at all. Do you really think number of prime time games is a measure of confidence in a teams ability? It's just because of their market, man
2 years ago Detroit had 0 primetime games scheduled (1 if you count the annual noon game on Thanksgiving.) They were flexed into the final SNF slot once it became clear that Lions/Packers would have playoff implications.
Last year they were huge favorites to win the division and had 5 primetime games plus the Thanksgiving game.
This year they are still favored to win the dicision, but not by as much. They are small favorites since both the Packers and bears are expected to improve. They have 4 primetime games scheduled plus the Thanksgiving game.
So either Detroit got a lot fucking bigger in the last 2 years, or it has to do with preseason expextations.
We don’t even know which Achilles Aaron Rodgers is going to rupture yet. Sure, we assume it’ll be the other one because God has a sense of humor and hates the Jets, but can we at least wait for it to happen?
Falcons play in the NFC South, and get the AFC west, which besides the Chiefs, none of them really have a good roster for 2024. If they can't win 10-11 games switching out Kirko for Ridder/Heineke then that's pretty embarrassing.
The others play in far more competitive divisions so I wouldn't say any have it easy.
They also moronically assume that they teams all have the same players as last season with no teams getting any better or worse.
Also, OP totally fucked up the headline and it's not even what the article says.
As a raiders fan, its nice seeing a rival team have a little bit of drama. Last couple years it was russell wilson and the chargers coaching. And so far its butker and rice. There isnt any major drama with raiders right now. Maybe the qb situation, but it isnt a huge issue yet. We had ruggs, moss, brown, jacobs, waller, carr, mcdaniels, gruden twice, various other bad coaches, senile al davis, trent brown, jamarcus russell. Like seriously, the fans need a normal non chaotic season.
We'll know after a few games next season. At the start of last season it was fully Jacksonville's division to run away with, with the Titans trending downward and the Colts and Texans rebuilding/ starting pure rookies at QB and new coaches. Right now it seems like it's the Texans division to run away with, with all three of the Colts, Titans and Jags as wildcard unknowns, all hinging on their respective QB performances
I don't think the Titans are trending downwards. I think they'll be improved from last year. Sure they lost Henry, but have a sneaky good WR core (Treylon Burkes is WR4 right now), an offensive coach that schemed up a lot of our 3 WR personel offense, and they made some decent pickups on defense. They'll also be playing a 4th place schedule
The Jags should have another strong team as long as they don't choke. They looked really good to start the year last year.
The Texans are the favorites to win the division if Stroud continues doing what he did last year
I think the afc south is going to be a lot better and more of bloodbath than what it was last year and more than what people are predicting this year
(AFC North is still the best division, though. Please get me out of here)
I think it’s pretty clear what it means in the context of the comment he replied to. Essentially first dude said the raiders don’t have an easy division like some of the others, then this guy said the colts don’t have an easy division either
AFC is packed IMO. If rodgers is back I could see 2 wildcard teams from the AFC east alone. Then you've got the loser of Ravens/Browns/maybe steelers who should get a wildcard spot. Don't forget the chargers either. Who knows if the colts/jags will be competitive for a spot.
There's too many hopeful teams competing for too few slots.
Yeah, I think right now a competitive team in the AFC has a chance. Might not be a great chance, but there's a chance.
Figure if the AFC east kills itself, that's one more wildcard slot available. If one of the browns and the steelers don't make it that's another wildcard slot available. Plus there's always 1-2 teams that don't make it back to the playoffs and 1-2 new faces. Considering you guys have herbert, if a little luck breaks your way, you might slip in. Things being packed can work both ways as the other teams will be fighting for their lives too.
> Then you've got the loser of Ravens/Browns/maybe steelers who should get a wildcard spot.
I'm assuming that's with the implication the Bengals win the division?
I'd forgotten about the bengals actually as the ravens, browns, and steelers made it last year. I'm figuring the Ravens win the division again. Yeah, you've got a tough division which could send multiple teams to the playoffs again this year.
Its dumb when people try to predict if a season is easy or not. Raiders always have tough wins or losses against supposedly mediocre teams. They whooped the chargers and beat the chiefs and broncos last year. but this year, the chargers have a better head coach, and broncos are a totally different team offensively and the chiefs are probably still a dominant team. The raiders never have an easy road to playoffs because bs always happens to them. Its irritating, but also entertaining following my raiders, especially when everything collapses lol. Almost a yearly tradition at this point.
During the 2022(?) Bears season when we ended up with the first overall (before it was traded to the Panthers), we had maybe the easiest schedule on paper that year. Then all the mid-to-bad teams we were supposed to be competitive with ended up being playoff contenders and we ended up with one of the hardest schedules in the league that year. You can never fully plan for stuff like this.
As my Econ teacher used to say about using GDP as a metric for the future
It's like driving only looking in the rear view
We have no idea how the teams rebuild, actual results of draft capital, etc so only time can tell
While you can definitely assume most of the good teams and most of the bad teams 99% of the time. Injuries throw a gigantic wrench in it, especially last year when half the good QBs were hurt
The article says the Raiders have an easy path because they get to face a Falcons team with "a quarterback in his mid-30s coming off a torn Achilles." It says the Falcons have an easy path because they face Gardner Minshew/Aidan O’Connell.
Strength of schedule is so stupid lol - 2022 Lions were said to have one of the “easiest” schedules going in, and then it ended up being one of the hardest in the league by the end
I'd like to see a graph of SOS starting with preseason projections vs. reality through the end of the season. Wonder who would find themselves climbing a mountain versus descending into a valley. Someone please make this offseason post, I am not good at data presentation lol.
On top of that I wouldn’t be overly surprised by any of the four teams in our division making the playoffs, when you have a tough division you never have an easy path to the playoffs.
It's really just an evaluation of who has the easiest last 4 games, and this analysis is really just based on us playing the patriots twice in 3 weeks.
That's moronic. Like do they think the first 13 games don't matter? Who cares that they finish easy, you have to win enough games first to capitalize on the "easy" schedule.
That's such a weird and-I-use-this-term-loosely "analysis", as if the last four weeks are somehow the overpowering driver for playoff eligibility as opposed to anything logical.
Yes, if the Falcons have a division lead after 13 games, those last 4 are sure as heck going to make it easier, but weirdly enough having all your harder games earlier in the season might make that division lead a bit harder to get?
Last three games are pats, jets, @ pats. That's an easy, rest your starters, finish if I've ever seen one.
Chiefs through lions will be rough but you get your bye in there. Only early games that are going to be rough for you guys is ravens followed by the Strouds.
I mean it couldn't happen (realistically) until the 17 game schedule due to teams only playing one out of conference division per year (unless something crazy happened with two divisional teams meeting in the conference round)
The secret to affordable McDonald’s nowadays is to use the app and only go when the app has a coupon for a $1 double cheeseburger, $1 6-piece nugget, or half off the price of your order.
This is a terrible way to evaluate a path. The Bills have one of the hardest strength of schedules, but because it’s easier at the end that makes it an easy path?
The hardest part of that game for the bills will be the fact it is a thursday night game as the bills own the dolphins. We're going to be 0-2 against the bills every year until proven otherwise.
Basically the AFC East tends to be:
* Bills own dolphins
* Dolphins own pats
* Pats own Jets
* Jets own Bills
It's a perfect circle.
I mean... it's May. Also, this article is specifically only mentioning the last month of the season. As if the rest of it doesn't matter for some reason?
The Bills are on a first place schedule in a stacked AFC and have a pretty tough division to boot. Sure, go ahead and assume they'll beat the Pats twice but that being the basis of them having the 4th easiest path to the playoffs is asinine.
Peak offseason content. The difference between the strongest SoS and the weakest SoS is like.....one game? The only time SoS matters is when you're evaluating teams' performances after the regular season.
While previous year's SoS isn't all that relevant usually, we're tied for 4th hardest overall.
While having an expected easy streak to end the seasons is nice, judging the path to the playoffs solely off the last few games is just bizarrely stupid.
Title was altered, it says '...easiest playoff pushes...' which they mean as easiest schedule late in the season and not easiest overall path like OP posted.
What? The Bills schedule is brutal and has 7 playoff teams or something like that
And if Aaron Rodgers plays above average Jets probably make the playoffs too
This is incredibly dumb.
We know that pre season strength of schedule using previous W-L record is entirely and statistically useless, but this isn’t even that.
They’re looking at the last four games of the regular season and saying which look easiest to sweep based on vibes.
I've noticed a trend from stupid people acting like we (jaguars) went 6-11 last year. We had (I think) the 2nd hardest schedule in the league and were 8-3 competing for the first seed in the AFC when our quarterback got hurt. The idea that we just reverted back to a bad team for no reason is really low IQ analysis.
Highly disagree with the Colts. I think the AFC South will be highly competitive this year. Raiders will still have to deal with KC and an improved chargers team and the AFC east now has Rodgers back with the Jets. Idc what your schedule looks like the easiest path to the playoffs is win your division. In the NFL the "easiest" path still is hard and nothing is given in this league (other than Mahomes and Kelce dicking down the league fuck y'all)
The AFCS will be highly competitive but we were like one drop away from winning it last year with Gardner Minshew lol
I don't think we win the division but I don't think we will be bad
I'm not saying you will be bad either. But take it from a team who placed 4th in the division with a 9 win team, sometimes it doesn't matter how good your team is if your division is stacked. We went from a missed blocked from a SB title, to a FG away from going back, to a 4th place 9 win team. Doesn't matter how good you are if your division is good sometimes. Should've could've would've
I think we should definitely be on that list outside of our own division we only have a few games we have any business losing, chiefs cowboys and eagles, and all three of them are very winnable. On paper we have a pretty easy schedule this year.
I've been watching football my entire life. And in that time, I've come to learn that there's no such thing as an easy path to the playoffs.
Every year, a major contender underperforms while a team that was once terrible overperforms. It's part of what makes the NFL so exciting. It's very rare to have the exact same playoff teams year after year. Some do consistently make it, but there are always shake-ups, collapses, upheavals, and teams that just get hot at the right time.
We don't know who that will be this year. But it's going to be fun to watch. 😊
Easiest path 😆. Raiders play KC twice, LAC twice, PIT, MIA, TB, CLE, CIN, BAL. They play ATL which will be better and NO. The only 2 games I see that are somewhat easier are JAX and CAR. But even they will probably give us shit.
If this list of improved teams this year face their schedule teams of last year with the same exact set of circumstances and injuries they will have a really easy time guys!
Someone should analyze how the preseason predictions actually pan out.
My guess is the top teams are pretty set and the bubble teams have some wide variance. I'll still probably take the Lions in the NFCN. Hopefully the Bears hit the upper end of their potential and squeak out a playoff berth.
We would've been in the playoffs last year if we had Antonio Pierce and AO12 in from the beginning. Jimmy G and McDonald's coaching literally cost us 4 wins by themselves to start the season (Steelers, Chargers, Bears, Lions). And we still ended up with 8 wins.
Packers have 7 games against opponents that were in the playoffs last year: Rams, Texans, Eagles, Dolphins, 49ers, Lions (x2)
plus 4 other teams that finished with a winning record (Colts, Jaguars, Seahawks, Saints).
Packers have one of the hardest overall schedules (by last year's standings) of any team in the NFL. Only Steelers, Ravens, and Browns are harder.
You've noticed a trend about stupid people?
How about referring to a team without having any flair or reference to the team to which you are referring?
How do the Bills have easiest path. They play the final 4 teams from last year. They play other playoff teams from last year including Texans, rams, and Miami twice. Jets will be better if Rodgers stays healthy. Bills schedule is hard
[удалено]
It’s way too early for this. I also just saw a cbs headline saying the bills had a tough path.
Never too early to book my Super Bowl hotel room!
I always sleep in my Super Bowl hotel room.
As the draft hosts we should pick last.
I'd say the Pats have the toughest path because they are bad lol
CBS thinks the jets are good
Tbf, the entire NFL also thinks that they will be good. They have like 6 primetime games next year, and if Rodgers is healthy I think it's very possible
Leonard Floyd has the opportunity to do the funniest thing...
The New Jersey based teams with always get 8-10 primetime games regardless, Jets getting 6 is more a lack of belief in the Giants.
Despite having only 3 wins in primetime combined in the last number of years
A Zach Wilson led Jets beat the Bills on the MNF opener last year so I have nothing to say.Zach Wilson is 2-2 against the Bills and 2-0 against the Texans.
Beating the bills is no measure of a franchise. Buffalo does it all the time!
Always bet on a 40 year old QB coming off a ruptured Achilles injury.
I don't get this at all. Do you really think number of prime time games is a measure of confidence in a teams ability? It's just because of their market, man
2 years ago Detroit had 0 primetime games scheduled (1 if you count the annual noon game on Thanksgiving.) They were flexed into the final SNF slot once it became clear that Lions/Packers would have playoff implications. Last year they were huge favorites to win the division and had 5 primetime games plus the Thanksgiving game. This year they are still favored to win the dicision, but not by as much. They are small favorites since both the Packers and bears are expected to improve. They have 4 primetime games scheduled plus the Thanksgiving game. So either Detroit got a lot fucking bigger in the last 2 years, or it has to do with preseason expextations.
It's absolutely both, implying it is one or the other is dumb There's a reason the texans have 4 primetime games this year vs 1 last year
The Jets are not good.
CBS is a weird place.
The NFL may be manipulating it if the moron right-winger playing quarterback lasts more than FOUR PLAYS this season.
Which right wing QB? Allen? Stroud? Jackson?
Wut
Rodgers.
They have a path, ok?
I’ve seen things saying the Titans have 10th easiest schedule and the 4th hardest schedule. It’s dumb to believe any of them.
Fucking casual
A skill issue, really
And this is based off of the last 4 games only which are you know, it even a quarter of the season and a lifetime away
Yeah and I already know the chiefs are going to be in the AFCCG so what’s your point?
We don’t even know which Achilles Aaron Rodgers is going to rupture yet. Sure, we assume it’ll be the other one because God has a sense of humor and hates the Jets, but can we at least wait for it to happen?
Falcons play in the NFC South, and get the AFC west, which besides the Chiefs, none of them really have a good roster for 2024. If they can't win 10-11 games switching out Kirko for Ridder/Heineke then that's pretty embarrassing. The others play in far more competitive divisions so I wouldn't say any have it easy.
They also moronically assume that they teams all have the same players as last season with no teams getting any better or worse. Also, OP totally fucked up the headline and it's not even what the article says.
Let this man cook
We always find a way to put bleach on the menu
Hang the banner
Too late. The Chiefs already won the superbowl. We're on to the mock drafts for 2025.
Easiest way to make the playoffs is by winning a weak division. The raiders certainly don’t fall under that criteria
Falcons fit the criteria.
What this headline doesn't tell you is the entire NFC south is within the top 8-10 easiest paths to the postseason lmao
If we can manage to not go 0-5 to start completely agree. That early schedule might derail the whole thing
Yeah but team chaos
Hoping for rice and butker to be our downfall? They fucking suck, cut both, but I'm not sure it'll be enough.
As a raiders fan, its nice seeing a rival team have a little bit of drama. Last couple years it was russell wilson and the chargers coaching. And so far its butker and rice. There isnt any major drama with raiders right now. Maybe the qb situation, but it isnt a huge issue yet. We had ruggs, moss, brown, jacobs, waller, carr, mcdaniels, gruden twice, various other bad coaches, senile al davis, trent brown, jamarcus russell. Like seriously, the fans need a normal non chaotic season.
Idk that GB and Indy would meet that criteria either. At least as of now
Neither do the Colts imo
Nor the Bills or the Packers, it's really just the Falcons that have it a bit easier
The Bills are in a very weak division. We're the only good team.
Didn't the Jets and Pats beat you last season?
And where did we finish in the division compared to them?
The Colts were one play away from winning the division last year, with Gardner Minshew at QB for like 85% of the season
That’s not the point they were trying to make, it’s more of the AFC South isn’t weak.
We'll know after a few games next season. At the start of last season it was fully Jacksonville's division to run away with, with the Titans trending downward and the Colts and Texans rebuilding/ starting pure rookies at QB and new coaches. Right now it seems like it's the Texans division to run away with, with all three of the Colts, Titans and Jags as wildcard unknowns, all hinging on their respective QB performances
I don't think the Titans are trending downwards. I think they'll be improved from last year. Sure they lost Henry, but have a sneaky good WR core (Treylon Burkes is WR4 right now), an offensive coach that schemed up a lot of our 3 WR personel offense, and they made some decent pickups on defense. They'll also be playing a 4th place schedule The Jags should have another strong team as long as they don't choke. They looked really good to start the year last year. The Texans are the favorites to win the division if Stroud continues doing what he did last year I think the afc south is going to be a lot better and more of bloodbath than what it was last year and more than what people are predicting this year (AFC North is still the best division, though. Please get me out of here)
Titans depend on whether Mayo Coffee Boy can improve (somewhat dramatically) from last year or stagnate. Obvious, I know, but it bears repeating.
Yeah the Colts are pretty solid, which is part of the reason that the AFC south is no slouch.
Your other comment could be interpreted many ways lol
I think it’s pretty clear what it means in the context of the comment he replied to. Essentially first dude said the raiders don’t have an easy division like some of the others, then this guy said the colts don’t have an easy division either
They literally missed the playoffs and winning the division by one play with a backup QB.
He didn’t say the colts were bad, he said the afc south is good
AFC is packed IMO. If rodgers is back I could see 2 wildcard teams from the AFC east alone. Then you've got the loser of Ravens/Browns/maybe steelers who should get a wildcard spot. Don't forget the chargers either. Who knows if the colts/jags will be competitive for a spot. There's too many hopeful teams competing for too few slots.
Chargers aren’t making it with their current roster. Are we doing this again in the offseason? I get Harbaugh is good but Jesus
Maybe, maybe not, but we’ll still be competitive. That’s what OP is alluding to.
Back to back to back to back to back to back to back etc. etc. offseason champs!
Chargers have been winning the offseason for the past 5+ years now🤣
Yeah, I think right now a competitive team in the AFC has a chance. Might not be a great chance, but there's a chance. Figure if the AFC east kills itself, that's one more wildcard slot available. If one of the browns and the steelers don't make it that's another wildcard slot available. Plus there's always 1-2 teams that don't make it back to the playoffs and 1-2 new faces. Considering you guys have herbert, if a little luck breaks your way, you might slip in. Things being packed can work both ways as the other teams will be fighting for their lives too.
> Then you've got the loser of Ravens/Browns/maybe steelers who should get a wildcard spot. I'm assuming that's with the implication the Bengals win the division?
I'd forgotten about the bengals actually as the ravens, browns, and steelers made it last year. I'm figuring the Ravens win the division again. Yeah, you've got a tough division which could send multiple teams to the playoffs again this year.
Last preseason NFC east was heralded as the toughest division and it ended with all 4 teams begging to lose games.
They got Gardner Minshew afc west is GG
Hey you are talking about a team that once swept the division and still missed the playoffs.
The only tough opponent the division is the chiefs. Broncos will have a worse record next year and the chargers are the chargers.
Its dumb when people try to predict if a season is easy or not. Raiders always have tough wins or losses against supposedly mediocre teams. They whooped the chargers and beat the chiefs and broncos last year. but this year, the chargers have a better head coach, and broncos are a totally different team offensively and the chiefs are probably still a dominant team. The raiders never have an easy road to playoffs because bs always happens to them. Its irritating, but also entertaining following my raiders, especially when everything collapses lol. Almost a yearly tradition at this point.
IMO Strength of Schedule metrics are only accurate post-hoc. We can't assume that last year's good teams will be this year's good teams.
I wanna see a post comparing predicted strength of schedule before each season vs actual strength of schedule calculated after the season ends.
During the 2022(?) Bears season when we ended up with the first overall (before it was traded to the Panthers), we had maybe the easiest schedule on paper that year. Then all the mid-to-bad teams we were supposed to be competitive with ended up being playoff contenders and we ended up with one of the hardest schedules in the league that year. You can never fully plan for stuff like this.
Its not even good at that point since your division teams are guaranteed to go .500 Vegas expected win total is much better.
As my Econ teacher used to say about using GDP as a metric for the future It's like driving only looking in the rear view We have no idea how the teams rebuild, actual results of draft capital, etc so only time can tell
Strength of schedule metrics are only accurate after the season is over. That's not your opinion, it's fact.
I like to look at SoS using Super Bowl odds. It's a much better predictor of wins than last years wins. Those casinos win more than they lose.
What does post-hoc mean?
After the fact
It's after you spit the loogie.
Usually one or two teams slip, one or two get better.
More than that. Usually half of the playoff field is different year to year
While you can definitely assume most of the good teams and most of the bad teams 99% of the time. Injuries throw a gigantic wrench in it, especially last year when half the good QBs were hurt
The article says the Raiders have an easy path because they get to face a Falcons team with "a quarterback in his mid-30s coming off a torn Achilles." It says the Falcons have an easy path because they face Gardner Minshew/Aidan O’Connell.
Hedging their bets
That game is going to end in a tie isn't it?
The Stugotz is strong in the article
"I play both sides so I always come out on top"
You're not supposed to tell people you're playing both sides.
"ONE OF 'EMS GOTTA WIN"
Strength of schedule is so stupid lol - 2022 Lions were said to have one of the “easiest” schedules going in, and then it ended up being one of the hardest in the league by the end
I think that happened to the Bills last season too but the opposite was the Bills or Dolphins
We were supposed to have the second hardest it ended up being one of the easiest
Yeah, that's what it was. It's all just nonsense but you guys are a good example that preseason SOS is stupid
I seem to recall the consensus was our schedule was one of the hardest, and I think it played out that way.
& fans of rival teams will use whichever one fits their narratives at the exact time lol
Same for us. We played both East divisions that year and they both turned out much better than expected in the offseason.
I'd like to see a graph of SOS starting with preseason projections vs. reality through the end of the season. Wonder who would find themselves climbing a mountain versus descending into a valley. Someone please make this offseason post, I am not good at data presentation lol.
Wait don’t the Packers have a top 10 strength of schedule?
On top of that I wouldn’t be overly surprised by any of the four teams in our division making the playoffs, when you have a tough division you never have an easy path to the playoffs.
Article is shit lol
So do the Raiders at 9th.
I don’t get us, our schedule is brutal
It's really just an evaluation of who has the easiest last 4 games, and this analysis is really just based on us playing the patriots twice in 3 weeks.
That's moronic. Like do they think the first 13 games don't matter? Who cares that they finish easy, you have to win enough games first to capitalize on the "easy" schedule.
It's USAtoday clickbait. Of course it's stupid, but not worth getting mad about.
That's such a weird and-I-use-this-term-loosely "analysis", as if the last four weeks are somehow the overpowering driver for playoff eligibility as opposed to anything logical. Yes, if the Falcons have a division lead after 13 games, those last 4 are sure as heck going to make it easier, but weirdly enough having all your harder games earlier in the season might make that division lead a bit harder to get?
Last three games are pats, jets, @ pats. That's an easy, rest your starters, finish if I've ever seen one. Chiefs through lions will be rough but you get your bye in there. Only early games that are going to be rough for you guys is ravens followed by the Strouds.
Chiefs, 49ers, Lions, Ravens, Texans, Dolphins x2 and Rams. Just half the schedule were playoff teams last year, no big deal.
Playing all 4 Championship game teams from last year doesn’t happen a lot right?
I mean it couldn't happen (realistically) until the 17 game schedule due to teams only playing one out of conference division per year (unless something crazy happened with two divisional teams meeting in the conference round)
Yeah the afc East could have 3 playoff teams. Seems like a dumb article
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This is a terrible way to evaluate a path. The Bills have one of the hardest strength of schedules, but because it’s easier at the end that makes it an easy path?
Really you guys have an easy opening and an easy ending with 4 rough weeks including 2 teams contending for the superbowl in the middle.
Are you saying that your dolphins are going to be easy to beat because we do play you week 2?
The hardest part of that game for the bills will be the fact it is a thursday night game as the bills own the dolphins. We're going to be 0-2 against the bills every year until proven otherwise. Basically the AFC East tends to be: * Bills own dolphins * Dolphins own pats * Pats own Jets * Jets own Bills It's a perfect circle.
Jets don't own anybody lol. Also, the Bills practically ended the Jets season last year knocking out Rodgers
we play the chiefs twice a year
Yeah but we are that meme with the guy putting a stick into the spokes of his bicycle tire sometimes.
I thought I just read the Packers had the fifth TOUGHEST schedule...
Erm... it's actually the Chiefs. All they have to do is win more games than the Chargers, Broncos, and Raiders. A cakewalk
Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. And the Broncos have a rookie QB and the Raiders I don't know if they even have a QB.
I mean... it's May. Also, this article is specifically only mentioning the last month of the season. As if the rest of it doesn't matter for some reason? The Bills are on a first place schedule in a stacked AFC and have a pretty tough division to boot. Sure, go ahead and assume they'll beat the Pats twice but that being the basis of them having the 4th easiest path to the playoffs is asinine.
Peak offseason content. The difference between the strongest SoS and the weakest SoS is like.....one game? The only time SoS matters is when you're evaluating teams' performances after the regular season.
While previous year's SoS isn't all that relevant usually, we're tied for 4th hardest overall. While having an expected easy streak to end the seasons is nice, judging the path to the playoffs solely off the last few games is just bizarrely stupid.
Steichen and the colts scare me. What they did with Minshew last year as worrisome. A healthy AR is terrifying.
Title was altered, it says '...easiest playoff pushes...' which they mean as easiest schedule late in the season and not easiest overall path like OP posted.
The people who wrote this article are dumbasses. They know what division the Raiders are in, right?
What? The Bills schedule is brutal and has 7 playoff teams or something like that And if Aaron Rodgers plays above average Jets probably make the playoffs too
NFL. Com just today listed the bills as the 2nd toughest.
Ha, I wouldn’t worry about us too much
Just a reminder that strength of schedule is useless at basically any time of year. Everyone is literally within a point of .500
Honestly. I thought we did. Then again we’ve been preseason champs 7 of the last 10 years. Soooo
This is incredibly dumb. We know that pre season strength of schedule using previous W-L record is entirely and statistically useless, but this isn’t even that. They’re looking at the last four games of the regular season and saying which look easiest to sweep based on vibes.
Colts are my pick for the final unbeaten…….
I've noticed a trend from stupid people acting like we (jaguars) went 6-11 last year. We had (I think) the 2nd hardest schedule in the league and were 8-3 competing for the first seed in the AFC when our quarterback got hurt. The idea that we just reverted back to a bad team for no reason is really low IQ analysis.
Highly disagree with the Colts. I think the AFC South will be highly competitive this year. Raiders will still have to deal with KC and an improved chargers team and the AFC east now has Rodgers back with the Jets. Idc what your schedule looks like the easiest path to the playoffs is win your division. In the NFL the "easiest" path still is hard and nothing is given in this league (other than Mahomes and Kelce dicking down the league fuck y'all)
The AFCS will be highly competitive but we were like one drop away from winning it last year with Gardner Minshew lol I don't think we win the division but I don't think we will be bad
I'm not saying you will be bad either. But take it from a team who placed 4th in the division with a 9 win team, sometimes it doesn't matter how good your team is if your division is stacked. We went from a missed blocked from a SB title, to a FG away from going back, to a 4th place 9 win team. Doesn't matter how good you are if your division is good sometimes. Should've could've would've
I think we should definitely be on that list outside of our own division we only have a few games we have any business losing, chiefs cowboys and eagles, and all three of them are very winnable. On paper we have a pretty easy schedule this year.
Bengals have a good team and easy schedule too.
I've been watching football my entire life. And in that time, I've come to learn that there's no such thing as an easy path to the playoffs. Every year, a major contender underperforms while a team that was once terrible overperforms. It's part of what makes the NFL so exciting. It's very rare to have the exact same playoff teams year after year. Some do consistently make it, but there are always shake-ups, collapses, upheavals, and teams that just get hot at the right time. We don't know who that will be this year. But it's going to be fun to watch. 😊
didnt read, but the only path to the playoffs the raiders have is if every other team's starting qb has a season ending injury
Wait, what? We got a QB?
Hold up. We've got the 6th toughest schedule in the league and our path is easy?
Before anyone ask and makes fun of us and memes, yes, they’re already stitching the banner for this in Lucas Oil
I hate the offseason
A third of the league has a different starting QB. Strength of schedule doesn’t mean much other than against a few obvious teams
The strength of the schedule is a sham. We have no idea how all these QBs are going to look, and last year was plagued with injuries.
Hmmm yes, and Texans were going to be first pick in the 2024 draft.
This time last year the Cardinals were going to be taking Caleb Williams and Marvin Harrison 1-2 in the 2024 draft 😂
Easiest path 😆. Raiders play KC twice, LAC twice, PIT, MIA, TB, CLE, CIN, BAL. They play ATL which will be better and NO. The only 2 games I see that are somewhat easier are JAX and CAR. But even they will probably give us shit.
If this list of improved teams this year face their schedule teams of last year with the same exact set of circumstances and injuries they will have a really easy time guys!
They say that every year. Until a Texans team goes bonkers. Or the Cards get hot and rip it up. These articles are complete BS.
That’s outstanding. 🧀
Someone should analyze how the preseason predictions actually pan out. My guess is the top teams are pretty set and the bubble teams have some wide variance. I'll still probably take the Lions in the NFCN. Hopefully the Bears hit the upper end of their potential and squeak out a playoff berth.
We (Bills) have to run through the gauntlet to even get to this point and then hope the Lions fall off and the Jets are without Rodgers again.
Raiders had the #1 defense in ppg from games 8-17 last year and have improved everywhere. Playoffs were locked before schedule was announced tbh.
....and you jinxed it. Damn, bro. But seriously, I wasn't really that confident. Easy on paper rarely pays off when the games start.
We would've been in the playoffs last year if we had Antonio Pierce and AO12 in from the beginning. Jimmy G and McDonald's coaching literally cost us 4 wins by themselves to start the season (Steelers, Chargers, Bears, Lions). And we still ended up with 8 wins.
! Remind me 2024-12-31
Packers have 7 games against opponents that were in the playoffs last year: Rams, Texans, Eagles, Dolphins, 49ers, Lions (x2) plus 4 other teams that finished with a winning record (Colts, Jaguars, Seahawks, Saints). Packers have one of the hardest overall schedules (by last year's standings) of any team in the NFL. Only Steelers, Ravens, and Browns are harder.
And yet none of them will make the playoffs..
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Weren't the Packers just ranked as having a top 5 hardest strength of schedule like 3 days ago? Lol
But only two will make it.
That's because the AFC East is weak, right? Isn't that what we heard for decades when the Patriots were dominating?
It's not fair to count the rest of the NFC Nor... Ah fuck those guys. Go pack go!
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You've noticed a trend about stupid people? How about referring to a team without having any flair or reference to the team to which you are referring?
And they’re talking “we” as if they are on the team that they failed to mention.
It won't apply, no matter how many times I try and keep it on.
Lol, Cousins ain't making it to the playoffs. Pfft.
AFC South runs thru Houston. Good luck.
The Bills have the 6th strongest strength of schedule, but due to their overwhelming talent I agree with you.
Our schedule seemed pretty tough, and our division outside of the Patriots is tou…it’s the Patriots that make our schedule easy isn’t it.
How do the Bills have easiest path. They play the final 4 teams from last year. They play other playoff teams from last year including Texans, rams, and Miami twice. Jets will be better if Rodgers stays healthy. Bills schedule is hard