New England's Wussy Strength of Schedule This Year

Question

Officially New England has the #9 toughest Strength of Schedule (based on 2015 data) but when we look at their opponents we get a truer sense of how their high flying wins and losses record and off the chart stats on offense and defense might be an illusion as delusional as a water mirage in the desert.

They play Jets twice, Bills twice, Miami twice... two flawed teams and a playoff team.

But then we have their other opponents this year: LA, SF, Cleveland, arguably the three weakest teams in the league followed by Denver, Arizona, Cincy, Baltimore...all formerly playoff teams suffering through down seasons.

Then we have the 3 playoff teams (besides Miami) that the Pats did face this season...Houston (weakest of the playoff teams) Pitts (played them when Ben B was sidelined by injury) two wins here but then they lost to Seattle at home.

My prediction is that either KC or Pittsburgh will go into New England and knock the Pats out of postseason play.

I prefer to use this Strength of Schedule numbers cruncher which uses stats from the current year to produce a more accurate picture of what the current season is showing us and it ranks New England 32 nd in SOS.

https://www.predictionmachine.com/Strength-of-Schedule-Rankings

Any comments gents???

lancer89074 · Answer

Officially New England has the #9 toughest Strength of Schedule (based on 2015 data) but when we look at their opponents we get a truer sense of how their high flying wins and losses record and off the chart stats on offense and defense might be an illusion as delusional as a water mirage in the desert.

They play Jets twice, Bills twice, Miami twice... two flawed teams and a playoff team.

But then we have their other opponents this year: LA, SF, Cleveland, arguably the three weakest teams in the league followed by Denver, Arizona, Cincy, Baltimore...all formerly playoff teams suffering through down seasons.

Then we have the 3 playoff teams (besides Miami) that the Pats did face this season...Houston (weakest of the playoff teams) Pitts (played them when Ben B was sidelined by injury) two wins here but then they lost to Seattle at home.

My prediction is that either KC or Pittsburgh will go into New England and knock the Pats out of postseason play.

I prefer to use this Strength of Schedule numbers cruncher which uses stats from the current year to produce a more accurate picture of what the current season is showing us and it ranks New England 32 nd in SOS.

https://www.predictionmachine.com/Strength-of-Schedule-Rankings

Any comments gents???

nicfrost81 · Answer

Very interesting analysis. I will keep it in mind this playoff run. Thanks

lordbettington · Answer

lancer, I agree.  Could see them being challenged by dolphins on sunday.  They are very good, but not invincible as many think.

garbagetime · Answer

Agree with all that...except...the league is so poor right now that I don't think playing playoff teams is that big a deal. When I look at the playoff teams I can't see anyone I can imagine being dominant, except New England and Pittsburgh, and that's as much a testament to their coaching staffs as to their rosters. There's no super dominant defense that I can see, and no offense that just looks like it can't be stopped. It really seems like a crapshoot to me.

theclaw · Answer

Last season Panthers played what was considered one of the weakest schedule's in many years.

All they did was set the record for largest margin of victory in the 1st half of their 2 playoff games in history of any team to make the SB.

Europa · Answer

Interesting SOS, Washington Redskins are ranked 6 in that list. Redskins can join the playoffs if they beat Giants on Sunday. Giants have nothing to play for in this game, chances are pretty good that Washington makes it. We could see either Giants or Redskins revisit Cowboys in the Divisional Playoffs?

vegasrebel417 · Answer

DVOA puts them at 32 for strength of schedule.

Gavinnick · Answer

Lol Bro . ONE WORD GOAT

Gavinnick · Answer

The Other word is Russel Wilson gents Get ready for rematch Or cowgirls ..... but Wilson will wrestle it from Dallas and dance with Brady Brady gets him again ..... just way too good

JamThePot · Answer

please please please everyone stop touting how KC will go into Foxboro and upset NE... not a chance in hell that ANY team coached by Andy will win a playoff game in Foxboro... NONE

of course, they might not even see each other....

lancer89074 · Answer

He is an older goat now...not exactly a world class set of receivers and Blount might find a Pitts matchup uncomfortable on his arrogant behind.

theclaw · Answer

According to football-reference Pats SOS (-2.9) yes the weakest in the league.Last year the Panthers were (-3.9) far weaker then this years Pats.If you look up FO last year likely the same result.

ClownCircus · Answer

So adding Hogan, Mitchell and Bennett combined with a healthy Blount, Dion, and a more experienced white minus Gronk is a downgrade in your opinion. Oh and that offensive line that is night and day compared to last year&#x27;s thanks to Bill getting Scarnecchia out of retirement.

lancer89074 · Answer

Does Blount still smoke weed on his days off? Who can forget Dion and the Belmonts...my personal favorite was &#x27;King of the New York Streets&#x27; and I wish Trump played this song at his inaugural.  Ben Hogan some say was the greatest golfer of all time, Margaret Mitchell wrote &#x27;Gone with the Wind&#x27; a fine novel for sure and Tony Bennett of &#x27;I Left My Heart In San Francisco&#x27; fame can&#x27;t be beat. The Pats have been rushing the ball with great effectiveness against all of the cupcakes that they played this year but when they faced Seattle they were 28 rushes for 81 yards. The Pats also passed for great effectiveness but they had a soft schedule...who did they play? Oh Houston, a banged up Pitts team minus big Ben, a Seattle team who beat them at home and Miami a soon to be twice and the rest of the teams they played sucked except for the Ravens. In the words of the late, great Dennis Green: "If you want to crown them, then crown their a$$". They will get no coronation from me.

New England's Wussy Strength of Schedule This Year

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