No team in the NFL has an easier schedule for 2021 than the Philadelphia Eagles. They will only play five games against teams that advanced to the postseason — and two of those games come against the Washington Football Team, who won the NFC East with a 7-9 record. Their strength of schedule is rated at .430 because they only play three teams that finished with winning records last year — Kansas City, Tampa Bay and New Orleans. How about the league’s toughest schedules?
Take a look as you consider your online NFL betting decisions for the coming season.
NFL News: The Toughest Schedules in 2021
| Rank | Team | Opponent Combined Win % (2020) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pittsburgh Steelers | .574 |
| 2 | Baltimore Ravens | .563 |
| 3 | Chicago Bears | .550 |
| 4 | Green Bay Packers | .542 |
| 5 | Minnesota Vikings | .531 |
| T6 | Cincinnati Bengals | .529 |
| T6 | Detroit Lions | .529 |
| 8 | Las Vegas Raiders | .526 |
| 9 | Cleveland Browns | .518 |
| 10 | L.A. Rams | .515 |
| T11 | Kansas City Chiefs | .511 |
| T11 | Seattle Seahawks | .511 |
| T13 | Arizona Cardinals | .507 |
| T13 | Tennessee Titans | .507 |
| T15 | Houston Texans | .504 |
| T15 | Washington Football Team | .504 |
| 17 | L.A. Chargers | .493 |
| 18 | Jacksonville Jaguars | .491 |
| T19 | San Francisco 49ers | .489 |
| T19 | New England Patriots | .489 |
| T19 | N.Y. Jets | .489 |
| 22 | New Orleans Saints | .483 |
| T23 | Buffalo Bills | .478 |
| T23 | Indianapolis Colts | .478 |
| 25 | N.Y. Giants | .474 |
| 26 | Carolina Panthers | .472 |
| T27 | Denver Broncos | .471 |
| T27 | Miami Dolphins | .471 |
| 29 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | .465 |
| 30 | Atlanta Falcons | .454 |
| 31 | Dallas Cowboys | .452 |
| 32 | Philadelphia Eagles | .430 |
It might seem odd to you that the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers have the 29th hardest schedule. Here’s how the 17-game schedule works. Each team plays:
- Six games in the division (home and away versus the other three teams)
- Four games against teams from another division in the same conference
- Four games against teams from a division in the other conference
- Two games in the conference based on standings from the prior year
- One interconference game based on standings from the prior year
Tampa Bay finished in second place in the NFC South last year. So they get two games against second-place teams in the two NFC divisions other than the one that they play all teams from, and a game against a second-place team in the AFC, from a division other than the one that they play all teams from. Regular-season finish determines this process — not the outcome of the playoffs. The in-conference rotation gives the Buccaneers all four teams from the NFC East (all of whom finished below .500) and the AFC East (where the Patriots and the Jets finished below .500). Their NFC standings-based opponents are Chicago and the L.A. Rams, neither of whom had losing records.
Chicago also has a second-place schedule, but their difficulty ranks third in the NFL. The Bears play all of the teams in the NFC West (a significantly tougher division than the NFC East) and the AFC North (significantly tougher than the AFC East). They also play the New York Giants and the Las Vegas Raiders on the basis of their second-place finish, but those foes from the divisional rotation make their schedule significantly more difficult.
For a rebuilding team like Detroit, and a team looking to jump-start its future around its young quarterback, like Cincinnati, the 2021 schedule is particularly challenging. The Lions could end up being the only sub-.500 team in the NFC North, assuming that the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive resurgence takes place as reported. The Green Bay Packers finally got Aaron Rodgers into training camp, and the Chicago Bears got to 8-8 with a combination of Nick Foles and Mitch Trubisky at quarterback. Trubisky is out, and Andy Dalton and Justin Fields are in, which should mean an upgraded Chicago offense to go along with a stout defense.
Overall, the 2021 NFL season figures to offer plenty of intrigue. As you think about wagering on futures, consider the difficulty of each team’s schedule as you predict things like division titles and season win/loss record.
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