I think all this strength of schedule talk is a bunch of BS in todays NFL. With the exception of a select few elite teams (NE, IND, PHI they may be falling off pace, and possibly SD now) the true powerhouse teams change from year to year, and we play NE twice a year. Every year new powers arise and old powers crumble. All this talk about how many "playoff" teams is on any given teams schedule is absurd. No one is a playoff team yet, everyone is 0-0 and any NFL coach will tell you the same thing.
Of course it's relevent. They try to give the best teams the hardest schedule and the worst teams the easiest. No one can control the teams in your division and the teams in the conference you are playing that year. That's why Oakland has the hardest schedule in the league even though they were last year's worst team. What else can they possible base it on but last year's results? Once the season starts it is updated weekly.
Well their are only 2 games on your schedule based on last years record. And to answer your question, you're right that's all they can base it on, and that's why it is bullshit. Last year is meaningless right now. All teams are 0-0. The speculation about strength of schedule is just something to talk about in the off season and is based on something irrelevant to the 2007-2008 season.
That's not true. The NFL schedule is on a "schedule" because the opponents change year to year based on divisions. For example, we play 6 division games, 4 games with the NFC East, then 4 games with AFC North. Then the two remaining teams we a team from each remaining division in the AFC. I think they already have who we are going to play next few years too.
It's actually more like 6 that are based on your record. 6 Division games and 4 games from the Divion you are matched against that year leaves 6.
Right, everyone in the AFC East plays the NFC East (4), The AFC North (4), and the AFC East (6) leaving us with 2 "strength of schedule" games. edit: I think KC and Tennessee are our "SOS" games.
It got changed when the NFL went to 8 4 team divisions. Was a schedule maker's dream scenario and they took advantage of it.
They are.. the way they do that is like this.... They take the two same-conference divisions you're not playing... In this case, the AFC West and AFC South, and match you up with the teams in those divisions that finished in the same place as you did the year before. Tennessee was 2nd in the South... KC was 2nd in the West
Parody has created uncertainty in the NFL, and that's a good thing. Draft positions, compensation picks and F/A has all helped to level the playing field each and every year. So, yes, I'd agree with WhiteShoeWillie on this to a large degree. While nothing guarantees that a weak team will emerge as a playoff team, the one thing we can count on is that change in the NFL is a certainty. For that reason, and because SOS is based on last year's performance, it has much less meaning than it used to have.
That's exactly right and next year, the AFC East will be playing the NFC West and the AFC West giving us 4 west coast trips in one season (SF, SEA, SD, OAK):shit:
SoS is a big deal. while i agree powers do shift in the offseason, most hard core fans of the sport know who and where the toughies will be. i mean, it aint rocket science for sure, but if we played KC in KC, thats a tougher game, and we all know that. (i wouldnt put philly in that elite category btw) id say SoS is about 25% bs 75% relevant.....plus...its the offseason. gives us something to talk about for at least 4 months....:up:
Last year going into the season we had one of the "weakest schedules" in the league and people still refer to it as one of the weakest. Of the 12 playoff teams we had the 6th or 7th ranked SOS based on that years opponents record. My point here is that our schedule was not nearly as weak as people thought it was going to be last year, or as weak as people still call it. Perception is not reality, but too often it's more important in peoples minds. I don't know what you mean by saying playing KC in KC would be a tougher game. Of course an away game would be tougher. I must be missing your point. As far as Philly, they may be falling off as an elite team as I mentioned but you can't deny that they've been one of the most consistent powerhouse teams over the last 7 years or so.
Being a playoff team does not make you a powerhouse. The elite teams you named are the powerhouses. There consistently in the playoffs year in and year out for the most part. The rest of the playoff teams change because there not as good and fall off when they get hit with tougher schedules, injuries, etc. If someone told me the Jets could swap schedules with the Bears or the Cards I'd do it in a heart beat. Is it the Bears fault there division blows? No, not at all...but it makes there road back to the playoffs a hell of a lot easier, doesn't it?
at the start of the season, based on all accounts, and the prior season, we had a weak sched. some teams played better, some worse. i think the W-L ratio looked stronger at the end b/c we played a few teams with double digit wins, and a few teams closed a lot better than they started. ....they wouldnt put together schedules with this much thought if putting better teams against good teams didnt mean anything. sure some years are out of whack, but theres still a case to be made for looking at and rating the difficulty of a teams 16 game lineup. as for philly...i guess they really havent impressed me much the past 2 or 3 years. they had a nice run there for a bit, but the team is def on the decline....
i agree... this is the NFL, your supposed to have nothing but the best of the nation each year. just because you have a losing record doesnt mean your a bad team, its just a team that missed out on some plays in each game, its not blowouts most of the time like college or high school. every game on sunday is hard.
I won't worry about the schedule until I see the teams in action. Freak things like say McNabb getting injured again will really hurt some of these teams and make them much weaker than they appear right now.
Strength of schedule going into a season means nothing. The actual strength of schedule played by a solid football team means seeding in the playoffs which will have a major impact on whether or not you make it to a SB. We made the playoffs in 04 and 06 based on the actual schedule we played.
