2008 Strength of Schedule

[yuccaneers]

If the Bucs have a winning record there are sure to be some that say it is because of the easy schedule, but I am a firm believer that teams get better and worse every year, thus the strength of schedule is irrelevant from a past year stand point.

Even thought on paper the team will face a relatively easy schedule, there is no sure way to predict iif the new player brought in will affect the chemistry of the team, teams acquire new players ever off season and can turn it around in one season.

There are to way to many variables when looking at a strength of schedule where data is used from a previous season to determine what team will play tougher opponents in a current one, but for those that care here is the strength of schedule based off of last seasons records


---Team---------------%--W---L
Pittsburgh Steelers .598 153 103
Indianapolis Colts .594 152 104
Jacksonville Jaguars .559 143 113
Baltimore Ravens .551 141 115
Minnesota Vikings .551 141 115
Cincinnati Bengals .547 140 116
Cleveland Browns .547 140 116
Houston Texans .547 140 116
Detroit Lions .543 139 117
Tennessee Titans .543 139 117
Chicago Bears .531 136 120
Green Bay Packers .531 136 120
Dallas Cowboys .523 134 122
Washington Redskins .523 134 122
New York Giants .520 133 123
Philadelphia Eagles .520 133 123
St. Louis Rams .488 125 131
San Francisco 49ers .484 124 132
Seattle Seahawks .477 122 134
Tampa Bay Buccaneers .469 120 136
Arizona Cardinals .465 119 137
Carolina Panthers .465 119 137
Miami Dolphins .465 119 137
Atlanta Falcons .461 118 138
New York Jets .457 117 139
Kansas City Chiefs .453 116 140
Buffalo Bills .449 115 141
New Orleans Saints .449 115 141
Denver Broncos .445 114 142
Oakland Raiders .438 112 144
San Diego Chargers .422 108 148
New England Patriots .387 99 157

[Pewter Spot]

I guess the NFL felt sorry for, or they weren't happy with the Pats 18-1 season so they handed them the easiest schedule of them all. Jeez.

[Uncle Stan]

Except for 2 games, the schedule is known years in advance.

I don't put much faith in "strength of schedule". No team stays the same in any given year-additions, subtractions and injuries play a huge part in the difference.

[lhasara]

Yuccaneers:

Thanks for the info. I agree that every year teams make quantum leaps in their records, often due to injuries/setbacks to their opponents, but sometimes for no apparent reason. The biggest contributor to this however is what happens to your divisional opponents, since they account for SIX of a team's total games. That is why New England has such an "easy" schedule next year, since their divisional rivals were only 12W and 36L for a 0.250 winning percentage. The Bucs' NFC South opponents were only 18-30 for the year for a 0.375 winning percentage. That was the major premise of my thread about the 2007 offense not playing all that well IMHO (compared with 2005), since they got to beat up on their lowly division rivals who were all weaker opponents last year, and their defenses were ranked near the bottom of the league standings. In 2007, the bucs scored more than half of their total points (169) in those six games, and only 165 in the remaining ten games (16.5 ppg average)

What gives me pause for concern this year then?
1) Can Atlanta possibly be as bad as last year when their season was in such shambles?
2) Will Carolina get Delhomme back, or will they need to play four or five different QB's this year?
3) Will New Orleas go 7-9 again, and will they fumble a pitch on a stupid reverse play?

Will the Bucs go 9-7 again if all of our divisional opponents have improved?
The Colts and Cowboys both managed to go 13-3, when the WORST teams in their division were 8-8 last year (Texans and Eagles)

The Crow's Nest

[MiltonMack21]

I guess the NFL felt sorry for, or they weren't happy with the Pats 18-1 season so they handed them the easiest schedule of them all. Jeez.

I think the biggest part of it is the Patriots get to play the Dolphins 1-15 twice, the Jets 4-12 twice, the Bills 7-9 twice, they play the AFC West, Chiefs 4-12, the Raiders 4-12 and the Donks which were 7-9. They also get the NFC West which had 3 non-playoff teams 2 of which are picking in the top 10.