The Jets have had a brutal strength of schedule so far. Based on Pro-Football-Reference.com’s SRS ratings, and adjusted for home field, the Jets have had the toughest schedule this year, with home game against the Bengals, and Seahawks, and road games against the Bills, Chiefs, Steelers, and Cardinals.
The good news? For the rest of the season, the Jets have the 21st toughest schedule in the league, and no team has an easier dropoff in schedule than New York. This was predictable — in fact, I wrote just that for 538 in the offseason.
On the flip side, we have the Seahawks. Here’s how to read the table below, using Seattle. They are ranked 32nd, because no team’s schedule gets more difficult. Seattle’s through week 6 SOS — the TW6 SOS column — is -3.06, meaning its average opponent was about three points worse than average. That’s been the 31st toughest (or 2nd easiest) slate in the league. Meanwhile, Seattle’s rest of year SOS — marked as ROY SOS — is +2.13, the 3rd toughest left in football. That’s a difference of -5.19 (i.e., negative is bad, because the schedule is now harder).
| Rk | Tm | TW6 SOS | TW6 SOS RK | ROY SOS | ROY SOS RK | Diff |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York Jets | 4.73 | 1 | -0.45 | 21 | 5.18 |
| 2 | San Francisco 49ers | 3.22 | 4 | -0.57 | 23 | 3.79 |
| 3 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 2.66 | 5 | -0.98 | 27 | 3.64 |
| 4 | Cincinnati Bengals | 3.60 | 2 | 0.46 | 11 | 3.14 |
| 5 | Cleveland Browns | 3.57 | 3 | 0.96 | 9 | 2.61 |
| 6 | Tennessee Titans | -1.10 | 22 | -3.17 | 32 | 2.07 |
| 7 | Houston Texans | -0.35 | 18 | -2.13 | 31 | 1.78 |
| 8 | Los Angeles Rams | 1.52 | 7 | -0.07 | 18 | 1.59 |
| 9 | New York Giants | 2.20 | 6 | 0.98 | 7 | 1.22 |
| 10 | Kansas City Chiefs | -0.52 | 19 | -1.71 | 30 | 1.19 |
| 11 | Buffalo Bills | -0.27 | 15 | -1.26 | 28 | 0.99 |
| 12 | Oakland Raiders | 0.22 | 13 | -0.45 | 20 | 0.67 |
| 13 | Atlanta Falcons | -0.30 | 16 | -0.84 | 24 | 0.54 |
| 14 | New Orleans Saints | -0.18 | 14 | -0.49 | 22 | 0.31 |
| 15 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 0.32 | 11 | 0.19 | 17 | 0.13 |
| 16 | Green Bay Packers | 0.40 | 10 | 0.34 | 12 | 0.06 |
| 17 | Carolina Panthers | 0.27 | 12 | 0.27 | 14 | 0.00 |
| 18 | Miami Dolphins | 0.85 | 9 | 1.18 | 6 | -0.33 |
| 19 | Chicago Bears | -0.35 | 17 | 0.24 | 15 | -0.59 |
| 20 | San Diego Chargers | -2.20 | 27 | -1.53 | 29 | -0.67 |
| 21 | Washington Redskins | 1.37 | 8 | 2.16 | 2 | -0.79 |
| 22 | Denver Broncos | -1.70 | 25 | -0.88 | 26 | -0.82 |
| 23 | New England Patriots | -0.77 | 20 | 0.19 | 16 | -0.96 |
| 24 | Detroit Lions | -1.12 | 23 | 0.33 | 13 | -1.45 |
| 25 | Minnesota Vikings | -2.20 | 28 | -0.33 | 19 | -1.87 |
| 26 | Indianapolis Colts | -3.23 | 32 | -0.88 | 25 | -2.35 |
| 27 | Baltimore Ravens | -1.02 | 21 | 1.66 | 5 | -2.68 |
| 28 | Arizona Cardinals | -1.75 | 26 | 0.97 | 8 | -2.72 |
| 29 | Jacksonville Jaguars | -2.36 | 29 | 0.53 | 10 | -2.89 |
| 30 | Philadelphia Eagles | -1.20 | 24 | 2.19 | 1 | -3.39 |
| 31 | Dallas Cowboys | -2.43 | 30 | 1.99 | 4 | -4.42 |
| 32 | Seattle Seahawks | -3.06 | 31 | 2.13 | 3 | -5.19 |
As always, please leave your thoughts in the comments. Note that Philadelphia and Washington have the two toughest rest of year schedules, but it’s not much easier for the rest of the NFC East: the Cowboys have the 4th-toughest, and the Giants have the 7th-hardest.