2019 NFL STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE

RAIDERS HAVE TOUGHEST ROAD, COWBOYS PLAY 6 PLAYOFF TEAMS, AND PATRIOTS GET LUCKY

With the 2018 regular season officially in the books, now seems like a good time to start talking about the 2019 season, so that's exactly what we're going to do here. Thanks to the NFL scheduling formula, we can take a sneak peek at the 2019 season and that's because we now know who the opponents will be for all 32 teams. 

For instance, if Jon Gruden is going to turn things around for the Raiders next season; he's going to have to do it going up against a schedule that will include a total of seven playoff teams from 2018. Next season, the Raiders will play the Colts, Texans and Bears, along with their normal divisional games against the Chargers and Chiefs. 

The Raiders will also be playing a total of nine games next season against teams that finished 2018 with a winning record, which is tied with the Jaguars, Broncos, Chiefs, Falcons and Texans for the most in the NFL. On the other hand, the Patriots will be playing just six games against teams that finished the 2018 season with a winning record, which probably won't come as a surprise to anyone who thinks the Patriots seem to have an easy schedule every year. 

One thing to keep in mind about the NFL schedule is that the formula keeps things as even as possible. Each team will play four games against a first-place team from 2018, four games against a second-place team from 2018, four games against a third-place team and four games against a fourth-place team for a total of 16 games. 

With that in mind, let's check out the 2019 opponents for all 32 teams.

HOW IT WORKS

Here's a brief explanation of the NFL scheduling formula, which was implemented in 2002. Each team will play:

• Home and away against its three division opponents (six games).
• The four teams from another division within its conference on a rotating three-year cycle (four games).
• The four teams from a division in the other conference on a rotating four-year cycle (four games).
• Two interconference games based on the prior year's standings (two games). These games match a first-place team against the first-place teams in the two same-conference divisions that the team is not scheduled to play that season. The second-place, third-place, and fourth-place teams in a conference are matched in the same way each year.
• Beginning in 2010, a change was made to how teams are paired in the schedule rotation to ensure that teams playing the AFC and NFC West divisions would not be required to make two West Coast trips (e.g., at Los Angeles and at Oakland), while other teams in their division had none (e.g., at Denver and at Kansas City).

MARK YOUR CALENDARS

The 2019 regular season will kick off on Thursday, Sept. 5, and end after Week 17 is played on Dec. 29, 2019.

The 2019 NFL season will conclude on Feb. 2, 2020, at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, where the NFC champion and AFC champion will meet in Super Bowl LIV.

The NFL has released opponents for every team in 2019, which means we can calculate 2019 strength of schedule.  The Oakland Raiders have the hardest schedule in 2019 battling the AFC South and NFC North. The New England Patriots have one of the easiest schedules playing only five playoff teams and only four teams who had over 10 wins in 2018. The Dallas Cowboys come just about smack dab in the middle with the Boyz playing six playoff teams next season. So we ranked the toughest schedules of 2019 in order from most difficult (1) to easiest (32).

Ranking of Toughest 2019 Schedules (based on opponents’ win percentage in 2018)
1. Raiders (.539)
Games against 10-win teams: 7; Games against playoff teams: 72.

2. Broncos (.533)
Games against 10-win teams: 7; Games against playoff teams: 7

3. Jaguars (.531)
Games against 10-win teams: 7; Games against playoff teams: 7

4. Texans (.527)
Games against 10-win teams: 7; Games against playoff teams: 7

T-5. Bears (.520)
Games against 10-win teams: 5; Games against playoff teams: 6

T-5. Chiefs (.520)
Games against 10-win teams: 7; Games against playoff teams: 7

T-7. Falcons (.518)
Games against 10-win teams: 6; Games against playoff teams: 7

T-7. Colts (.518)
Games against 10-win teams: 5; Games against playoff teams: 5

9. Vikings (.512)
Games against 10-win teams: 6; Games against playoff teams: 7

T-10. Titans (.510)
Games against 10-win teams: 7; Games against playoff teams: 7

T-10. 49ers (.510)
Games against 10-win teams: 6; Games against playoff teams: 6

T-12. Cardinals (.508)
Games against 10-win teams: 6; Games against playoff teams: 6

T-12. Buccaneers (.508)
Games against 10-win teams: 6; Games against playoff teams: 6

T-14. Packers (.504)
Games against 10-win teams: 5; Games against playoff teams: 6

T-14. Cowboys (.504)
Games against 10-win teams: 4; Games against playoff teams: 6

T-16. Panthers (.502)
Games against 10-win teams: 6; Games against playoff teams: 6

T-16. Chargers (.502)
Games against 10-win teams: 5; Games against playoff teams: 5

18. Dolphins (.498)
Games against 10-win teams: 6; Games against playoff teams: 7

T-19. Steelers (.496)
Games against 10-win teams: 7; Games against playoff teams: 7

T-19. Lions (.496)
Games against 10-win teams: 5; Games against playoff teams: 6

T-19. Ravens (.496)
Games against 10-win teams: 5; Games against playoff teams: 5

22. Saints (.488)
Games against 10-win teams: 6; Games against playoff teams: 6

23. Browns (.484)
Games against 10-win teams: 5; Games against playoff teams: 5

24. Bills (.480)
Games against 10-win teams: 4; Games against playoff teams: 5

25. Seahawks (.479)
Games against 10-win teams: 4; Games against playoff teams: 5

26. Eagles (.477)
Games against 10-win teams: 5; Games against playoff teams: 5

T-27. Rams (.473)
Games against 10-win teams: 6; Games against playoff teams: 6

T-27. Bengals (.473)
Games against 10-win teams: 5; Games against playoff teams: 5

T-27. Giants (.473)
Games against 10-win teams: 4; Games against playoff teams: 6

T-27. Jets (.473)
Games against 10-win teams: 4; Games against playoff teams: 5

31. Patriots (.471)
Games against 10-win teams: 4; Games against playoff teams: 5

32. Redskins (.469)
Games against 10-win teams: 4; Games against playoff teams: 6