2026 NFL schedule: Who has the most difficult and easiest strength of schedule this season?
The 2025 Patriots are a prime example of how schedule strength can matter.
Strength of schedule became a hot topic of conversation last NFL season. Most of it centered around the New England Patriots, and it even seeped into the MVP race like it never had before. The Patriots played the easiest schedule in the NFL last season, and the easiest schedule this century.
It was the third-easiest schedule by DVOA since 1978, according to Aaron Schatz of FTN Fantasy . Only the 1991 Bills and 1999 Rams had easier schedules. The Patriots went 14-3 and made the Super Bowl.
The schedule, and the chatter about it through December, might have been a factor in Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford narrowly edging out New England’s Drake Maye for NFL MVP. Now that strength of schedule has become a hot topic among NFL fans, it’s worth looking at which teams have advantages and disadvantages heading into 2026. Which team has the easiest strength of schedule?
The traditional way of looking at schedule strength is through the cumulative 2025 record of 2026 opponents. By that measure, the Cleveland Browns have landed the easiest schedule in the NFL, via the league. That’s largely due to drawing the NFC South as its opponents (the NFL rotates inter-conference foes by division each season).
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