2026 NFL Strength of Schedule
2026 NFL strength of schedule, updated Sep 3, 2026. The Arizona Cardinals face the hardest schedule, with opponents averaging 9.32 projected wins and 12 of the 17 projected as winning teams; the Detroit Lions face the easiest at 7.79, with 6 winning opponents. The full-league spread is 1.53 win-total points, so schedule is a tiebreaker rather than a headline. Opponent strength is each opponent's 2026 market win total, via VegasInsider (BetMGM), August 24 2026.
Most strength-of-schedule tables published in the summer rank opponents by what they did last season. That measures the past, and it carries every bit of luck a team had — a 12-5 record built on one-score wins counts the same as a 12-5 built on point differential. This table uses the betting market's 2026 win total for each opponent instead, which is a forward projection that already accounts for the draft, free agency and coaching changes.
Read the spread before the ranks. From hardest to easiest the whole league covers about 1.5 win-total points across seventeen games — real, but small enough that schedule should break a tie between two players you rate evenly rather than move anyone up a round.
Ranks tie, and they tie a lot. Every win total in the market ends in a half-win and every schedule is seventeen games, so two schedules that genuinely differ do so by a multiple of about 0.06 of a projected win — which is why 24 of the 32 teams below share a rank with at least one other team, marked . Tied teams are listed in order of how many 10-plus-win opponents they draw, but that is display order, not a ranking: their schedules are equally hard by this measure.
All 32 teams, hardest first
| # | Team | Opp Win Total | Winning Opp | 10+ Win Opp | Net Rest | Primetime | Bye | Follow | Listen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arizona Cardinals | 9.32 | 12 | 9 | +1 | 0 | 14 | ||
| 2 | Miami Dolphins | 8.97 | 12 | 6 | -6 | 0 | 6 | ||
| 3 | Carolina Panthers | 8.91 | 8 | 5 | +8 | 3 | 5 | ||
| T4 | Washington Commanders | 8.79 | 9 | 6 | +9 | 4 | 7 | ||
| T4 | Atlanta Falcons | 8.79 | 7 | 5 | +7 | 3 | 11 | ||
| T4 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 8.79 | 8 | 4 | -2 | 3 | 10 | ||
| 7 | Dallas Cowboys | 8.73 | 8 | 6 | +12 | 6 | 14 | ||
| T8 | Los Angeles Rams | 8.68 | 11 | 7 | -6 | 7 | 11 | ||
| T8 | Seattle Seahawks | 8.68 | 11 | 6 | +9 | 6 | 11 | ||
| T8 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 8.68 | 8 | 5 | -6 | 4 | 9 | ||
| T8 | Green Bay Packers | 8.68 | 9 | 4 | -2 | 6 | 11 | ||
| T12 | New York Giants | 8.62 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 4 | 8 | ||
| T12 | Chicago Bears | 8.62 | 8 | 5 | +15 | 5 | 10 | ||
| T12 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 8.62 | 9 | 3 | -3 | 3 | 7 | ||
| T15 | Los Angeles Chargers | 8.56 | 11 | 7 | -24 | 3 | 7 | ||
| T15 | Houston Texans | 8.56 | 7 | 4 | +8 | 4 | 8 | ||
| 17 | Minnesota Vikings | 8.50 | 9 | 4 | +4 | 4 | 6 | ||
| T18 | Las Vegas Raiders | 8.44 | 11 | 6 | -13 | 0 | 13 | ||
| T18 | Tennessee Titans | 8.44 | 7 | 4 | +6 | 0 | 9 | ||
| T20 | Buffalo Bills | 8.38 | 11 | 4 | +14 | 6 | 7 | ||
| T20 | Cleveland Browns | 8.38 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 11 | ||
| T20 | Indianapolis Colts | 8.38 | 7 | 4 | -6 | 2 | 13 | ||
| T20 | Philadelphia Eagles | 8.38 | 7 | 3 | -15 | 5 | 10 | ||
| 24 | Baltimore Ravens | 8.32 | 6 | 3 | -3 | 4 | 13 | ||
| T25 | Denver Broncos | 8.27 | 9 | 6 | +3 | 3 | 10 | ||
| T25 | San Francisco 49ers | 8.27 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 5 | 8 | ||
| T27 | Kansas City Chiefs | 8.21 | 10 | 5 | -2 | 6 | 5 | ||
| T27 | New England Patriots | 8.21 | 9 | 5 | +8 | 5 | 11 | ||
| 29 | New Orleans Saints | 8.09 | 5 | 3 | -7 | 1 | 8 | ||
| T30 | New York Jets | 7.97 | 10 | 4 | -9 | 0 | 13 | ||
| T30 | Cincinnati Bengals | 7.97 | 4 | 3 | -4 | 3 | 6 | ||
| 32 | Detroit Lions | 7.79 | 6 | 1 | +1 | 4 | 6 |
Every team's 2026 schedule
How this is measured
Opponent strength here is the betting market's 2026 win total, not last season's record — a forward projection that already prices in the draft, free agency and coaching changes, and that carries none of the luck baked into a won-lost record.
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