DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Pure Football Forum Strength Of Schedule

The Browns have officially been given the easiest Strength of Schedule based on 2025 results.

Article on another website had this to say about that: I don't know the rules on credits from other websites, so if I should be giving the author and/or website credit, please advise and I can edit. Some websites don't want other sites credits.

" Why the Browns might have actually caught a break

If you're looking for one team that could surprise people in 2026, that could be the Cleveland Browns, who have the easiest strength of schedule in the NFL. Here's why that matters: The AFC team with the easiest schedule has finished with a winning record in EIGHT STRAIGHT seasons, including last year, when the AFC champion Patriots improved from 4-13 in 2024 to 14-3 in 2025.

Over the past three seasons, the AFC team with the easiest strength of schedule has improved their record by an average of 7.7 wins and all three of those teams had a new head coach going into the season.

2023: Texans. After going 3-13-1 in 2022, the Texans had the easiest strength of schedule of any AFC team in 2023 and they ended up being a surprise playoff team at 10-7 during DeMeco Ryans' first season as Houston's head coach.
2024: Chargers. After going 5-12 in 2023, they had the AFC's easiest strength of schedule in 2024 and they took advantage of that by going 11-6 and making the playoffs in Jim Harbaugh's first season on the job.
2025: Patriots. After going 4-13 in 2024, the Patriots bounced back in a big way while playing against the AFC's easiest strength of schedule in 2025. In Mike Vrabel's first season on the job, the Patriots went 14-3 and ended up making a run all the way to the Super Bowl.

In 2026, the Browns will have a new head coach in Todd Monken and he'll be looking to replicate the success of those three coaches.

The Browns will also be playing both the AFC South and NFC South this year, which has been a huge advantage for teams. Last year, the Super Bowl champion Seahawks went a combined 7-1 against those two divisions, which is a big reason why Seattle ended up earning the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC.

Last year, the 49ers were in the exact same spot as the Browns: They had the easiest strength of schedule in 2025 and they also got to play both South divisions. After going 6-11 in 2024, the 49ers used their scheduling advantage to go 12-5 in 2025.

Of course, no one is going to mistake the Browns for the 49ers, but getting to play both South divisions seems to help.

The last two times an entire division got matched up with both South divisions, that division produced at least three teams that finished with a winning record. "


That being said, in the down time we have until training camp, I thought it was a good conversation piece on opinions about SOS before a single game is played.

SoS can be a big ?? at this point. Teams can (and do) fluctuate in terms of their level of play.

... and not to be a Debbie Downer, but there is one HUGE difference between us and those teams (established QB).

Patriots had a second year QB.
Texans had a rookie..

SOS means a little, but not all that much. Teams have a way of getting better from on year to the next and last year could have been a bad injury year for a team or two.

I think the schedule comes out tomorrow. I think the order in which you play teams has a little more impact on things over the calculated SOS.

I agree, I don't usually put much emphasis on SOS. But the article made some compelling reading over the past 3 seasons. One can hope that the schedule is an advantage going in. We have a lot of new faces on the offensive side of the ball and the clip board holders. We are going to need all the help we can get.

One thing we do know is, who we are playing:

Home
Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals
Pittsburgh Steelers
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
Atlanta Falcons
Carolina Panthers
Las Vegas Raiders

Away
Baltimore Ravens
Cincinnati Bengals
Jacksonville Jaguars
Pittsburgh Steelers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tennessee Titans
New York Giants
New York Jets
New Orleans Saints

We have a lot of top ten draft pick games (7) in there...Only (5) games against teams that made the playoffs, including Carolina who finished at 8-9 but won their division.

Again, a lot changes year over year, but a lot stays the same as well...

I holding off on mixing the first batch of kool=aid for this season. The SoS reveal was encouraging after the last few years' schedules, really tough patches we can see, and they showed in our record. I haven't put a lot of stock in it for awhile now. It is a real thing admittedly, but we played lousy ball too often. We did more to self-destruct in many losses. Any respectability probably was a product of an amazing defense.
injuries hobbled an already lame offense. The offense and ST flubs were prolific. We never did get much of our penalty issues ironed out. We shot ourselves ib the foot too often — sometimes burning a clip! SoS closed deals on top of our issues.

I am optimistic because we have some youngsters, some speed, and we can improve versus some different teams. Monken is a puzzle to start. Lots of new coaching on schedule. I also think we will get better shedding some players that were part of the losses. Hopefully the triage will prove successful. I will root them, and I am hopeful. I insist on seeing them under fire. It won't be perfect, but I expect us to be better, and I also expect to see some problems mopped up. We need to find a few things to be r4eliably good at, like we had with Kelly's sweeps.

SoS is a factor in our favor on paper. Go, Browns!

Drake Maye and good-Stroud. Young QBs, sure... but that's the big difference that pops out to me between those teams and ours.

Yes, in both those cases they made a heavy investment at the QB position before things turned around for them.

Home
Baltimore Ravens W
Cincinnati Bengals W
Pittsburgh Steelers W
Houston Texans L
Indianapolis Colts L
Atlanta Falcons W
Carolina Panthers W
Las Vegas Raiders W

Away
Baltimore Ravens L
Cincinnati Bengals L
Jacksonville Jaguars W
Pittsburgh Steelers W
Tampa Bay Buccaneers L
Tennessee Titans L
New York Giants W
New York Jets W
New Orleans Saints L

10-7 Playoff Wild Card

We live in a world of "What have you done for me lately", but we have arguably invested more in the QB room than any of those teams, signing Watson. To date, he has been the worst trade and sign player in the history of the league. However, the short history he has here is irrelevant to 2026. The one thing that Watson does care about is money. I don't think he will ever have enough and he wants another pay day. The only way he gets that is by winning the starting job this off season and balling out. If HE balls out, this team wins a lot of games, it's that simple. We know he has done it before, it just isn't something we know if he can ever do again.

Last words for me on this:

If Watson wins the job, I EXPECT that large turn around because of the investment.
If Sanders wins the job, it is more likely that is because they have no future plans for Watson and would rather see where Sanders can progress before designing a way to get one of the QBs in 2027.

The second scenario, it's hard to call it a loss... If Shedeur progresses into a franchise guy, we win, we can use draft capital to continue a progressive build overall. If Sanders ceiling has already been hit(which is pretty low), then the Browns enter 2027 off season with a top 5 draft pick to go get the QB they covet. It will be a lot easier to move up from a top 5 than from a mid-teen on down...

FOR ME, worst case scenario is that Sanders is so bad this off season, Monken sees no other option than Watson. Watson plays just well enough to get 2nd in the division, no playoff, leaves in free agency and we have zero chance at a QB in the draft. I love winning 7 games over 4 games, but the way this team is built right now, all it needs is a QB. I would rather sacrifice this season to get one, if Sanders is incapable.