Steelers have NFL’s 2nd-easiest 2020 schedule, according to CBS Sports
After a two-year hiatus, the Pittsburgh Steelers are hopeful for a return to the postseason in 2020. By one imperfect-yet-commonly-cited measure, they have an advantage over most of the rest of the league in their quest.
The Steelers have the NFL’s second-easiest schedule in 2020, according to CBS Sports’ calculations. The aggregate records of the Steelers’ 16 opponents is 117-139; that’s a .457 winning percentage that ranks 31st out of the league’s 32 teams.
The division rival and defending AFC North champion Baltimore Ravens (.438) are the only team that has a worse schedule, based on this criteria and CBS’s compilations. The two other AFC North teams — the Cincinnati Bengals (27th, .477) and Cleveland Browns (29th, .461) are also among teams with the league’s six worst schedules.
That’s a function of facing the NFC East in its conference crossover games next season. Each division rotates through an inter-conference division foe every season, and the NFC East was by far the league’s worst division in 2019: the Philadelphia Eagles won it with a 9-7 record, followed by the Dallas Cowboys (8-8), the New York Giants (4-12) and Washington Redskins (3-13).
A word of caution, though, about these schedule-strength rankings: the NFL varies wildly from year to year, and teams that are bad one season often can be playoff-caliber a year later and vice versa.
For arguments sake, though, the AFC East teams have the league’s toughest path in 2020, per CBS: the New England Patriots (.537) have the toughest schedule, followed by the New York Jets (.533) and Miami Dolphins (.529) with the Buffalo Bills (.525) tied for fifth.
The Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs, interestingly, have a .500 opponent aggregate record. That ties for the 14th-worst schedule in the NFL.
Hey, Steelers Nation, get the latest news about the Pittsburgh Steelers here.
Chris Adamski is a TribLive reporter who has covered primarily the Pittsburgh Steelers since 2014 following two seasons on the Penn State football beat. A Western Pennsylvania native, he joined the Trib in 2012 after spending a decade covering Pittsburgh sports for other outlets. He can be reached at cadamski@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.