Pitt toughest 2008 schedule, NE the easiest

The Patriots have a key weapon in their corner as they attempt to overcome the humiliation of their "we just decided not to show up and let immortality slip through our grasp" loss in Super Bowl XLII: they walk into 2008 with what is, by a sizable margin, the easiest schedule in football next season (based upon 2007 records).

 

New England's 2008 opponents won just 99 of 256 games in 2007, an abysmal .387 winning percentage. Conversely, New England's top AFC foes, Pittsburgh and Indianapolis, face the toughest schedules.

 

New England's schedule is a whopping 54 games easier than Pittsburgh's 2008 slate, and 53 games easier than Indy's. It's even nine games easier than the team with the next cushiest schedule, San Diego.

 

The defending champs, the Giants, face an average schedule. Their opponents were a combined .520 last year.

 

On average, the AFC East boasts the easiest road to the 2008 playoffs, with inter-divisional games against the AFC West and NFC West, both of which sucked in 2007. The AFC East, with the exception of the Patriots, also sucked. Those three divisions combined for just three teams with winning records last year (New England, San Diego and Seattle). Nobody in the AFC East has a schedule that ranks among the 20 toughest.

 

The AFC North, meanwhile, is up against the toughest road to the 2008 playoffs, with inter-divisional games against the tough AFC South and NFC East. All four AFC North teams face schedules that rank among the six toughest in football next year.

 

	Team	Wins	Losses	Pct.
1	Pittsburgh	153	103	0.598
2	Indianapolis	152	104	0.594
3	Jacksonville	143	113	0.559
4	Baltimore	141	115	0.551
4	Minnesota	141	115	0.551
6	Cincinnati	140	116	0.547
6	Cleveland	140	116	0.547
6	Houston	140	116	0.547
9	Detroit	139	117	0.543
9	Tennessee	139	117	0.543
11	Chicago	136	120	0.531
11	Green Bay	136	120	0.531
13	Dallas	134	122	0.523
13	Washington	134	122	0.523
15	NY Giants	133	123	0.520
15	Philadelphia	133	123	0.520
17	St. Louis	125	131	0.488
18	San Francisco	124	132	0.484
19	Seattle	122	134	0.477
20	Tampa Bay	120	136	0.469
21	Arizona	119	137	0.465
21	Carolina	119	137	0.465
21	Miami	119	137	0.465
24	Atlanta	118	138	0.461
25	NY Jets	117	139	0.457
26	Kansas City	116	140	0.453
27	Buffalo	115	141	0.449
27	New Orleans	115	141	0.449
29	Denver	114	142	0.445
30	Oakland	112	144	0.438
31	San Diego	108	148	0.422
32	New England	99	157	0.387

By Kerry Byrne