Bengals have 6th toughest schedule in 2021.

Steeler's - #1
Ravens - #2
Browns - # 9

https://www.nfl.com/videos/expanded-season-strength-of-schedule-rankings

It won't be easy. The Bucs on other hand have one of the easiest schedules, go figure.

Steelers have the hardest? Man, that's going to hurt our "The NFL rigs things for the Steelers" narrative this year.

Oh I see now that the Bucs rebooted their entire team to be the best the NFL is rigged in their favor...nice.

Well it was bound to happen considering we had three playoff teams in our own division.

I don't really buy into strength of schedules, at least not this early.

There's entirely way too much time between now and the season to be able to determine this. Obviously we still have the draft to consider, we still have time for more signings and/or trades, and we have plenty of time for injuries to occur. At lot can happen over these next 4 months in building a roster.

And even once we get to the start of the season I still don't put a lot of stock in them. Why? Because they're based on last years results. Some players improve. Some players regress. Some teams improve. Some teams regress. Some teams have new coaches on their staff, some have new playbooks, some have new trainers and training regiments. Some staffs make adjustments. The list goes on and on.

The only time I think you can really assign any real value to a strength of a schedule is after those games have been played, when you have all of the information available. And even then it's not foolproof.

Personally, I think strength of schedule is really just something for the talking heads (and us) to talk about. I'm not sure it matters all that much. A good team will win more games than they lose, a bad team will lose more games than they win. Most scheduling is not going to change these facts.

I've seen far too many times for a team to open the season with what's considered an easy schedule to then finish with a very hard schedule. I've seen the reverse as well. And usually, more often than not, the schedule difficulty is forgotten and isn't enough to offset the overall strength of a team (good or bad).

Just my 2 cents...

(04-22-2021, 10:31 AM)Luvnit2 Wrote: Bengals have 6th toughest schedule in 2021.

Steeler's - #1
Ravens - #2
Browns - # 9

https://www.nfl.com/videos/expanded-season-strength-of-schedule-rankings

It won't be easy. The Bucs on other hand have one of the easiest schedules, go figure.

It's about time we get tough schedules! I'm loving it. 


You don't become the greatest by playing the weakest.

(04-22-2021, 11:12 AM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: I don't really buy into strength of schedules, at least not this early.

There's entirely way too much time between now and the season to be able to determine this.  Obviously we still have the draft to consider, we still have time for more signings and/or trades, and we have plenty of time for injuries to occur.  At lot can happen over these next 4 months in building a roster.

And even once we get to the start of the season I still don't put a lot of stock in them.  Why?  Because they're based on last years results.  Some players improve.  Some players regress.  Some teams improve.  Some teams regress.  Some teams have new coaches on their staff, some have new playbooks, some have new trainers and training regiments.  Some staffs make adjustments.  The list goes on and on.

The only time I think you can really assign any real value to a strength of a schedule is after those games have been played, when you have all of the information available.  And even then it's not foolproof.

Personally, I think strength of schedule is really just something for the talking heads (and us) to talk about.  I'm not sure it matters all that much.  A good team will win more games than they lose, a bad team will lose more games than they win.  Most scheduling is not going to change these facts.

I've seen far too many times for a team to open the season with what's considered an easy schedule to then finish with a very hard schedule.  I've seen the reverse as well.  And usually, more often than not, the schedule difficulty is forgotten and isn't enough to offset the overall strength of a team (good or bad).

Just my 2 cents...

I don't disagree.

 It does give us something to discuss in the forum other than #5 pick that been hashed, rehashed and rehashed over and over again. Just buying time until next week and round 1 pick is announced.

(04-22-2021, 10:33 AM)Nately120 Wrote: Steelers have the hardest?  Man, that's going to hurt our "The NFL rigs things for the Steelers" narrative this year.

Oh I see now that the Bucs rebooted their entire team to be the best the NFL is rigged in their favor...nice.

they do that on the field not in the schedule making lol

(04-22-2021, 11:12 AM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: I don't really buy into strength of schedules, at least not this early.

There's entirely way too much time between now and the season to be able to determine this.  Obviously we still have the draft to consider, we still have time for more signings and/or trades, and we have plenty of time for injuries to occur.  At lot can happen over these next 4 months in building a roster.

And even once we get to the start of the season I still don't put a lot of stock in them.  Why?  Because they're based on last years results.  Some players improve.  Some players regress.  Some teams improve.  Some teams regress.  Some teams have new coaches on their staff, some have new playbooks, some have new trainers and training regiments.  Some staffs make adjustments.  The list goes on and on.

The only time I think you can really assign any real value to a strength of a schedule is after those games have been played, when you have all of the information available.  And even then it's not foolproof.

Personally, I think strength of schedule is really just something for the talking heads (and us) to talk about.  I'm not sure it matters all that much.  A good team will win more games than they lose, a bad team will lose more games than they win.  Most scheduling is not going to change these facts.

I've seen far too many times for a team to open the season with what's considered an easy schedule to then finish with a very hard schedule.  I've seen the reverse as well.  And usually, more often than not, the schedule difficulty is forgotten and isn't enough to offset the overall strength of a team (good or bad).

Just my 2 cents...

i believe its soley based on how teams finished last year.    So steelers face a 1st place schedule (so that adds in 2 additional 1st place teams from the AFC) and now 3 from NFC? have 4 games against playoff teams just in the division  etc...  Plus the divisions we play

can only really be based on last year results

Sounds like a great way to start the year. no respect and under the radar.

(04-22-2021, 11:12 AM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: I don't really buy into strength of schedules, at least not this early.

There's entirely way too much time between now and the season to be able to determine this.  Obviously we still have the draft to consider, we still have time for more signings and/or trades, and we have plenty of time for injuries to occur.  At lot can happen over these next 4 months in building a roster.

And even once we get to the start of the season I still don't put a lot of stock in them.  Why?  Because they're based on last years results.  Some players improve.  Some players regress.  Some teams improve.  Some teams regress.  Some teams have new coaches on their staff, some have new playbooks, some have new trainers and training regiments.  Some staffs make adjustments.  The list goes on and on.

The only time I think you can really assign any real value to a strength of a schedule is after those games have been played, when you have all of the information available.  And even then it's not foolproof.

Personally, I think strength of schedule is really just something for the talking heads (and us) to talk about.  I'm not sure it matters all that much.  A good team will win more games than they lose, a bad team will lose more games than they win.  Most scheduling is not going to change these facts.

I've seen far too many times for a team to open the season with what's considered an easy schedule to then finish with a very hard schedule.  I've seen the reverse as well.  And usually, more often than not, the schedule difficulty is forgotten and isn't enough to offset the overall strength of a team (good or bad).

Just my 2 cents...

So true that many NFL teams go from good to bad or vice versa in one year, but overall there is a strong correlation between good teams one season and good teams the next.

So I agree that SOS is not an exact science, but it is far from random.  I don't see us ending up with one of the easier schedules by the end of next season.

Eh. The high SOS is the result of three playoff teams in our division. And even then it is not THAT overpowered.

If you wanted to see REAL SOS issues you have to go back before realignment and before the scheduling formula. Those were the days when the schedulers (and back then it was all up to them) would give Super Bowl teams schedules with W-L percentages in the .300s and in a couple of them the Bengals got the hardest schedule in the NFL - in the 90s no less.

(04-22-2021, 06:07 PM)HarleyDog Wrote: Sounds like a great way to start the year. no respect and under the radar.

well you know Respect is earned..  And the current staff have earned NONE.

(04-23-2021, 10:17 AM)XenoMorph Wrote: well you know Respect is earned..  And the current staff have earned NONE.

Ummmm..... Zac Taylor did start using a play clock during practice, so, NANANANA!

To reiterate what others have said, SOS only has significance when it's measured after the season.