Football Outsiders data suggests 2018 Cowboys schedule may be easier than you thought

[waving monkey]

Trying to predict the future has been part of the human condition since the beginning of time, and it’s no different for NFL fans. Which teams will make the playoffs, who’ll win the division, where will the Lombardi Trophy land this year?

Outside of a few folks who were blessed with the gift of prophesy, most NFL fans understand that trying to predict the future, per Peter F. Drucker, is like “trying to drive down a country road at night with no lights while looking out the back window.”

But that hasn’t stopped anybody from making lots and lots of predictions about the 2018 NFL season. In fact, knowing that predictions for 2018 are largely useless, we try to give those same predictions greater legitimacy by constructing data-driven models based on historical trends or data points to support our predictions. One such model that is widely used is the Strength of Schedule.

The traditional way of calculating NFL strength of schedule (SOS) is very straightforward. You simply add up the record of all 16 opponents from last year and you have the SOS for the coming season. Very simple.

Also very irrelevant.

https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/201...s-schedule-may-be-easier-than-you-thought-nfl

 

[jazzcat22]

I has posted after the schedule was released. And ask is it as tough as many think it is. Many think it seems tough because they expect us to suck.
Which is more likely than not, not true. We should be in the mix of the playoff hunt come December.

I get more concerned over the layout of the schedule as opposed to the opponents.

Like we always finish the last 5 or 6 games with more road games than we do home games. We rarely, or seems rarely we finish the season with a home game. Man if we ever got 2 home games to finish, then hell froze over.

A SNF game on the road, then the T-DAy game, then on the road the following Thursday, then still 2 of the last 3 on the road. That was brutal. I think that was how it went. It took it's toll on the team.

2016 we actually had a good schedule layout.

This year it does not seem to bad either.
At least the Sunday before the T-day game on the road is at 1:00 EST kick off. But I bet that gets moved to a late game. Hope not flexed to the SNF game if they start flexing them that early.

We do have 3 straight home games before we finish 2 of 3 on the road. Again. 2 straight road games at Philly and at Atlanta is our only back to back road games.

 

[School]

FO also has Dallas ranked as one the elite 8 teams this year. They believe there is a top tier consisting of 8 teams, with a sizable drop off after them.

That's the good news. The bad news is 6 of those teams are from the NFC, so the conference is pretty stacked this year.

 

[Aviano90]

Strength of schedule is really determined by strength of your own team. Good team = easy scheduled, bad team = hard schedule. Patriots have had an easy scheduled for almost 2 decades.

 

[GMO415]

Just beat the man across from you and the W's will come.

 

[cowboy_ron]

Just beat the team you're playing today and don't worry about next week yet.....Then it don't matter who is on the schedule

 

[Bobhaze]

Newsflash...ALL NFL games every year are winnable and lose-able. Every year. Every team. Looking at any schedule and declaring any game or opponent anything other than a challenge is inaccurate.

The NFL is THE hardest pro sports league to predict individual game winners. Anyone here last year predict that the Jaguars would make the AFC championship game and be one possession away from a SB?

IMO, NFL schedule predictions are nothing more than a fun exercise but essentially impossible to accurately call. Like the last 58 seasons, the Cowboys have as difficult a schedule as any other year.

 

[AlienBoy]

Strength of schedule is really determined by strength of your own team. Good team = easy scheduled, bad team = hard schedule. Patriots have had an easy scheduled for almost 2 decades.

Really helps when 6 of your games are against the Bills, Dolphins, and Jets.

 

[gmoney112]

It's hard to take seriously any projections that dont into account any offseason moves. It's just flawed from the very beginning with how quickly things change year to year.

That being said, I think we go 4-0 into Texans game. It's there for the taking.

 

[Bullflop]

The team that the Cowboys are going to field this year promises to be significantly better on both sides of the ball than in 2017. If that's not a just cause to be optimistic about their chances going forward, I don't know what is! Before TC began to expose these improvements, admittedly, things appeared far less encouraging than they do at present. At this time a month ago, I seriously thought we'd be a 9-7 team at best. Right now, optimism seems much easier to come by. Barring too many injuries, I'll not be surprised to see a 10-6 record in the offing at year's end (just one man's opinion, tho.)

 

[Aviano90]

Really helps when 6 of your games are against the Bills, Dolphins, and Jets.

The NFC East could have been the same way if a team wanted to step up and be like the Patriots, but no team did that.

And then the Patriots have 10 other games and the playoffs that they tylicallly mow through too.

Good teams have easy schedules because they are better than their opponents. If you aren’t good, you have a hard schedule. It’s pretty simple.