2026 NFL Strength of Schedule Rankings
Updated: January 5, 2026
With the Pittsburgh Steelers beating the Baltimore Ravens in a thriller to close Week 18 (and the regular season), we now know all 2026 NFL opponents for each team even though we won't know the when those matchups will occur until May.
Based on the cumulative 2025 records of their 2026 opponents, we have ranked every team's NFL strength of schedule (SOS).
Of course, teams aren't static from year to year. NFL free agency, the NFL Draft and even better health mean teams will get better or worse. In turn, a team's schedule will likely look different after we know how their opponents improve (or not).
After the NFL Draft, we will incorporate consensus NFL power rankings into our rankings to get a truer picture of how easy/hard a schedule really is.
For now, no team has a more difficult strength of schedule than the Chicago Bears with a combined .550 opponent winning percentage. On the other hand, no team has an easier SOS than the Cleveland Browns, whose opponents had a .429 winning percentage.
| Rank | Team | Opp. Record | Opp. Win Pct. | Playoff Opponents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chicago Bears | 158-129-2 | 0.550 | 8 |
| 2 | Miami Dolphins | 156-132-1 | 0.542 | 9 |
| 3 | Arizona Cardinals | 155-133-1 | 0.538 | 9 |
| 3 | Green Bay Packers | 155-133-1 | 0.538 | 7 |
| 5 | Kansas City Chiefs | 155-134-0 | 0.536 | 9 |
| 6 | New England Patriots | 153-135-1 | 0.531 | 9 |
| 7 | Las Vegas Raiders | 153-136-0 | 0.529 | 9 |
| 8 | Buffalo Bills | 152-136-1 | 0.528 | 8 |
| 9 | Los Angeles Chargers | 151-138-0 | 0.522 | 8 |
| 10 | Carolina Panthers | 150-138-1 | 0.521 | 6 |
| 11 | Minnesota Vikings | 149-138-2 | 0.519 | 8 |
| 12 | New York Jets | 149-139-1 | 0.517 | 8 |
| 13 | Los Angeles Rams | 148-139-2 | 0.516 | 9 |
| 14 | Seattle Seahawks | 148-140-1 | 0.514 | 10 |
| 15 | Denver Broncos | 148-141-0 | 0.512 | 10 |
| 16 | Washington Commanders | 144-143-2 | 0.502 | 7 |
| 17 | New York Giants | 143-144-2 | 0.498 | 7 |
| 18 | San Francisco 49ers | 143-145-1 | 0.497 | 7 |
| 19 | Pittsburgh Steelers | 143-146-0 | 0.495 | 6 |
| 20 | Dallas Cowboys | 142-146-1 | 0.493 | 8 |
| 21 | Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 141-146-2 | 0.491 | 7 |
| 22 | Jacksonville Jaguars | 141-147-1 | 0.490 | 7 |
| 23 | Philadelphia Eagles | 138-149-2 | 0.481 | 8 |
| 24 | Baltimore Ravens | 138-150-1 | 0.479 | 7 |
| 25 | Tennessee Titans | 137-151-1 | 0.476 | 6 |
| 26 | Houston Texans | 136-151-2 | 0.474 | 7 |
| 27 | Detroit Lions | 134-153-2 | 0.467 | 7 |
| 28 | Indianapolis Colts | 134-154-1 | 0.465 | 6 |
| 28 | Atlanta Falcons | 134-154-1 | 0.465 | 6 |
| 30 | Cincinnati Bengals | 130-159-0 | 0.450 | 5 |
| 31 | New Orleans Saints | 125-163-1 | 0.434 | 5 |
| 32 | Cleveland Browns | 124-165-0 | 0.429 | 5 |