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NFL Strength Of Schedule 2016: Eagles have one of the easier set of opponents

How tough is the Eagles schedule?

Ray Carlin-USA TODAY Sports

Now that the 2015 NFL season is over and the Philadelphia Eagles 2016 opponents are known, it's never too easy to look ahead to next season. OK, it probably is way too early to look ahead. But we're doing it anyway.

The Eagles finished second in the NFC Least this year. They had a chance to be third but they blew it by winning a meaningless game against the Giants. The difference between second and third isn't insignificant. Instead of playing the Rams in London, the Eagles will now have to play the Seahawks in Seattle. Despite this impending matchup, the Eagles' schedule as a whole isn't looking so tough for next season. In fact, it ranks as one of the easier schedules in the NFL. Check out this table from our friends over at Blogging the Boys (click the table headers to sort columns):

2015 Strength Of Schedule By Team
Team Opp W/L Opp Win % 8+ win opponents Point Differential
SF 142 - 114 0.555 9 590
ATL 142 - 114 0.555 7 272
STL 141 - 115 0.551 9 489
NO 140 - 116 0.547 8 340
TB 139 - 117 0.543 8 257
SEA 139 - 117 0.543 8 153
NYJ 136 - 120 0.531 10 365
ARI 136 - 120 0.531 9 173
NE 134 - 122 0.523 10 253
BUF 133 - 123 0.520 8 316
MIA 132 - 124 0.516 10 424
CAR 131 - 125 0.512 8 -44
SD 130 - 126 0.508 8 -161
DEN 129 - 127 0.504 8 88
OAK 128 - 128 0.500 9 -57
KC 127 - 129 0.496 8 -143
WAS 126 - 130 0.492 6 41
MIN 125 - 131 0.488 7 -160
BAL 124 - 132 0.484 8 67
HOU 124 - 132 0.484 8 -189
CLE 123 - 133 0.480 8 139
IND 122 - 134 0.477 8 -100
PIT 121 - 135 0.473 8 -132
JAC 121 - 135 0.473 9 -336
TEN 121 - 135 0.473 8 -412
PHI 120 - 136 0.469 8 -63
CIN 119 - 137 0.465 8 -162
DAL 119 - 137 0.465 6 -335
DET 119 - 137 0.465 7 -436
NYG 118 - 138 0.461 6 -383
CHI 118 - 138 0.461 7 -502
GB 117 - 139 0.457 7 -352

As you can see, the Eagles have the seventh easiest schedule based on opponent winning record. For perspective, the Eagles' strength of schedule ranked 10th heading into last season. When it comes to point differential, however, things look a little tougher. The Eagles' schedules ranks 15th in that category.

As far as the Eagles' NFC East opponents go: the Giants have the third easiest ranked strength of schedule, the Dallas Cowboys are fifth, and the Washington Redskins are 16th. The Giants have the fourth easiest schedule when it comes to point differential, while the Cowboys rank seventh and Washington ranks 18th.

Of course, it's hard to tell how much this all means at this point. The Eagles don't even have a head coach so who really knows what the team is going to look like next season. Teams go from worst to first and vice versa all the time, so some teams will appear to be much tougher or much easier on paper than they will be next season.

Here are Philadelphia's opponents for next season. Keep in mind the actual game order won't be determined until the NFL releases the schedule in the spring.

Eagles 2016 opponents

HOME: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Washington Redskins, Green Bay Packers, Minnesota Vikings, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Atlanta Falcons

AWAY: Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Washington Redskins, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, Seattle Seahawks

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