Normal strength of schedule is formulated by the winning percentage of your opponents. There is another way to look at that and one that hurt the Eagles last year.
Pro Football Perspective has a post on the subject.
Philadelphia faced four teams coming off bye weeks last year, tying the ’09 Falcons, ’05 Chargers, ’03 Cowboys, and ’99 Chargers for facing the most teams coming off a bye week since 1994.
The Eagles also played two teams coming off Thursday night games (the Cowboys, both times), giving them six games against teams with extra rest. The Seahawks had the second worst luck in 2012, playing one game against a team coming off 13-15 days of rest (i.e., a bye week) and four games against a team with 10-11 days of rest (i.e., off of a Wednesday or Thursday night game).
The Eagles had the worst situation. Seattle and Atlanta were next, a pair of playoff teams. What you see there is that good teams win, regardless of external factors. The Eagles were a flawed team and one that needed help, but didn’t get any from the schedule.
2013 should be better. The Eagles only play 3 games against teams with extra rest. Let’s hope a better team plus a better schedule leads to much better results.
When the schedule first came out, I posted some thoughts on the Eagles schedule, focusing on the travel/rest stand point, over on igglesblitz.com. Last years schedule was really rough in terms of other teams getting extra rest. This year seems much better. Here is the post:
“Some schedule observations:
1. Starting the season off on Monday night is going to suck. Not because it hurts the team in anyway, but every one of us is going to be excited to get the season started, and on the first Sunday of the season…. we’re going to have to wait one more day.
2. We will have a shortened week leading into week 2 (due to having a Monday night game), but the Chargers also have a shortened week (they have the 10:20 game on Monday in Week 1), so we don’t have a disadvantage there.
3. While we end up having to play 3 games in 11 days to start the season, at least it will be early in the season, likely when the team is not worn down from a full season. On top of that, the team we play is going to play 3 games in 12 days, so not a major difference. Finally, that game is at home, and while it will be a big game since it is AR, we will be going up against the team who had the worst record in the NFL last season plus a team with a new head coach, so we shouldn’t be at any significant disadvantage going into that game from a scheduling standpoint.
4. We have to travel to Denver the following, week, but we have a long week due to the Thursday night game while they have a shortened one due to a Monday night game the week before. We will have a total of 4 extra days of rest/practice leading up to that game.
5. That 3 game road trip is probably the toughest part of our schedule, but the middle game is close by (at Giants) so travel shouldn’t be a major factor.
6. Tampa Bay will be coming off their bye week when we play them. They are the only team we play coming off a bye the week before all season.
7. The second game against the Giants, they will be coming off a short week since they play on Monday night the week before.
8. Traveling to Oakland and then to Green Bay is not ideal, but Green Bay will be coming off a Monday night game when we play them.
9. Against the Redskins, they will have an extended week because they have the Thursday night game the week before.
10. We have a 3 game home stand which also includes our bye week, so we won’t travel for awhile late in the season
11. Also, the bye week comes late which if we do manage to end up in playoff contention, is valuable in terms of resting up and getting ready for the last stretch of the regular season.
12. Obviously, against the Cardinals we will be coming off our bye week. And this year, that actually is an advantage because the Cardinals play the week before (unlike last year where the team we played also had a bye).
13. Lions will be coming off an extended week since they play on Thanksgiving the week before.
14. As has been the case the last several years, we play a division team the last week of the season which if things are close in the standings can always be helpful.
Overall, definitely a fair schedule for the eagles in terms of logistics and having an advantage/disadvantage in terms of relative time to prepare against an opponent.
Rex thinks he drafted Emmitt……it’s alright, Jay-Zwill straighten him out…..pray for Geno.