Patriots have hardest remaining schedule in NFL, according to one model
BOSTON -- The Patriots are 5-4. They're a half-game out of the AFC playoff picture, with the 5-3 Los Angeles Chargers currently occupying the third Wild Card spot in the conference.
Staying in the thick of the playoff race won't be easy, though, as one model says that the Patriots have the single most difficult schedule remaining in the entire NFL.
That model comes from The Athletic's Austin Mock, who looked at teams' opponents in terms of how good that opponent is, whether a game is at home or on the road, and whether an opponent is coming off a bye week.
Patriots opponents have a 54.3 percent chance of winning their games against a league-average opponent. The Bengals' and Chargers' strengths of schedule rank second at 52.9 percent, followed by the Broncos at 52.4 percent as the fourth-highest.
The fact that the Chargers (seventh seed) and Bengals (ninth seed) also have difficult schedules does present a positive for the Patriots, as the 10th-seeded Colts don't appear to be real contenders for a postseason spot.
Of course, the Patriots' schedule is a real challenge even when looking at it through traditional methods. Of their remaining eight games, only two come against teams that currently have losing records, but both will be on the road -- at Arizona and at Las Vegas. The combined record of Patriots opponents in the next eight games is 41-26.
So if the Patriots are going to make the playoffs, they're really going to have to earn it.
