only time will tell..
2016 Strength Of Schedule by team (click column subheaders to sort)
Teams | Opponent records Weeks 1-4 | Opponent records Weeks 5-17 |
W | L | % | Point Diff. | W | L | % | Point Diff. |
CAR |
11 |
4 |
0.733 |
82 |
21 |
23 |
0.477 |
-9 |
TB |
11 |
5 |
0.688 |
74 |
20 |
24 |
0.455 |
22 |
CHI |
10 |
5 |
0.667 |
81 |
17 |
23 |
0.425 |
-112 |
TEN |
10 |
5 |
0.667 |
15 |
15 |
28 |
0.349 |
-123 |
SF |
10 |
6 |
0.625 |
59 |
18 |
26 |
0.409 |
-68 |
CLE |
9 |
6 |
0.600 |
46 |
23 |
20 |
0.535 |
65 |
NO |
9 |
6 |
0.600 |
45 |
19 |
25 |
0.432 |
-53 |
NYG |
9 |
6 |
0.600 |
22 |
24 |
17 |
0.585 |
105 |
PIT |
9 |
6 |
0.600 |
39 |
21 |
22 |
0.488 |
-14 |
ARI |
9 |
7 |
0.563 |
-25 |
20 |
23 |
0.465 |
44 |
CIN |
9 |
7 |
0.563 |
31 |
24 |
18 |
0.571 |
74 |
NYJ |
9 |
7 |
0.563 |
60 |
20 |
24 |
0.455 |
-32 |
WAS |
8 |
7 |
0.533 |
16 |
23 |
17 |
0.575 |
158 |
BUF |
8 |
8 |
0.500 |
18 |
21 |
23 |
0.477 |
-34 |
KC |
8 |
8 |
0.500 |
11 |
23 |
21 |
0.523 |
-16 |
MIA |
8 |
8 |
0.500 |
29 |
19 |
25 |
0.432 |
-1 |
OAK |
8 |
8 |
0.500 |
2 |
19 |
25 |
0.432 |
-34 |
JAC |
7 |
8 |
0.467 |
16 |
24 |
19 |
0.558 |
-11 |
GB |
5 |
6 |
0.455 |
-10 |
26 |
19 |
0.578 |
74 |
HOU |
7 |
9 |
0.438 |
-46 |
20 |
22 |
0.476 |
-5 |
IND |
7 |
9 |
0.438 |
26 |
23 |
19 |
0.548 |
-60 |
NE |
7 |
9 |
0.438 |
9 |
23 |
21 |
0.523 |
33 |
MIN |
6 |
8 |
0.429 |
-21 |
19 |
23 |
0.452 |
2 |
DAL |
6 |
9 |
0.400 |
-63 |
22 |
18 |
0.550 |
23 |
ATL |
6 |
10 |
0.375 |
-74 |
22 |
20 |
0.524 |
100 |
BAL |
6 |
10 |
0.375 |
-47 |
23 |
19 |
0.548 |
68 |
LA |
6 |
10 |
0.375 |
-2 |
19 |
24 |
0.442 |
30 |
SEA |
6 |
10 |
0.375 |
-74 |
21 |
21 |
0.500 |
75 |
DET |
5 |
10 |
0.333 |
-66 |
25 |
15 |
0.625 |
34 |
PHI |
4 |
8 |
0.333 |
-48 |
28 |
16 |
0.636 |
120 |
DEN |
5 |
11 |
0.313 |
-81 |
21 |
23 |
0.477 |
-11 |
SD |
5 |
11 |
0.313 |
-69 |
24 |
20 |
0.545 |
-19 |
So, did the Cowboys and Eagles benefit from soft starts? We saw above that a team's SOS over the first four weeks is in large part a result of its own W&/L record. In hindsight, it looks like both the Eagles and the Cowboys have played soft schedules so far, but if both teams were at 1-3, nobody would be talking about a soft schedule.
Four weeks is probably too short a period to make any meaningful conclusions about SOS. Collectively we may feel very good about the Cowboys' 3-1 record, just as we collectively may look down our noses at Philly's 3-0 record, but at the end of the day, the wins are in the books and it doesn't matter how they were achieved.
Ultimately, you can only play the teams on your schedule, whoever those teams may be, and whatever those teams' W/L record might look like at any given time. You just need to be careful not to assume that because you won three out of your first four games, you'll automatically win nine out of your remaining 12 games.