Colts Have the 23rd Hardest Strength of Schedule for the 2021 Regular Season

According to CBS Sports’ John Breech, the Indianapolis Colts have the NFL’s 23rd hardest (tied) strength of schedule for the 2021 season—meaning their regular season schedule once again projects to be pretty soft relatively speaking:

T-23 Colts 130-142 (.478)

Now, teams can certainly improve on a year-to-year basis, and the NFL is the type of pro league, where if you don’t show up on a certain Sunday, you could lose to anyone.

There’s simply a lot of parity between most NFL squads.

The Colts were projected to have the easiest schedule last season, so this year’s calculated strength of schedule is a bit of a step up in overall competition.

At first glance, the Colts’ schedule appears to start out pretty tough with the Seattle Seahawks, Los Angeles Rams, Tennessee Titans, Miami Dolphins, and Baltimore Ravens within the season’s first 5 weeks—and those last three matchups on the road consecutively.

The Colts opponents’ overall winning percentage is brought down a bit from having the Jacksonville Jaguars (1-15) [twice], New York Jets (2-14), and Houston Texans (4-12) [twice] on their schedule from last season—all of whom were league bottom feeders in 2020.

Fortunately for the Colts, the reigning AFC South Champions, the Tennessee Titans, have the NFL’s 13th toughest strength of schedule (tied) at .507 (138-134)—which could bode well for Indianapolis’ hopes in stealing the divisional crown in 2021.

That being said, the Colts’ schedule is admittedly tougher than it’s probably credited for collectively, but it still could be a lot worse—all things considered.

They still have to go out and win ‘em.