2026 NFL strength of schedule for all 32 teams: Bears face tough road

Key Points:

• The Chicago Bears have the toughest strength of schedule for the 2026 NFL season, with a combined opponents' winning percentage of .550, largely due to all NFC North teams having winning records last season and facing a challenging first-place schedule.
• Teams playing the hardest first-place schedules since the NFL expanded to 17 games in 2021 have typically regressed, with the Bears potentially facing a similar decline, while the Philadelphia Eagles have the easiest first-place schedule and are projected to perform well.
• The Cleveland Browns have the easiest overall strength of schedule in 2026 (.429 winning percentage), playing both the AFC South and NFC South divisions, which historically benefits teams and could help them improve under new head coach Todd Monken.
• The New Orleans Saints also have one of the easiest schedules and, along with the Browns, could be surprise playoff contenders, as teams with the easiest schedules have frequently posted winning records and playoff appearances in recent years.
• Strength of schedule is calculated based on opponents' 2025 records and includes divisional games, rotating division matchups, and games against similarly ranked teams from the prior season, providing a predictive but not definitive measure of upcoming season difficulty.