Sharp Football released its strength of schedule rankings for the upcoming 2024 NFL season, and the Indianapolis Colts have the seventh easiest schedule by these projections.
Below, you will find the top 10 teams with the easiest strength of schedules:
1. Atlanta Falcons
2. Los Angeles Chargers
3. Chicago Bears
4. New York Jets
5. New Orleans Saints
6. Cincinnati Bengals
7. Indianapolis Colts
8. Miami Dolphins
9. Philadelphia Eagles
10. Carolina Panthers
To calculate these rankings, Sharp Football used the projected win totals that were determined by the Las Vegas oddsmakers for each of the teams’ opponents.
The Colts not only have the easiest strength of schedule within the AFC South, but the Houston Texans and Tennessee Titans have two of the more difficult schedules by this metric, ranking 26th and 27th, respectively. Jacksonville, meanwhile, is ranked 14th.
The Colts non-divisional opponents in 2024 include Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, Miami, Pittsburgh, Green Bay, Minnesota, New England, the New York Jets, Denver, and the New York Giants.
Of those teams, Buffalo, Detroit, Miami, Green Bay, and Pittsburgh made the playoffs last season. The Colts will also play each of those teams, except for Green Bay, at home.
As of now, we may know who the Colts will play in 2024, but we don’t know what the exact schedule will look like.
Once that is determined, other contributing factors that can make a schedule either more or less daunting include how many air miles have to be traveled, when the bye week is, how long the longest road trip is, and when it takes place. On top of that, is there a stretch of games against top-tier opponents, and will the Colts play more home or road games in that final month of the season?
After finishing 9-8 last season and just missing out on the playoffs, the Colts have their sights set on making it back to the playoffs in 2024 with Anthony Richardson back under center.
Helping their cause, however, at least relative to the rest of the NFL, is a more advantageous schedule than compared to some, especially within their division.
