2025 NFL Schedules - 5 Most Difficult

Our NFL Strength of Schedule rankings take a number of factors into account with the most prevalent being opponents’ projected 2025 win totals per the oddsmakers.  We also consider opponents’ 2024 record, travel, schedule situations, among many other factors.  You’ll see a common theme and that is the NFC North schedules are all very tough.  Green Bay is the only team in the division that doesn’t land in our top 5 for SOS, but they are in the top 10.  Below is a quick overview of the 5 teams we feel have the most difficult schedules for the upcoming season.  

 

The Giants face the NFL’s toughest schedule according to our projections which is surprising for a team that won only 3 games last season.  Normally we’d expect an easy slate the following year for a team like the NYG but that’s not the case.  Their opponents had nearly a 58% winning percentage from last season and 12 of their 17 opponents this season are projected to win more than 8 games.  They face 4 teams that are favored to win their respective divisions including Kansas City, San Francisco, Detroit, and Philadelphia (twice).  It’s going to be tough for the Giants to get off to a good start this season with five of their first eight games on the road and their home games during that stretch are vs KC, Philadelphia, and the LA Chargers.  The Giants win total is set at 5.5 which is the lowest in the NFL along with Cleveland, Tennessee and the NY Jets.   

 

The average win total for Chicago’s opponents this year is nearly 9 (8.8 to be exact).  Those teams had a win percentage of 57% in 2024.  The NFC North projects to be very difficult which adds to the over SOS for the Bears.  In fact, all 4 teams in the division are projected to win more than 8 games.  The Bears better win their home games this season because their road slate is brutal.  Every team they play on the road this season but one (Las Vegas Raiders) has their win total set at 8.5 or higher with 4 of those opponents projected to have double digit wins (Lions, 49ers, Eagles, and Ravens).  They only have 1 home game between September 28th and November 2nd with 4 road tilts during that stretch.  They do have a bye in that tough 5 game run which will help.  

 

The Lions start on the road in 4 of the first 6 weeks of the season and those games are all very tough @ Green Bay, @ Baltimore, @ Cincinnati, and @ KC.  They also close out the season with 3 of their final 4 games on the road.  Detroit had the benefit of 9 home games last season but this year they will play 9 on the road.  Similar to the Bears, Detroit’s road slate is extremely challenging as every opponent had a winning record last year with the exception of Chicago.  The overall 2024 record for Detroit’s road opponents this year was 102-51.  They also play 3 Thursday games add to the difficulty of their 2025 schedule.    

 

The Super Bowl Champs were rewarded with a very tough schedule in 2025.  11 of their 17 opponents are projected to win more than 8 games and the 2024 winning percentage of their opponents this year was 56%.  This team will have a target on their backs this season and they face 11 games vs teams that made the playoffs last year.  The Eagles bye isn’t ideal in our opinion as it comes very late in the season (week 14).  They only make 1 trip to the west coast (@ LA Chargers) which is good but they play 6 “non-Sunday” games which can be challenging.  Their toughest stretch is late in the season spanning the month of December when they are @ Chargers, @ Commanders, and @ Bills sandwiched around a home game vs the Raiders.    

 

Surprise, surprise!  Another NFC North team with a very difficult SOS.  Again, much of the difficulty can be attributed to the division where every team is projected to win more than 8 games.  The Vikes bye week comes early as well and following their week off they’ll have to play 12 consecutive weeks.  Every team in the division has 9 road games (only 8 home games) which also adds to the demanding schedules for the NFC North.  12 of their 17 opponents are projected to win 8+ games.  From late November through late December, Minnesota has one of the tougher “situational” schedule stretch with 4 road games in 5 weeks with their lone home game during that run vs Washington, which is no piece of cake.