Cushy Cowboys in 2020: The Third-Easiest Schedule In the NFL

The NFL Schedule Won't Be Released Until Mid-April, But For the Dallas Cowboys in 2020, We Know This: It'll Be Among the League's Cushiest

FRISCO - "This is,'' as I often say on the radio, "a .500 League.'' But when it comes to Dallas Cowboys' opponents in 2020? It's not even that.

The NFL schedule will be released in mid-April, at which point we'll have more "who's-who-and-what's-what'' information about Dallas foes. But we already know the opponents and the strength-of-schedule stuff ha been calculated, too.

And Dallas' foes were at .459 last year, a winning number that places the Cowboys at No. 30 in strength of schedule.

This year, the Cowboys will face the NFC East (twice per foe), the NFC West, the AFC North, and the Atlanta Falcons and Minnesota Vikings. That schedule of foes is the third-easiest based on 2019 win percentages in the NFL; Dallas' 2020 opponents in 2019 totaled a collective 117-138-1 mark.

These things can be deceiving, of course. Dallas plays in the NFC East, where nobody was a big winner record-wise and yet it's a division the Cowboys couldn't win. Same with trying to predict 2020 failure on 2019 failure; the NFL has "rigged'' itself in a way that bad teams become good, good teams become bad, and mostly everyone hovers near a muddled middle.

The foes: At home at AT&T Stadium, Dallas will play host to Philadelphia, Washington, the Giants, Arizona, Atlanta, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and San Francisco. On the road, it's at Philadelphia, Washington, the Giants, Baltimore, Cincinnati, the Los Angeles Rams, Minnesota and Seattle.

Here’s the way the entire NFL's strength-of-schedule adds up:

1. New England Patriots: 137-118-1 (.537)
2. New York Jets: 136-119-1 (.533)
3. Miami Dolphins: 135-120-1 (.529)
4. San Francisco 49ers: 134-120-2 (.528)
T5. Atlanta Falcons: 134-121-1 (.525)
T5. Buffalo Bills: 134-121-1 (.525)
T5. Detroit Lions: 134-121-1 (.525)
T8. Arizona Cardinals: 132-123-1 (.518)
T8. Houston Texans: 132-123-1 (.518)
T10. Los Angeles Rams: 131-123-2 (.516)
T10. Minnesota Vikings: 131-123-2 (.516)
12. Denver Broncos: 131-125 (.512)
T13. Seattle Seahawks: 129-125-2 (.508)
T13. Chicago Bears: 129-125-2 (.508)
14. Green Bay Packers: 128-126-2 (.504)
T16. Indianapolis Colts: 128-127-1 (.502)
T16. Tampa Bay Buccaneers: 128-127-1 (.502)
T18. Carolina Panthers: 127-127-2 (.500)
T18. Kansas City Chiefs: 128-128 (.500)
20. Tennessee Titans: 127-128-1 (.498)
21. Las Vegas Raiders: 127-129 (.496)
22. Jacksonville Jaguars: 126-129-1 (.494)
23. Los Angeles Chargers: 126-130 (.492)
24. New Orleans Saints: 125-130-1 (.490)
25. Philadelphia Eagles: 124-131-1 (.486)
26. New York Giants: 123-132-1 (.482)
27. Cincinnati Bengals: 122-134 (.477)
28. Washington Redskins: 118-136-2 (.465)
29. Cleveland Browns: 118-138 (.461)
30. Dallas Cowboys: 117-138-1 (.459)
31. Pittsburgh Steelers: 117-139 (.457)
32. Baltimore Ravens: 112-144 (.438)