2022 NFL: 5 teams with the easiest regular season schedule
Like most NFL off-seasons, the deck is being shuffled this spring following the Super Bowl in February and ahead of the 2022 NFL Draft on April 28-30th.
The upcoming campaign will be the second with 17 games on the schedule. 2021 showed us that the extra game creates plenty of late-season intrigue, as does the extra post-season seed added last season also.
As bettors prepare their win total futures wagers, we take a look at the 5 teams with the easiest regular season schedule in the 2022 NFL.
# 5 - Detroit Lions
We don't know what direction the Detroit Lions will head in during the upcoming NFL Draft. They own the #2 pick after yet another dismal season. But the ending to the 2021 season offered hope for a team that has looked hapless for a long time.
Finishing the year 3-3, Detroit won their way out of the #1 pick because of a 1-7 finish to the year for the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Jacksonville, of course, had the Urban Meyer scandal dragging them down. But the Lions picked off a pair of post-season squads in their final two games.
Things may continue to improve for Detroit in 2022 NFL due to their matchups with the AFC East, NFC East, and the seemingly deteriorated NFC North.
A Green Bay Packers team without Davante Adamas is far from the level of the division overlord. The Chicago Bears are implementing a new regime and are still in the early stages of a rebuild. As for the Minnesota Vikings, mediocrity will continue to be the norm as long as Kirk Cousins is under center.
#4 - New York Giants
Just a disclaimer: the NFC East is so uncompetitive relative to the rest of the league that they will have several entries on this list beyond this point.
Let's start off with the first NFC East inclusion, the New York Giants. To Big Blue's credit, this is a team with two wins from the last 15 Super Bowls. But to say things have been rough the last few years would be an understatement.
Since their last playoff appearance in the 2017 NFL postseason, the Giants' best campaign topped out at six wins in the past five years. New York has won four or fewer games in three of those seasons.
The 2022 NFL schedule may finally show mercy on the G-Men. The AFC South's four squads are baked into the calendar. The six NFC East games should offer a solid chance to compete for a division crown if no team runs away with it like the Dallas Cowboys did a season ago.
#3 - Philadelphia Eagles
The Philadelphia Eagles are in a similar position to the New York Giants, and thus also have one of the easiest schedules in the 2022 NFL.
There are matchups with the AFC South on the schedule. Obviously, divisional clashes within the NFC East will be making up most of the schedule. Philadelphia's slate, like New York's, also has two rebuilding NFC North teams (Detroit Lions, Chicago Bears) on the docket.
What separates the two teams' degree of difficulty really comes down to the two rivals themselves.
The Eagles will be playing the Giants, which is objectively an easier task on paper at this point. New York, on the other hand, will have to deal with Jalen Hurts leading an Eagles offense that started to click late in 2021.
#2 - Chicago Bears
Visiting the NFC North well once more, we have the Chicago Bears with one of 2022 NFL's easiest schedules.
As you've figured out by now, their schedule will be, mostly, similar to their NFC North counterparts'. The NFC East and AFC East will make up half their season, and the rest of the division provides another six contests against teams no one is projecting to go deep in the post-season.
Where Chicago really lucks out is in the random draw games against the Atlanta Falcons at Mercedez-Benz Stadium and then hosting the San Francisco 49ers and Houston Texans at home. The Niners are the lone squad of the three that looks capable of making the playoffs.
#1 - Washington Commanders
In its first season of existence following an infamous renaming, the Washington Commanders will have a great chance to start off the rebrand era successfully.
With Carson Wentz in tow, following a blockbuster deal with the Indianapolis Colts, Dan Snyder's team will be in a position to get back to the post-season. This would be a great result after another seven-win season didn't clinch an NFC East crown in 2021.
NFL analytics expert Warren Sharp has the Commanders' schedule as the easiest in the league. Unless Deshaun Watson and Marcus Mariota are the answer for their respective new franchises, Washington should see some smooth sailing in 2022 NFL. Assuming Carson Wentz was a wise investment himself, of course.