Minnesota Vikings ranked 18th in 2016 strength of schedule

The Minnesota Vikings face a tough schedule for the 2016 NFL season, but not nearly as difficult as many other teams around the National Football League.

Every year, after the Super Bowl is over and the dust settles, it is fun to look forward to the 2016 NFL season. With great events like the Scouting Combine, NFL Draft, trading day, and free agency starting, there is a lot to talk about before the start of the next football year. However, knowing the opponents that the Minnesota Vikings will face next year makes analysis interesting.

According to every team’s 2015 record, the Minnesota will have the 18th most difficult set of opponents in the 2016 NFL season as stated on Vikings.com. When the strength of schedule is determined, there are many factors that cannot be taken into account that will happen in the future, such as player retirements, trades, free agent signings, cap casualties and much, much more.

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Of course, the Minnesota Vikings will face each NFC North team twice (Bears, Lions, Packers) as well as the AFC South (Colts, Jaguars, Texans, Titans) and NFC East (Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, Redskins) while also playing the NFC West champion Arizona Cardinals and NFC South champion Carolina Panthers. While that doesn’t sound so bad right now, a lot can happen before the end of the 2015 season and the start of 2016’s campaign.

The teams that are anticipated to have the most difficult schedules are as follows:

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1. San Francisco 49ers and Atlanta Falcons (tie)
2. Los Angeles Rams
3. New Orleans Saints
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seattle Seahawks (tie)

The other teams in the NFC North appear to have a much easier 2016 schedule. While the Vikings are 18th as far as the hardest schedule, the Green Bay Packers are dead last at 32nd and the Detroit Lions (tied for 27th) and Chicago Bears (tied for 30th).

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This could put the NFC North in a position once again where the division title is up for grabs late in the season, but hopefully the Minnesota Vikings can find a way to repeat last year’s accomplishments while finding a way to make some noise in the playoffs.