Vikings have the second-toughest 2019 schedule in the NFL

According to a formula developed by CBS Sports, the Minnesota Vikings schedule for the 2019 season is the second-hardest in the NFL.

There are some who get confused when fans of the Minnesota Vikings or any other teams get excited about the schedule release each year. These people can’t seem to figure out why everyone is so pumped about a simple schedule release.

Well, the reveal of each team’s schedule is exciting because it lets fans develop realistic expectations for the upcoming season. How a schedule is set up can be a major determining factor in a team making or not making the playoffs.

For the Vikings, it seems like their road back to the postseason is going to be more difficult than it will for almost everyone else in the NFL in 2019. At least according to a formula developed by CBS Sports.

This formula used to determine how hard a team’s schedule is expected to be incorporates Super Bowl odds, the difficulty of the team’s first three games, and a difficulty ranking for each team’s individual matchups during the season.

So according to the CBS Sports’ formula, Minnesota has the second-toughest 2019 schedule in the entire NFL.

The difficult matchups the Vikings have during the second portion of the season is what mainly leads CBS Sports to believe they have one of the hardest schedules in the league.

"“A big reason Minnesota has the second most difficult schedule in the NFL is because the league basically decided to throw the kitchen sink at the Vikings during the second half of the season, which includes games against the Chiefs, Cowboys, Seahawks, Chargers, Packers and Bears.”"

CBS Sports also isn’t feeling that great about Minnesota having five primetime games next season with Kirk Cousins as their quarterback. Cousins has a 5-13 record in 18 career matchups played at night, so it’s fair to think that the Vikings could struggle during these specific games in 2019.

If we look at how strength of schedule is typically determined by just looking at each team’s winning percentage from the previous season, Minnesota has the ninth-hardest 2019 schedule in the league.

Whichever formula is used though, the Vikings are not expected to have many easy matchups next season and that may not be a good sign for what’s to come in the future.