Steelers at top of five teams with most difficult 2015 schedule

The 2015 NFL season looks to be a daunting one for the Pittsburgh Steelers who, based on strength of schedule, sit at the top of the league with the toughest road to the playoffs.  On merits alone, the schedule for the Steelers is a monster undertaking, but with so many offseason questions, Pittsburgh will need not only an effective team but things to go their way to put together a competitive year.

The Steelers and New England Patriots will open the season for the league in a game at Foxborough before they play the San Francisco 49ers and the St. Louis Rams.  It isn’t necessary to point out that there will be some key elements missing from the roster for Pittsburgh.  Coming off of those three games, the Steelers then face a short week where they will host AFC North rival Baltimore on a Thursday.  With their bye coming in Week 11, the Steelers will face another rough stretch at the end of the season by visiting the Seahawks and then returning  home to host the Colts, Bengals, Broncos and Ravens.  The Steelers are schedule for five prime-time games.

Of interest is that the Steelers are not joined in the top five teams with the highest strength of schedule by teams that necessarily had spectacular 2014 outings.  San Francisco, Cleveland, St. Louis and Detroit round out that list.

The 49ers (SOS 3) will spend four of their eight road games on the opposite side of the country after opening at home against the Minnesota Vikings.  With a new head coach in Jim Tomsula, San Francisco will be racking up the frequent flier miles.

Cleveland (SOS 9) will enter the season after juggling quarterbacks in 2014 and will face a brutal stretch that begins in Week 5.  They will visit the Ravens to return to face the Broncos, only to travel to the Rams…well, they will be lucky to be able to keep their time zones correct.  It may not matter if Josh McCown or Johnny Manziel don’t know until game-time who is the starter.

The Rams (SOS 6) could cry foul in what appears to be a deep victimization of the interconference pairings between the AFC North and NFC West who boasted five playoff teams and a recent conference champion).  Jeff Fisher had St. Louis on the rise, but with Nick Foles as his quarterback, any stutter-step could spell doom.  Beginning in Week 11, St. Louis will travel to both the Ravens and Bengals, before facing the Cardinals, Lions and Buccaneers at home.  They finish the 2015 season on the west coast against the Seahawks and 49ers.

The Lions (SOS 15) lost the NFC North by one game in 2014; the final day of the season.  With a two-game start on the road against the Chargers and Vikings, Detroit will have a small window of opportunity to keep pace with a Packers team they face twice coming out of their bye week.  Their Thanksgiving opponent will be the Philadelphia Eagles.

The top 5 teams with the easiest strength of schedule:  Patriots (SOS 22), Colts (SOS 31), Eagles (SOS 23), Buccaneers (SOS 29) and Falcons (SOS 32).