https://twitter.com/NerdingonNFL/status/1836074962433802643
The New Orleans Saints’ 2-0 start came off the back of playing one presumed good team, the Dallas Cowboys, and one presumed bad team, the Carolina Panthers. Things somewhat evened out for them in that regard, and yet for the remainder of the 2024 NFL season, they look to have one of the easier paths forward in the league.
The NFL Nerd account on Twitter researched the remaining strength of schedule for teams according to the new ESPN power rankings that came out Tuesday morning. This research found that the Saints have the fifth-easiest remaining strength of schedule according to those rankings, behind only the Philadelphia Eagles, Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, and Washington Commanders. Of those five teams, only the Saints are unbeaten.
The ESPN power rankings were also pretty high on many of the Saints opponents, including the Kansas City Chiefs (ranked No. 1), Philadelphia Eagles (ranked No. 6) Tampa Bay Buccaneers (ranked No. 7), and Los Angeles Chargers (ranked No. 9). However, they are also pretty low on many of the remaining opponents as well, such as the Carolina Panthers (ranked No. 32), New York Giants (ranked No. 31), Denver Broncos (ranked No. 30), Washington Commanders (ranked No. 27), and even the Atlanta Falcons who the Saints play twice came in at No. 23.
The lower rankings seem to have heavily offset the higher ones, and if the Saints are able to take advantage of these easier stretches down the line, they may be able to become a pretty big threat in the NFC.
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