These two NFL teams have the toughest projected schedules in 2021

Nobody really knows how good or bad teams will be in the NFL from year to year. But that doesn’t stop oddsmakers from making predictions based on their analysis. One look at the NFL schedule release on Wednesday has yielded results on the teams with the most difficult projected schedules.

Oddsmakers at Sports Betting Dime use the projected win totals for teams to calculate the difficulty of a team’s 2021 schedule. Based on their formula, the Las Vegas Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers have the most difficult schedules in 2021.

The combined projected win totals for the Raiders’ opponents is 153.5. For the Steelers, it’s 152.8.

The San Francisco 49ers are projected to have the least difficult schedule with opponents win totals projected at 138.2. The Cleveland Browns are projected to have the second-least difficult schedule with opponent win totals at 141.9.

Besides playing the rest of the AFC West twice each, the Raiders will face the AFC North and NFC East teams. The Steelers will face the NFC North, AFC West, and tough teams like Buffalo, Seattle and Tennessee.

Between injuries and teams underwhelming or overperforming, a lot can change. But this gives us some ideas about schedule expectations for 2021.