2020 NFL schedule release: How much does strength of schedule truly matter?

The 2020 NFL schedule will be released tonight at 8 ET on the NFL Network. While every schedule has interesting nooks and crannies, so to speak, that can make a slate easier or harder, football fans have known each team's opponents since last December. There are myriad ways to measure a club's strength of schedule for a given season – for example, CBS Sports colleague Jared Dubin went by combined betting Over-Under win totals at William of each team's opponents – but for our purposes we will go simply by the combined winning percentage of every club's foes from 2019.

Long story short: Strength of schedule ratings don't mean all that much. For example, every team that has the Patriots on their schedule this year would get a boost in terms of SOS because the Pats were very good again in 2019. However, now Jarrett Stidham (presumably) and not Tom Brady is their quarterback. Players change teams. So do head coaches and coordinators. Guys retire or get hurt.

Going by 2019 opponents' combined winning percentage, the Patriots have the toughest schedule this season as their foes were 137-118-1 (.537) in 2019, while the Baltimore Ravens have the easiest with their opponents a combined 122-144 (.438) last year.

Let's break down the past five years in terms of easiest and hardest projected scheduled and how those teams fared. It's quite a mixed bag. No team with either the easiest or hardest slate in that span has won the Super Bowl. 

2019 easiest: Washington had the easiest slate last year from combined 2018 winning percentage, yet it didn't help the Redskins much as they finished with the NFL's second-worst record at 3-13. At least it got them Chase Young.

2019 hardest: Oakland's opponents were a combined 137-111-2 in 2018, and the Raiders finished 7-9 last year in their Oakland swansong.

2018 easiest: Houston's opponents had a combined winning percentage of .453 from 2017, and the Texans finished 11-5 and won the AFC South.

2018 hardest: Green Bay played the toughest slate (.539 opponents' winning percentage), and the Pack finished 6-9-1 in Mike McCarthy's final season as coach.

2017 easiest: Indianapolis faced a schedule with a combined winning percentage of only .424, but the Colts were 4-12 because Andrew Luck missed the season due to shoulder surgery.

2017 hardest: Denver played a crazy-hard schedule (.578 winning percentage), and the Broncos finished 5-11 and last in the AFC West.

2016 easiest: Green Bay caught the "break" and capitalized with a 10-6 mark and NFC North title.

2016 hardest: San Francisco and Atlanta tied in this category; the Niners finished 2-14 (second-worst in NFL), but the Falcons won the NFC South at 11-5 on the way to the Super Bowl, which they blew against New England.

2015 easiest: Atlanta's foes had a combined winning percentage of a scant .410 the year before, but the Falcons would miss the playoffs at 8-8.

2015 hardest: Pittsburgh easily topped this list, and the Steelers finished second in the AFC North behind Cincinnati to earn a Wild-Card spot.

Which teams sail past their projected win totals? What is the SportsLine model's stunning Packers prediction? And how many wins will every NFL team have this season? ... See every projected win total, including the shocking prediction for the Packers, all from an uncanny computer model that crushed its NFL win total picks last year!