Many in and around the NFL would tell you no game is truly “easy.” Not every team is equal, however.
While the goal of every team is to just win the next game on their schedule, a few teams appear to have more favorable schedules than others in 2025. The 49ers, for example, only have two opponents that even made the playoffs in 2024. The Bears have three in their own division and have to play each twice.
Knowing how much can change for an NFL team in one year, though, strength of schedule based on last season’s record only means so much.
Here’s a look at the easiest NFL schedules in 2025 based on opponent win percentage.
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Easiest NFL schedules in 2025
1. San Francisco 49ers
- Opponents’ 2024 winning percentage: .415
If the 49ers are looking for a bounce-back season, the table is set for them. San Francisco has the luxury of playing the entire AFC South and NFC South, and the team’s surprise last-place finish in the NFC West in 2024 resulted in a last-place schedule. Finishing fourth, rather than third, is the difference between the 49ers facing the Giants and Bears instead of the Cowboys and Packers.
San Francisco only has three games against 2024 playoff teams, two of which come against the Rams, so the opportunity is very much there for Kyle Shanahan’s group to come back with a vengeance after a hugely disappointing year.
2. New Orleans Saints
- Opponents’ 2024 winning percentage: .419
The Saints have the easiest schedule of any NFC South team, by winning percentage, after winning only five games in 2024. New Orleans’ division is certainly on the weaker side, though the Panthers looked much more formidable late last season, and the Saints face two of the NFL’s three 3-14 teams from 2024 in the Giants and Titans.
New Orleans did receive some poor home and road luck, as the franchise’s two AFC East matchups on the road are the Bills and Dolphins, while the Saints also have to go to L.A. to face the Rams and Seattle to face the Seahawks.
If the Saints play anything like they did late last season, a weak schedule might not prevent them from contending for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 draft.
MORE: 2025 NFL Draft winners and losers
3. New England Patriots
- Opponents’ 2024 winning percentage: .429
The Patriots have the benefit of a last-place schedule after a 4-13 season, and they are also fortunate enough to face the entire NFC South in 2024.
New England did catch a bad break with its AFC North slate, as the Patriots’ two road games against the division come against the Ravens and Bengals rather than the Browns or Steelers, but their narrow last-place finish in the AFC East resulted in matchups with the Titans, Giants, and Raiders that should be favorable to a re-tooled team with a budding young quarterback in Drake Maye.
With a seemingly easier schedule on tap and plenty of additions to the roster, Mike Vrabel will be expected to put a more competitive team on the field than Jerod Mayo did in 2024.
4. Tennessee Titans
- Opponents’ 2024 winning percentage: .450
The Titans were tied for the worst record in the NFL, but they have three teams with better 2024 records ahead of them. What gives?
One factor is Tennessee’s inability to play itself. Facing the 3-14 Titans is a major reason the Patriots and Saints have such a weak strength of schedule. Tennessee only faces one three-win team in the Browns. The Titans also go up against a pair of tough divisions in the NFC West and AFC West, which had a combined six teams with at least eight wins last season.
With only a .450 opponent win percentage in 2024, however, the Titans’ schedule has plenty of perks. Tennessee is playing in a weak division and has matchups with the Patriots and Saints in addition to the Browns. Cam Ward will have opportunities to pick up wins here and there in his rookie season.
MORE: Post-draft NFL power rankings
T-5. Arizona Cardinals
- Opponents’ 2024 winning percentage: .457
Like the 49ers, the Cardinals have the advantage of facing both the AFC South and NFC South, which only combined for two teams with winning records in 2024. Arizona’s schedule could be tougher than it looks, as the Bengals, Cowboys, and Packers are all third-place teams on the slate. Cincinnati’s offense is difficult to contain, while Dallas is likely better than its 2024 record as long as Dak Prescott is healthy.
Two of those games are on the road, so Jonathan Gannon’s team certainly has challenges on the schedule, but the Cardinals will try to stack wins against the South divisions in their effort to return to the playoffs for the first time since 2021.
T-6. Carolina Panthers
- Opponents’ 2024 winning percentage: .457
The Panthers also benefit from a weak NFC South, but finishing third in the division after a late-season surge keeps Carolina here while the Saints sit with one of the NFL’s weakest schedules.
The Panthers have to face the Cowboys and Packers as a result of the third-place schedule, but their extra game against an AFC opponent happens to be against a four-win team in the Jaguars. Carolina also faces the full AFC East, so the Jets and Patriots will be on tap.
Regardless of who is on the schedule, 2025 for the Panthers will be all about determining whether Bryce Young’s emergence at the end of last season is sustainable.
