NFL Schedule 2014: Nobody Knows How Difficult the Schedule Really Is

It feels like this is the time when every fan is trying to figure out how difficult his or her team's schedule will be. I can't blame anybody for doing it. Nobody really knows, though. The criteria always seems to be the opponents' records from the year before, but they are not meaningful.

The NFL is a league where bad teams get good and good teams get bad overnight. In a typical NFL season around half the teams that made the Playoffs the year before fail to qualify.

Think about it. When the schedule came out last year Atlanta looked like a much stiffer challenge than Carolina. This happens every year. Even if we have a strong hunch a team will be good, we do not know whether it will suffer a major injury or injuries to derail the season.

There's nothing wrong with trying to handicapwhat is in front of the Jets, but keep in mind we really can't say with any sense of certainty at this point.