Hey Pappy, is there a list of the current sos or are you running the numbers yourself?
I run them myself. I take ESPN's power rankings and put them into a spreadsheet each week and then based on that I calculate each teams sos based off that. For example Miami has played HOU, OAK, NYJ, ARI and CIN. Those teams were ranked 5, 25, 18, 5 and 12 the week that Miami played them. That averages out to a 13.00 schedule (lower is a tougher schedule). The Rams have averaged out to a 10.80 schedule.
So who are the pretenders? Well the Texans and the Bengals have played the easiest schedules to date with an average of 22.60 for both of them. That's effectively like playing the Jets 5 straight weeks who are currently ranked 23rd. So is Houston for real or are they just playing an easy schedule? Well they beat Denver in week 3 who was then ranked 10 in the league, but other than that they haven't played anybody who was ranked in the top 20 when they played them, but my guess is they are still pretty good. Cincy maybe not so much.
On the flip side, Tennessee has had the toughest schedule so far at 8.80 which is like playing the Packers 5 straight weeks. They are 1-4, but that doesn't necessarily mean they are lousy, just not as good as the Packers. Denver has had the 2nd toughest schedule at 9.80 and they are 2-3 so they're probably better than their record indicates as well.
What else? Well Atlanta is 5-0 with the 13th toughest schedule, so they are probably for real, but you probably already knew that. Arizona and SF are 4-1 and they are right there with Atlanta with the 14th and 15 toughest schedules so they are for real as well is my guess. Minnesota at 4-1 has had the 30th toughest schedule so far, so my guess is that they aren't. San Diego and Chicago have also played easy schedules, so they may not be as good as their record indicates either.
One more, Detroit is 1-3 despite playing the 27th toughest schedule in the first 5 weeks. That's kinda shocking. Maybe they are not as good as everyone thinks they are?
Here are the numbers if you are interested. A positive number indicates a win, a negative number indicates a loss.
TM 1 2 3 4 5 W L SOS
--- --- --- --- --- --- - - -----
TEN -2 -14 13 -1 -14 1 4 8.80
DEN 8 -6 -2 27 -6 2 3 9.80
STL -12 15 -12 10 5 3 2 10.80
CLE -7 -18 -22 -3 -10 0 5 12.00
NYJ 19 -11 25 -4 -1 2 3 12.00
MIA -5 25 -18 -5 12 2 3 13.00
CAR -25 16 -8 -2 -17 1 4 13.60
PHI 31 3 -14 6 -16 3 2 14.00
KC -10 -24 24 -13 -3 1 4 14.80
WAS 11 -27 -16 20 -2 2 3 15.20
NE 18 -20 -6 19 13 3 2 15.20
DAL 3 -26 -21 11 2 2 15.25
ATL 17 9 11 23 18 5 0 15.60
ARI 23 1 7 29 -19 4 1 15.80
SF 1 13 -29 17 21 4 1 16.20
TB 22 -7 -15 -22 1 3 16.50
PIT -13 17 -30 7 2 2 16.75
BUF -21 19 32 -8 -4 2 3 16.80
OAK -15 -30 9 -14 1 3 17.00
JAC 30 -4 27 -15 -9 2 3 17.00
SEA -23 10 4 -25 24 3 2 17.20
GB -4 8 -17 28 -31 2 3 17.60
BAL 16 -12 5 32 27 4 1 18.40
NO -24 -23 -28 -7 11 1 4 18.60
IND -9 28 -31 8 2 2 19.00
NYG -14 21 19 -9 32 3 2 19.00
DET 28 -2 -26 -21 1 3 19.25
CHI 32 -5 23 12 30 4 1 20.40
SD 26 22 -3 26 -28 3 2 21.00
MIN 29 -32 1 18 25 4 1 21.00
CIN -6 31 20 30 -26 3 2 22.60
HOU 27 29 10 24 23 5 0 22.60