AFL
A Claude Schefter weekly column

The Gauntlet · Week 7 · 2026

How hard is the rest of the season for every team? Opponent strength, week by week — updated every Wednesday.

The Run-In

Remaining-schedule difficulty, hardest first. Trend = rank change vs last week.

Remaining schedule difficulty, hardest first — Week 7
Team Opp PPG Difficulty (0–100) Trend
1 Fullybaked 127.3 43
2 Minty Fresh 125.9 41
3 Avenging Amish 125.3 41
4 Ditkas 125.4 40
5 The Show 124.9 40
6 Da Dangsters 124.6 39
7 Computer Jocks 122.5 38
8 Suh girls 123.7 38
9 Titsburgh 124.3 38
10 Chatmaster 124.3 38
11 Smokane FC 122.0 37
12 Vitside Mafia 120.6 35
13 Badd Boys 122.2 35
14 Midwestside 120.9 34
15 Swiftie 4 Life 121.3 34
16 Balls Deep 120.9 34
17 No Soup For You 120.7 34
18 Harambe 119.9 33
19 Micks 120.4 33
20 Bruin Pegs Me 120.4 33
21 Drunk Indians 119.3 32
22 Boondock Saints 117.5 30
23 Mariachi Ninjas 116.4 29
24 Jewpacabra 115.3 27

What They've Been Through

Strength of schedule already played — and who your record is lying about.

Soft landing

Mariachi Ninjas

8-0 — but they've faced one of the softer schedules so far (past difficulty 35). Buckle up.

Soft landing

Harambe

7-1 — but they've faced one of the softer schedules so far (past difficulty 32). Buckle up.

Soft landing

Balls Deep

7-1 — but they've faced one of the softer schedules so far (past difficulty 36). Buckle up.

Past schedule difficulty, hardest first — through Week 6
Team Opp PPG Difficulty (0–100) Record
1 Smokane FC 129.3 45 6-2
2 Badd Boys 127.3 43 2-6
3 Drunk Indians 125.9 41 5-3
4 Ditkas 126.3 41 4-4
5 Suh girls 126.3 41 6-2
6 Titsburgh 125.1 41 3-5
7 The Show 126.0 41 1-7
8 No Soup For You 124.8 40 6-2
9 Fullybaked 123.6 38 3-5
10 Computer Jocks 123.2 37 2-6
11 Da Dangsters 123.3 37 2-6
12 Boondock Saints 121.8 36 4-4
13 Balls Deep 122.3 36 7-1
14 Avenging Amish 119.6 35 4-4
15 Mariachi Ninjas 121.5 35 8-0
16 Midwestside 119.4 34 5-3
17 Jewpacabra 120.8 34 5-3
18 Minty Fresh 119.2 33 2-6
19 Vitside Mafia 119.2 33 2-6
20 Harambe 118.4 32 7-1
21 Micks 119.8 32 2-6
22 Bruin Pegs Me 117.4 29 4-4
23 Swiftie 4 Life 112.6 23 4-4
24 Chatmaster 112.6 23 2-6

Week-by-Week Heat Map

Each cell = that week's opponent difficulty. Green is a breather; red is the buzz saw.

Opponent difficulty per franchise per remaining week
Team Wk 7Wk 8Wk 9Wk 10Wk 11Wk 12Wk 13Wk 14Wk 15Wk 16Wk 17Wk 18
Smokane FC BYE BYE BYE BYE
Drunk Indians BYE BYE BYE BYE
Minty Fresh BYE BYE BYE BYE
Ditkas BYE BYE BYE BYE
Computer Jocks BYE BYE BYE BYE
Da Dangsters BYE BYE BYE BYE
Avenging Amish BYE BYE BYE BYE
Harambe BYE BYE BYE BYE
Vitside Mafia BYE BYE BYE BYE
Fullybaked BYE BYE BYE BYE
Midwestside BYE BYE BYE BYE
Suh girls BYE BYE BYE BYE
Micks BYE BYE BYE BYE
Bruin Pegs Me BYE BYE BYE BYE
Mariachi Ninjas BYE BYE BYE BYE
Swiftie 4 Life BYE BYE BYE BYE
Titsburgh BYE BYE BYE BYE
Jewpacabra BYE BYE BYE BYE
Badd Boys BYE BYE BYE BYE
Boondock Saints BYE BYE BYE BYE
Chatmaster BYE BYE BYE BYE
Balls Deep BYE BYE BYE BYE
The Show BYE BYE BYE BYE
No Soup For You BYE BYE BYE BYE

Trap Weeks

League-average difficulty of each remaining week — where the league collectively hits a wall.