2011 NFL Schedule: 3 Teams Who Will Be Doomed by Backbreaking Schedule

The 2011 NFL season began last night with the Green Bay Packers taking on the New Orleans Saints. There were plenty of fireworks, but the Packers were able to hold on with a last-second goal-line stand.

The NFL schedule plays a huge role in which teams advance to the playoffs and which teams are left at home watching the playoffs.

Last season, the Kansas City Chiefs were a huge beneficiary of an easy schedule as they edged out the San Diego Chargers for the top spot in the AFC West while the Chargers fell due to their difficult schedule.

Here are three teams who will struggle to make the playoffs because of a difficult schedule.

1. Kansas City Chiefs

As mentioned, the Chiefs had one of the easiest schedules in the NFL last season, but they will pay for that this season. 

The Chiefs are tied for the third-most difficult projected schedule for 2011, according to ESPN. The Chiefs finished 10-6 with an easy schedule, so I'm afraid to see what they do this year.

Matt Cassel had a solid season last year, but the numbers are skewed. He was terrific until December came around. He had 22 touchdowns by the end of November against a soft schedule, but when the going got tough against Baltimore, St. Louis and Oakland, he struggled.

During the remaining five games, he recorded just five touchdowns and six interceptions.

The Chiefs face a difficult stretch that begins in November that features the likes of the Pittsburgh Steelers, New England Patriots, Chicago Bears, New York Jets and Green Bay Packers.

Don't be surprised if the Chiefs lose all five games and finish the season under .500.

2. Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions are everyone's sleeper team to reach the playoffs this year, but it's not going to happen.

The Lions are another team that is tied for the third-most difficult schedule, and they play in arguably the hardest division in the NFL.

Matthew Stafford is on nearly every breakout-player list this year, and while it may happen, his injuries have slowed both his progress and the Lions' progress. In the 32 games he has been in the NFL, he has started just 13 of those games.

He is coming off a season where he only appeared in three games, and that alone should be concerning for fans. Shaun Hill is a capable backup option, but he is not going to run through a difficult schedule.

The Lions open the season with three of their first four games on the road. They head to Tampa to take on the up-and-coming Buccaneers in the first game of the season. They head home to take on the Chiefs before going to Dallas and Minnesota in the following weeks.

The opening schedule is not very easy, and it doesn't end well with games against the San Diego Chargers and Green Bay Packers in the final two weeks when they may need victories in both to reach the playoffs.

3. Minnesota Vikings

A lot of people like the Vikings to get back to the playoffs after a rough season last year. The team went out and acquired Donovan McNabb from the Washington Redskins in the offseason, but that won't solve all of the team's problems.

McNabb struggled against a tough schedule last year with the Redskins, and another tough schedule is likely to doom him again.

McNabb won't have much time to adapt to a new offense, as the team has a rough opening stretch on the schedule.

The Vikings' first seven games feature the Chargers, Buccaneers, Lions, Chiefs, Cardinals, Bears and Packers. All seven of those games will be tough games for the Vikings, and it would be surprising to see them come out of that schedule with a winning record.

A 3-4 record is likely after seven games, which will set them behind entering the midseason run. The end of the season isn't much easier, as two of the final three games are divisional games against the Packers and Bears.

Sorry, Minnesota, McNabb won't get this team back to the promised land. Let the Christian Ponder era begin.