Getting off to a quick start is essential, especially for these five teams that will face the most trouble in the second half of the season.

Miami Dolphins

The Miami Dolphins qualified for the playoffs last year as a wild-card team, but if they are to make the postseason in back-to-back years for the first time since 2000-01, they will have to overcome the NFL’s toughest schedule in the second half.

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According to the 2017 win forecasts based on Football Outsiders’ Defense-adjusted Value Over Average, the Dolphins will face teams in the second half that are expected to average nine wins each over the course of the season, the highest in the league.

The tough sledding starts in Week 9 against the Oakland Raiders, who orchestrated the seventh-most efficient offense in 2016 per DVOA with starting quarterback Derek Carr missing the final game of the season due to a broken fibula.

Oakland’s rushing attack was also solid behind an offensive line that allowed its rushers to be stopped at or behind the line of scrimmage just 17 percent of the time, eighth best in the NFL last year.

In Weeks 12 and 14 the Dolphins have to face their division rival and reining Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.

Cleveland Browns

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The Browns are likely focusing more on the NFL draft — they have 11 picks, including the No. 1 overall — rather than the regular season, but for a team that won one game in 2016 it can be a little disheartening to have such a difficult end-of-year slate of games.

In Week 12 they face the Cincinnati Bengals. Defensive tackles Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap combined for 134 total sacks, hits and hurries last season with 48 stops at or behind the line of scrimmage. In Week 14 they go up against Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who has a 135.8 passer rating against the team with six touchdowns and no interceptions in two games against the Browns. And they finish the season on the road against the Pittsburgh Steelers, where they are 0-7 in season finales against quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Philadelphia Eagles

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The NFL gave the Eagles a tough start, with three of their first four games on the road, and it gets even tougher after the team’s bye week in Week 10.

Philadelphia travels to Dallas to face the Cowboys in Week 11, where quarterback Dak Prescott (offensive rookie of the year) and running back Ezekiel Elliott (who led the league in rushing with 1,631 yards plus scored 16 touchdowns) look to avoid the sophomore slump.

In Week 13 the Eagles travel to Seattle, where Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman held opposing quarterbacks to a 63.8 passer rating last season.

The last two weeks of the season come against the Raiders and Cowboys, the No. 11 and No. 2 most-efficient teams per DVOA in 2016.

Buffalo Bills

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Buffalo is in transition, but its offense was the ninth-most efficient in the league last season per DVOA behind a rushing attack that produced a league-high 5.3 yards per carry. LeSean McCoy had a league-leading 22 runs of 15 yards or more in 2016 and caught 50 of 57 targets out of the backfield.

But the Bills will face the New York Jets in Week 9 and the New England Patriots in Weeks 13 and 16, teams that ranked No. 1 and No. 4, respectively, against the run last season.

The Jets defense was stout at the line, stopping opposing rushers at or behind the line of scrimmage 27 percent of the time, the second-highest stuff rate in the league last season. The Patriots allowed a league low 0.3 yards per carry more than 10 yards past the line of scrimmage.

Dallas Cowboys

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It won’t be easy for Prescott and Elliott to have an encore. Dallas converted almost two-thirds of its red-zone opportunities in 2016 (65.6 percent), fifth-most in the NFL, averaging 5.51 points per trip inside the 20-yard line, second-most in the league. During the final weeks of the 2017 season Dallas will play four games against three different teams that were above-average at defending inside their own 20-yard line.