There was some concern from fans that the San Francisco 49ers' projected draft position after Week 16 might take a hit should the Seattle Seahawks manage to beat the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday night. The 49ers' loss to the Chicago Bears still had them situated at the No. 3 spot in the draft order.
The Seahawks did beat the Chiefs, improving their record to 9-6. Being divisional opponents, the 49ers played the Seahawks twice this season with the two teams splitting the series.
Nothing changed at the top of the draft order even after a minor alteration to teams' strength of schedules. The Arizona Cardinals (3-12) remain at No. 1 with the Oakland Raiders at No. 2 and the 49ers at No. 3. The New York Jets follow at No. 4.
Both the 49ers and Jets have matching records (4-11). San Francisco, however, would own a weaker strength of schedule (.484 versus .498), which is used as a tiebreaker for teams with matching records, if the season ended today. The 49ers also barely come out on top (.504 versus .508) if your math includes Week 17 opponents for each NFL team.
A Broncos win over the Raiders on Monday night would slightly increase the strength of schedule difference between the 49ers and Jets. New York played Denver this season, which means their strength of schedule would increase. The 49ers played both the Broncos and Raiders once.
A Raiders victory would bring the strength of schedule difference between the 49ers and Jets a little closer with the latter benefiting from a Broncos loss. Of course, the Raiders would drop below San Francisco and New York in the projected draft order with a win while the 49ers would jump into the No. 2 spot. So go ahead and cheer for Oakland. It's just for one game.
Next week, you can cheer for the Cardinals to beat the Seahawks,
The 49ers have one more game remaining — a Week 17 matchup at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum against the Rams. The Jets finish the season on the road against the New England Patriots.
