You can debate meaningless wins versus draft position all you want but San Francisco 49ers coaches and players really wanted to beat the visiting Chicago Bears on Sunday. Chicago ended up coming out on top by a score of 14-9.

A victory would have dropped the 49ers' draft position even further. They sat at the No. 3 spot before kickoff thanks to a weaker strength of schedule, which is used as a tiebreaker between teams with matching records.


Whether or not a win would have been good or bad for the 49ers' future doesn't matter now. San Francisco lost the game but remained at No. 3 in the projected draft order. They hold the tiebreaker over the New York Jets, who are also 4-11, thanks to a weaker strength of schedule.

If the season ended right now, the 49ers' strength of schedule would be .482 and the Jets' would be .498. Even counting each team's Week 17 opponents, San Francisco holds a slight .502 to .508 edge.

The Arizona Cardinals (3-12) and the Oakland Raiders (3-11) sit at No. 1 and No. 2 respectively. The Raiders play the Denver Broncos on Monday night. San Francisco could move into the No. 2 spot with an Oakland victory.

The 49ers have one more game remaining — a Week 17 matchup at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum against the Rams.

Below would be next year's top five teams when it comes to draft order if the season ended as of this post — which it does not.


Team W-L SOS
1 Arizona Cardinals 3-12 .520
2 Oakland Raiders 3-11 .538
3 San Francisco 49ers 4-11 .482
4 New York Jets 4-11 .498
5 Detroit Lions 5-10 .507


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