The 49ers will be rooting for Oakland Monday evening.
The San Francisco 49ers saw their modest two-game winning streak snapped in a 14-9 loss to the Chicago Bears. The 49ers had several chances to win this game, but the offense could not quite get it together. The team dropped to 4-11 with the loss.
Losing isn’t fun, but there is one upside to the loss. The 49ers improved from fourth to third in the 2019 NFL Draft order. Here is the top nine, with record and strength of schedule in parenthesis, per Tankathon. I went with the top nine because No. 10 is where records go from 5-10 to 6-9.
1. Arizona Cardinals (3-12 — .523)
2. Oakland Raiders (3-11 — .553)
3. San Francisco 49ers (4-11 — .502)
4. New York Jets (4-11 — .508)
5. Detroit Lions (5-10 — .502)
6. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-10 — .521)
7. Buffalo Bills (5-10 — .525)
8. New York Giants (5-10 — .525)
9. Jacksonville Jaguars (5-10 — .546)
The 49ers had moved up to No. 3 prior to Sunday’s games. On Saturday, the Titans win boosted the Jets SOS, while the Chargers loss weakened the 49ers SOS. Had the 49ers won they would have dropped into a tie with the five 5-10 teams, but instead they remain tied with the Jets. The Raiders still have to play later tonight, hosting the Broncos on Monday Night Football. If the Raiders beat the Broncos, the 49ers will climb into the No. 2 pick. If the Raiders lose, the 49ers will remain at No. 3.
ESPN updated their Football Power Index and the 49ers currently have a 94 percent chance of claiming a top five pick. They still have a two percent chance to claim the No. 1 pick, but odds are pretty slim. Arizona probably won’t win in Seattle next week.
This coming week wraps up the 2018 regular season. The 49ers face a full strength Rams squad, so a win will take a little something extra. The Jets travel to face the Patriots, with New England needing a win or Texans loss to clinch a first round bye. Here’s the schedule for the top nine teams in the 2019 NFL Draft order.
49ers (4-11) @ Rams (12-3)
Cardinals (3-12) @ Seahawks (8-6)
Raiders (3-11) @ Chiefs (11-3)
Jets (4-11) @ Patriots (10-5)
Dolphins (7-8) @ Bills (5-10)
Lions (5-10) @ Packers (6-8-1)
Cowboys (9-6) @ Giants (5-10)
Falcons (6-9) @ Buccaneers (5-10)
Jaguars (5-10) @ Texans (10-5)
About the Author: Insidethe49
