The Cardinals sprung an upset of Green Bay to help San Francisco and Oakland.
The San Francisco 49ers were formally eliminated from playoff contention in Week 13, joining the Oakland Raiders as the first teams officially out of the picture. I think most of us realized this was how it would play out, but some people might have needed the formal elimination to begin moving on to draft pick watch.
The 49ers dropped to 2-10 following a 43-16 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, while the Raiders matched them following a 40-33 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. Both teams caught a break with the Arizona Cardinals beating the Green Bay Packers to improve to 3-9. The 49ers maintain their edge over the Raiders due to strength of schedule tiebreaker.
It was a very solid Sunday for the 49ers in terms of securing their spot at a top five or better draft pick. Aside from the Cardinals, the Jaguars and Giants both won to improve to 4-8. That moves them two back of the 49ers in the battle for draft order supremacy. The Jets almost beat Tennessee, but blew it late to drop to 3-9. The 49ers have technically not locked up anything for draft positioning, but they are close to all but assuring no worse than a top four pick with so many teams now sitting two games back of them.
Here’s what the draft order looks like through Week 13 Sunday. For now, the Raiders SOS is the only one that matters, but we’ll be keeping an eye on the Jets and Cardinals in case the 49ers do get a win over these final four weeks.
1. San Francisco 49ers (2-10, .526)
2. Oakland Raiders (2-10, .568)
3. New York Jets (3-9, .503)
4. Arizona Cardinals (3-9, .524)
5. Detroit Lions (4-8, .500)
6. Atlanta Falcons (4-8, .503)
7. New York Giants (4-8, .511)
8. Buffalo Bills (4-8, .521)
9. Jacksonville Jaguars (4-8, .545)
10. Green Bay Packers (4-7-1, .482)
11. Cleveland Browns (4-7-1, .536)
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