The San Francisco 49ers showed signs of life for the first half of their Week 6 loss to the Buffalo Bills. But as has become the case this season, the second half was a house of horrors. The 49ers went into halftime trailing 17-13, and walked away victims of a 45-16 beatdown by the Bills.
The 49ers dropped to 1-5 with their fifth straight loss, and things do not seem to be getting altogether better at the moment. There were some positives to take away from the game, but the biggest positive in the big picture is that the team did a little more to secure higher draft positioning next spring.
The 2017 NFL Draft order will not be finalized until after Week 17, but that won’t stop us from figuring out where things stand each week. I put together a viewing guide Sunday morning, and the 49ers got a little bit of help. Heading into the weekend, the 1-4 San Diego Chargers had already knocked off the Denver Broncos. On Sunday, the 1-4 Miami Dolphins upset the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Since plenty will change, I’m just going to group teams by record for the time being. The 49ers would be in the top four right now, with strength of schedule sorting them between spots two, three and four. This is all pending the Jets playing on Monday Night Football.
0-6
Cleveland Browns
1-4, 1-5
San Francisco 49ers
Carolina Panthers
Chicago Bears
New York Jets (1-4)
2-4
Miami Dolphins
Cincinnati Bengals
San Diego Chargers
2-3
New Orleans Saints
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Indianapolis Colts
Arizona Cardinals
Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jets and Cardinals square off on Monday Night Football. We’re rooting for the Jets in that one, although I think they take it on the chin a bit down in Arizona.
Here’s a quick look at next week’s schedule and some pertinent teams around the 49ers in the draft order.
Bears (1-5) @ Packers (3-2)
Buccaneers (2-3) @ 49ers (1-5)
Saints (2-3) @ Chiefs (3-2)
Colts (2-3) @ Titans (3-3)
Browns (0-6) @ Bengals (2-4)
Raiders (4-2) @ Jaguars (2-3)
Bills (4-2) @ Dolphins (2-4)
Ravens (3-3) @ Jets (1-4)
Chargers (2-4) @ Falcons (4-2)
Seahawks (4-1) @ Cardinals (2-3)