The San Francisco 49ers win over the Seattle Seahawks moved them into third place in the NFC West. At 4-10, they now sit a game ahead of the Arizona Cardinals. If the two teams finished tied, the Cardinals hold the standings tiebreaker edge due to their head-to-head sweep. For now though, the 49ers have sole control of third place.
The win bumped the 49ers down the 2019 NFL Draft order, but it also shakes up their 2019 schedule of opponents. The NFL has a schedule formula that has team face their divisional opponents twice, faces one division from the AFC, one full division in the NFC, and then the two teams from the other NFC divisions that finish in the same spot in the standings.
In 2019, the 49ers will face the full contingent of AFC North and NFC South teams. Additionally, they will face the teams in the NFC East and North that finish with the same divisional standing. Prior to their win over Seattle, the 49ers were going to face the last place New York Giants and Detroit Lions. The win over Seattle means they instead would face the third place team in those divisions. For the time being, that is the 5-8-1 Green Bay Packers and 7-7 Washington. The Packers are a half game up on the Lions, while 7-7 Washington is tied with Philadelphia a game back of Dallas.
There are still two weeks left to shake things up, but for the time being, here is what the team’s slate of opponents looks like for 2019.
Home: Seahawks, Rams, Cardinals, Falcons, Panthers, Browns, Steelers, NFC North (Green Bay)
Away: Seahawks, Rams, Cardinals, Saints, Buccaneers, Ravens, Bengals, NFC East (Washington)