The San Francisco 49ers caught a break on Monday as the Oakland Raiders beat the Denver Broncos to improve to 4-11. With strength of schedule tiebreaker, the 49ers now hold the No. 2 pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Their opponents SOS is .504 while the Jets are at .506. The difference is one game in the loss column.
Over the Cap’s Jason Fitzgerald is also a Jets fan, and he offered a quick and dirty look at what the Jets need to move past the 49ers in strength of schedule if both teams lose next week. The 49ers travel to face a Rams team looking to clinch the No. 2 seed in the NFC. The Jets travel to face a Patriots team looking to clinch the No. 2 seed in the AFC.
For the Jets to beat SF in SOS they will need 3 of the following 4 results
— Jason_OTC (@Jason_OTC) December 25, 2018
NYG over DAL
TB over ATL
BAL over CLE
LAC over DEN
The 49ers and Jets share NFC North opponents, but otherwise face entirely different teams. Given how this week is entirely divisional matchups, most of the games cancel each other out. This means it comes down to the games the 49ers and Jets played against teams in similar standing in the conference. For the 49ers, this includes the Giants and Bucs, while the Jets had the Browns and Broncos.
For Week 17, we are officially Cowboys, Falcons, Browns, and Broncos fans. Dallas is locked into the fourth spot in the NFC, so they could choose to rest players. The Browns face a Ravens team that needs a win or Steelers loss to clinch the AFC North. The Chargers could win the AFC West with a win and Chiefs loss, so they have something to play for on Sunday.