If you’re a fan of strength of schedule the 49ers look like the team of note for the upcoming season. The numbers suggest they’re going to play the easiest schedule, while they played one of the hardest last year.
By wins and losses, it’s a worst-to-first situation. San Francisco’s opponents last year went 152-120 in their 272 games against other teams. That’s 4 more wins than any other team.
Last year is last year, of course. (Who cares?) But if the 49ers played the hardest schedule last season, it’s an indication their offense would have scored more points had it played an easier schedule. It’s an indicator that the 49ers are some degree better than the 2024 numbers suggest.
If we take the wins and losses from last year, meanwhile, and plug them into the 2025 slate, they indicate that the 49ers are going to play the easiest schedule this season. Their 17 games are against teams that went a combined 120-169 last season.
If the 49ers do, in fact, go on to play the easiest schedule (lots of teams, of course, will be dramatically different), then the offense probably would finish with a few more yards and points than it might have otherwise with a more difficult schedule.
I am not a big fan of strength of schedule, but if I were looking at a couple of comparable players, it might serve as a tiebreaker of sorts, pushing up the 49ers player.
| STRENGTH OF SCHEDULE (last 2 years) | |
|---|---|
| 2024 season | 2025 season |
| Miami (112-160) | San Francisco (120-169) |
| Washington (121-151) | New Orleans (121-168) |
| Indianapolis (123-149) | New England (124-165) |
| New England (123-149) | Tennessee (130-159) |
| Jacksonville (125-147) | Arizona (132-157) |
| Philadelphia (128-144) | Carolina (132-157) |
| LA Chargers (129-143) | NY Jets (133-156) |
| Cincinnati (130-142) | Indianapolis (134-155) |
| Buffalo (131-141) | Jacksonville (135-154) |
| NY Jets (131-141) | Buffalo (135-154) |
| Carolina (132-140) | Seattle (137-152) |
| Houston (132-140) | Miami (137-152) |
| Minnesota (134-138) | Atlanta (138-151) |
| New Orleans (134-138) | Tampa Bay (139-150) |
| Seattle (137-135) | Houston (139-150) |
| Tennessee (137-135) | LA Rams (142-147) |
| Denver (138-134) | Las Vegas (145-144) |
| Pittsburgh (138-134) | Denver (146-143) |
| Tampa Bay (138-134) | Cincinnati (147-142) |
| Kansas City (139-133) | Cleveland (150-139) |
| LA Rams (139-133) | LA Chargers (151-138) |
| Atlanta (141-131) | Kansas City (151-138) |
| Cleveland (141-131) | Pittsburgh (152-137) |
| Dallas (141-131) | Baltimore (154-135) |
| Las Vegas (143-129) | Washington (159-130) |
| Arizona (146-126) | Green Bay (161-128) |
| NY Giants (146-126) | Minnesota (161-128) |
| Detroit (147-125) | Dallas (161-128) |
| Baltimore (148-124) | Philadelphia (162-127) |
| Chicago (148-124) | Chicago (165-124) |
| Green Bay (148-124) | Detroit (165-124) |
| San Francisco (152-120) | NY Giants (166-123) |
—Ian Allan