The San Francisco 49ers unquestionably took advantage of the NFL's easiest strength of schedule a year ago, pulling off a 12-5 record and even winning on the road as a Wild Card team.
In fact, that relatively easy slate of games might've helped a banged-up Niners team overcome the many injury woes it had over the course of the year.
Despite that, though, head coach Kyle Shanahan's squad still only managed to finish third place in the NFC West despite being in contention for the top seed in the conference entering the final week of the regular season. Thanks to a stacked division, San Francisco now gets a third-place schedule despite being a 12-win team a year ago.
We've known the 49ers' opponents for some time, therefore their 2026 strength of schedule isn't exactly a recently revealed secret.
But, thanks to the hard work done by CBS Sports' John Breech, we can safely attest that while the Niners' strength of schedule for the upcoming campaign won't be as easy as a year ago, it's still pretty easy.
That's good.
49ers boast 15th easiest strength of schedule
Breech pointed out how San Francisco holds the 18th toughest strength of schedule this season (or the 15th easiest one, should you want to measure from the opposite end). Based on opponents' win/loss records from 2025, the 49ers face a winning percentage of .497 from a year ago.
Being on the below side of the .500 mark is always a good thing.
The NFC West inflates the tougher side of the Niners' SOS, of course, with both the Seattle Seahawks and Los Angeles Rams winning at least 12 regular-season games a year ago. But playing a questionable AFC West, which boasts the rebuilding Las Vegas Raiders who won a mere three games last season, helps move the needle the other way.
Likewise, the NFC East boasts two serious threats in both the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys, yet San Francisco's remaining at-large games (Atlanta Falcons, Miami Dolphins, and Minnesota Vikings) take full advantage of that third-place schedule.
True, so much changes any given offseason that it's impossible to accurately predict how teams like the 49ers fare based on their strength of schedule, specifically how those opponents did a year ago.
But, by any reasonable judgment, the Niners' 2026 schedule shouldn't be overly difficult.
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