This NFL schedule aspect won't screw 49ers like it did the last 2 seasons

The 49ers had a major schedule disadvantage the last two years, but that won't be the case entering the 2025 season.

One of the glaring problems from the San Francisco 49ers' schedule over the previous two years is they were at a notable disadvantage when it came to rest days.

Or, "rest differential," as it's so called.

Rest differential is the net amount of days off for teams in between games when compared to their opponents.

In 2023 and 2024, the Niners had the worst rest differential in the entire league with minus-20 and minus-22, respectively:

That explains why it seemed San Francisco was seemingly facing a team coming off its bye nearly every week last season.

Of course, that can't entirely explain why the 49ers went 6-11 last year (they made it to the Super Bowl the previous season despite another bad rest differential), but it could have played a role.

And the Niners certainly didn't want to be on the wrong side of this differential for a third consecutive year.

Fortunately, they won't be.

49ers have positive rest differential for 2025 NFL schedule

It would have been nice to see San Francisco boast the best rest differential after being the worst the previous two seasons, but at least it's in the top four:

The plus-9 margin is fourth best in the league, and the 49ers have only two weeks when they're at a rest disadvantage: Weeks 13 and 17 against the Cleveland Browns and Chicago Bears, respectively. The Niners are coming off Monday Night Football games the weeks prior, so that makes sense.

Additionally, San Francisco doesn't face any teams coming off a bye week, which seemed to be the case all too often last season.

Whether or not this makes a huge difference over the course of the year is anyone's guess, but it's preferable to be on the positive side of rest differential than the negative.

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