Why the Rest Differential in the 49ers' Schedule Doesn't Matter

The 49ers had a bad rest disparity last season too and still went to the Super Bowl. The rest factor didn't affect the outcome of their season. In fact, the teams with the worst rest disparity were the 49ers, the Rams and the Chiefs, who all went to the playoffs.

Feb 4, 2024; Las Vegas, NV, USA; San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan exits the team plane during | Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Every year we learn a new stat that doesn't really matter.

This year it's "rest differential." It refers to the amount of rest a team has before its games compared to the amount of rest its opponents have. And this year the 49ers have a negative-22 net rest differential, which sounds really bad. It's the worst net rest differential in the league this year and the third-worst since 2005.

So what does this mean for the 49ers?

Absolutely nothing.

The 49ers also benefit from not having to travel to Europe to play a game and not having three consecutive road trips, something many teams have to deal with.

This year, the 49ers have to face four teams who are coming off Bye weeks. Sounds daunting. But it's unclear how much of an advantage a Bye week truly is. For a team with a Hall of Fame head coach such as Andy Reid, it's a big advantage because he's so brilliant, if you give him extra time to prepare, he's hard to beat. But since the start of the 8-division era, the 49ers are just 8-13-1 after a Bye, which is the third-worst post-Bye record in the NFL during this span.

I'm thinking this rest differential thing is a bunch of malarkely. I'm guessing the NFL doesn't hate the 49ers and there's no conspiracy theory to take them down, but that's just me.