Were the NFL schedule makers kind to the 49ers?
The NFL schedule release has become an event. Let the NFL make football an all-year-round sport. From the combine to training camp, there is always a landmark in the year for fans to look forward to. Football fans will make plans to travel to see their favorite teams, and it’s an exciting time filled with optimism for their favorite team.
As far as the San Francisco 49ers go, the schedule makers have been unkind to the team from Santa Clara. Travel miles and rest differential have thrown curveballs at the team with aspirations of playing into January and beyond.
What are the biggest takeaways from the 49ers’ schedule release?
Yes, the 49ers’ strength of schedule is at the bottom of the league following their 6-11 record in 2024. However, there are challenges in any NFL schedule.
Ali Bhanpuri of NFL.com listed his three biggest takeaways for the 49ers and their schedule.
Have schedule, will travel. The 49ers will hit the road running in 2025, serving as the visiting side six times over the first nine weeks of the campaign. A potentially tough ask for a team that’s been notorious for starting slow and is coming off its first sub.-500 road mark (2-6) since dropping all eight away games in 2018. The 49ers have never played more than five road contests through Week 9 in the Kyle Shanahan era.
Beware of Spooky Season. San Francisco’s front-loaded schedule also features the team’s toughest stretch of the year — a four-game sequence beginning in Week 5 that spans all of October and includes matchups with three 2024 playoff teams (and one near miss). The Niners begin the month with a division tilt at SoFi (on Thursday night), follow that up with a cross-country trip to Tampa, then fly back to the West Coast to host the rising Falcons (on Sunday night), before a pre-Halloween haunt in Houston. That’s a lot of offensive firepower on tap for Robert Saleh and his new-look defense.
Path back to the Super Bowl? After all of their early-season travel, things brighten up quite a bit by the Bay in the second half. The 49ers have one of the more favorable slates following the midpoint, with seven of their final nine opponents sub.-500 teams from a year ago (hence the 49ers’ 32nd-ranked strength of schedule). At least two of those squads (Browns, Titans), and possibly four (Giants, Seahawks), could be starting rookie QBs against Saleh’s defense. Plus, after their Week 9 trip to the Meadowlands, the Niners will play only one more game that’s both outdoors and away from Levi’s: at Cleveland on Nov. 30. Could we be in store for another one of Shanahan’s patented second-half runs?
For the record, the 49ers will not face an NFL team off a bye week after a season of four games against teams off a bye.
What is the 49ers’ record in 2025? Let us know in the comments!