Do you have a preference of who the 49ers play in their season opener?
The NFL is rolling out its 2025 schedule release this Wednesday. By the time you read this, the 49ers Week 1 opponent may have already leaked. There will be individual games that’ll be intentionally leaked up until Wednesday night’s official announcement.
Fans generally look for the number of primetime games, when the bye week takes place, and how bad the travel spots will be. Today, we’re only thinking about the season opener.
The San Francisco 49ers are 3-4 in Week 1 under Kyle Shanahan. Going into this season, the expectations are night and day from this regime’s first year. The 49ers have set the tone in recent seasons to begin the year.
Kyle Shanahan went from scoring three points in Year 1 to back-to-back seasons of scoring 30 or more points and a win. And had it not been for a monsoon in Chicago, the 49ers would be on a four-year winning streak to open the season.
Are you the fan who wants the soft landing in Week 1? That’s been the case for the Niners in every season under Shanahan, save for 2017. They’ve been favored to win in every game since 2020.
Others want to see a marquee matchup to kick off the season. The 49ers are projected to benefit from a last-place schedule. After three seasons in a row of starting the year on the road, the Niners opened up at Levi’s Stadium last season. Will they have the same fortune this year?
Who should be the 49ers Week 1 opponent?
Outside the division, the 49ers will host the Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, and Chicago Bears. Robert Saleh will face one of the youngest slate of quarterbacks in the league.
My answer: Tampa Bay Buccaneers
At some point, the 49ers will have to travel east to face the Bucs in the regular season. They’ll also travel to New York to face the Giants, but Tampa Bay is a playoff team. If I’m looking at the schedule, I’d want to get that cross-country trip out of the way early.
Why stop there, right? Start the season in Tampa Bay, and Week 2 in New Orleans will be against…Tyler Shough? And cross two East Coast trips off the schedule. Vice versa if the schedule makers feel like that’s the case, but knocking out an east coast trip early in the season while the team is healthy and fresh could prove to be a big deal come the second half of the season.
The other road trips for the 49ers outside the division include Cleveland, Houston, and Indianapolis.
Who do you want the 49ers to play in Week 1? You have plenty of options. Scroll down below and let us know in the comments, then share your reasoning.