The 49ers’ schedule lacks the kind of attention-grabbing matchups of the past.
Still, the San Francisco is slated for five prime-time appearances, with one Thursday game and two apiece on Sunday and Monday nights.
But even those pairings do not exactly look like scintillating showdowns on paper. The 49ers are scheduled for under-the-lights games against Atlanta, Carolina, Indianapolis and Chicago.
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The 49ers are coming off a 6-11 season. A dozen starters and key contributors will not be back, but San Francisco is counting on an 11-player draft class to fill in the gaps.
We shall see.
But the 49ers have one huge advantage as they look to make a dramatic improvement over last season: Their schedule might be the weakest in all of the NFL.
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So here is our knee-jerk reactions to the 49ers’ game-by-game matchups, along with our predictions for each game:
Week 1: at Seattle Seahawks -- Sunday, Sept. 7, 1:05 p.m. PT (FOX)
The 49ers have opened against an NFC West opponent only once in the previous eight seasons (2020 vs. Arizona). The last time they played Seattle in Week 1 was 2011.
There was a time when the 49ers had no chance of winning in Seattle. Now, they carry a three-game road winning streak into this head-to-head matchup against their division rival.
The 49ers will see a familiar face at quarterback, as Seattle signed Sam Darnold in the offseason after trading Geno Smith to Pete Carroll’s Las Vegas Raiders. Darnold spent one season as the 49ers’ backup before signing with Minnesota last year and playing the best football of his pro career. His coordinator is former 49ers assistant Klint Kubiak.
Prediction: Seahawks 27, 49ers 24
Week 2: at New Orleans Saints -- Sunday, Sept. 14, 10:00 a.m. PT (FOX)
For the second time in three years, the 49ers open the season with back-to-back road games. They pulled off the Pittsburgh-L.A. Rams sweep in 2023.
The retirement of Derek Carr has created a bit of a dilemma for first-year Saints coach Kellen Moore, who was hired after serving one season as offensive coordinator of the Super Bowl-winning Philadelphia Eagles.
New Orleans is stuck with a depth chart that does not include one true quarterback with even one NFL victory to his credit.
Second-round pick Tyler Shough might even be the favorite to win the starting job, as he goes up against Jake Haener and Spencer Rattler for the QB1 title.
On the other side of the ball, former 49ers assistant Brandon Staley steps in as New Orleans’ defensive coordinator.
Prediction: 49ers 35, Saints 17
Week 3: vs. Arizona Cardinals -- Sunday, Sept. 21, 1:25 p.m. PT (FOX)
The new-look 49ers make their home debut against the Cardinals, who swept them last season.
Arizona has failed to finish with a winning record in nine of the past 10 seasons. They showed progress last year with an 8-9 record under second-year coach Jonathan Gannon.
Could this be their year? It seems as if the Cardinals always are a year away from being a year away. But there is some talent on their roster and the hope in the desert is that the draft selections of defensive linemen Walter Nolen and Jordan Burch, along with cornerback Will Johnson, will help the Cardinals contend for the NFC West.
Prediction: 49ers 27, Cardinals 17
Week 4: vs. Jacksonville Jaguars -- Sunday, Sept. 28, 1:05 p.m. PT (FOX)
Who will see more of Travis Hunter, the No. 2 overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft?
Will it be 49ers cornerbacks Deommodore Lenoir and Renardo Green? Or will it be wide receivers Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall?
Hunter enters the NFL as a potential two-way player, and the question becomes whether anyone is capable of handling that kind of workload for an entire NFL season.
Prediction: 49ers 31, Jaguars 21
Week 5: at Los Angeles Rams -- Thursday, Oct. 2, 5:15 p.m. PT (Prime)
The 49ers have a quick turnaround and only an hour-long flight to Southern California for their only Thursday night appearance of the season.
San Francisco's home-crowd advantage did not help them in their two games against the Rams last season.
More 49ers fans can be counted upon to attend games at SoFi Stadium on an annual basis. The 49ers blew a 14-point second-half lead last season at L.A. That game sent the 49ers on a downward spiral and served as a springboard for the Rams’ NFC West title.
Prediction: Rams 24, 49ers 17
Week 6: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- Sunday, Oct. 12, 10 a.m. PT (CBS)
The 49ers last season went 1-7 against playoff teams. Their one victory was on the road against the Buccaneers in a closer-than-it-needed-to-be game because of Jake Moody’s three missed field goals.
Things will be different this time, with the main characters in a sideline drama no longer on the 49ers. Deebo Samuel now is with the Washington Commanders, and long-snapper Taybor Pepper was released in the offseason.
Prediction: Buccaneers 27, 49ers 24
Week 7: vs. Atlanta Falcons -- Sunday, Oct. 19, 5:20 p.m. PT (NBC)
The NFL schedule-makers apparently see this as a marquee, prime-time matchup as we reach the midway point of the season. OK.
Interestingly (or not), the two backup quarterbacks for these teams have long been tied to 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan.
Kirk Cousins, the highest-paid backup in NFL history at $45 million per year, is carrying a clipboard as the backup to 2024 first-round pick Michael Penix. Cousins is the quarterback the 49ers planned to sign in 2018 before Jimmy Garoppolo landed in their laps.
And, of course, you know the story of Mac Jones. Shanahan was enamored of Jones in the lead-up to the 2021 draft before the organization changed direction and went with Trey Lance at No. 3 overall. Jones now is a member of the 49ers as Purdy’s backup.
Prediction: 49ers 31, Falcons 23
Week 8: at Houston Texans -- Sunday, Oct. 26, 10 a.m. PT (FOX)
DeMeco Ryans used his platform as 49ers defensive coordinator to vault into the position of Texans head coach.
Houston has back-to-back playoff appearances, and will be a strong favorite to win the AFC South.
The Texans are looking for C.J. Stroud to return to his rookie form, and the game within the game pits Ryans’ defense against Kyle Shanahan’s offense.
Prediction: Texans 24, 49ers 17
Week 9: at New York Giants -- Sunday, Nov. 2, 10 a.m. PT (CBS)
The task of facing Russell Wilson these days looks a lot different than it did throughout the 2010s when he was with Seattle.
And his mastery over the 49ers continued in 2022, when Wilson helped the Denver Broncos pull off an ugly 11-10 victory. In all, Wilson has won 17 of 21 head-to-head matchups against the 49ers.
But it’s not even a guarantee that Wilson will be a starter at this point in his career.
Coach Brian Daboll might feel the pressure to force first-round pick Jaxson Dart into the action in an attempt to buy another season as the head coach.
Prediction: 49ers 30, Giants 17
Week 10: vs. Los Angeles Rams -- Sunday, Nov. 9, 1:25 p.m. PT (FOX)
The teams expected to battle it out for the NFC West title will be completed with their season series in early-November. That does not seem to make a lot of sense.
But when has the NFL schedule ever made much sense?
On paper, the 49ers have an advantage over the Rams this season due to their last-place scheduled compared to the Rams’ first-place schedule. The teams face each other twice and have 12 common opponents.
Where the 49ers look to have an advantage over the Rams is with their three games dictated by place in last year’s standings. Whereas the Rams face Philadelphia, Detroit and Baltimore, the 49ers go up against the N.Y. Giants, Chicago and Cleveland.
Prediction: 49ers 20, Rams 17
Week 11: at Arizona Cardinals -- Sunday, Nov. 16, 1:05 p.m. PT (FOX)
And this does it for the head-to-head series against the Cardinals, too.
Purdy returns to his old neighborhood to face the team that awarded him as Arizona Cardinals High School Player of the Year in 2017 while playing for Perry High in Gilbert, Arizona.
Purdy did not play at Arizona last season due to an injury. But in 2023, he threw for 242 yards and four touchdowns in a 45-29 victory over the Cardinals.
Prediction: Cardinals 27, 49ers 26
Week 12: vs. Carolina Panthers -- Monday, Nov. 24, 5:15 p.m. PT (ESPN)
The 49ers’ first appearance on Monday Night Football is a matchup that few people had on their bingo cards.
After all, 49ers-Panthers is not exactly a matchup that screams prime-time TV.
But running back Christian McCaffrey probably does not view it like that. He played his first six NFL seasons with the Carolina Panthers. This is the first team to face his former team since the midseason trade in 2022 sent him to the 49ers.
Although those responsible for the deal no longer are around, McCaffrey certainly will not need any motivation.
“In my head, I was pissed off, to be frank,” McCaffrey said at the Dwight Clark Legacy Event in 2023. “I felt like, ‘You guys don’t want me any more.’ “
McCaffrey left his mark with the Panthers, including 2019, when he rushed for 1,387 yards and had 1,005 yards receiving.
Prediction: 49ers 34, Panthers 20
Week 13: at Cleveland Browns -- Sunday, Nov. 30, 10 a.m. PT (CBS)
A trip back to Cleveland could conjure bad memories for kicker Jake Moody (assuming he still is with the team at this point in the season).
As a rookie, Moody was 9 for 9 before a Week 6 game in Cleveland. He missed a kick earlier in the game, then was wide right in the final seconds on a 41-yard attempt that decided the game.
The storyline that follows the Browns all season will be Quarterback Watch. Will it be Joe Flacco, Kenny Pickett, Dillon Gabriel or Shedeur Sanders?
Prediction: 49ers 24, Browns 14
Week 14: Bye Week -- Sunday, Dec. 7
The 49ers had their bye weeks smack-dab in the middle of their season in each of the previous three seasons. This year, their bye does not come in Week 9 — with eight games played and eight games to play.
Instead, the 49ers will have played 13 games and there are four games down the stretch to determine if the postseason is in the cards for this team.
Week 15: vs. Tennessee Titans -- Sunday, Dec. 14, 1:25 p.m. PT (FOX)
The No. 1 overall pick in the draft comes to Santa Clara, and this figures to be an opportunity for Robert Saleh’s defense to feast.
Cam Ward figures to start from Day 1, as the other quarterbacks on the roster are Will Levis, former 49ers reserve Brandon Allen and Tim Boyle. But with little supporting cast, it could be another long season and, perhaps, another No. 1 overall pick on the horizon for the Titans.
Prediction: 49ers 33, Titans 13
Week 16: at Indianapolis Colts -- Monday, Dec. 22, 5:15 p.m. PT (ESPN)
Here’s another Monday night matchup that seems a bit surprising — especially this late in the season.
Colts head coach Shane Steichen enters this season with one major factor working against his team: A quarterback competition.
Anthony Richardson has shown very little since being the No. 4 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. Now, Indianapolis has added former Giants first-round pick Daniel Jones to start on equal footing in a battle for the starting job.
Meanwhile, Purdy and the 49ers’ receivers could be going up against a familiar face, cornerback Charvarius Ward, who signed a three-year, $54 million deal with the Colts in free agency.
Prediction: Colts 24, 49ers 23
Week 17: vs. Chicago Bears -- Sunday, Dec. 28, 5:20 p.m. PT (NBC)
The onus is on both teams to play well enough that this game is still relevant this late in the season. So let’s call this what it is, “Tentatively scheduled for Sunday Night Football.”
The 49ers had only one victory in their final eight games of last season. That came in Week 14 against the Bears. So while the 49ers should be better than a year ago, so should Chicago.
The Bears remade their offensive line in front of Caleb Williams, the top pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. He was sacked 68 times as a rookie. If Williams holds onto the ball like he did as a rookie, the 49ers’ first-round pick Mykel Williams could pad his sack numbers.
Prediction: 49ers 36, Bears 24
Week 18: vs. Seattle Seahawks -- Saturday, Jan. 3 or Sunday, Jan. 4
If this game has any small playoff implications, it could get slated for a Saturday game. If it’s a win-or-go-home game for either team, it will be played on Sunday.
Seattle barely missed the playoffs last season. Like the division-winning Rams, the Seahawks finished the regular season with a 10-7 record but missed out on the postseason due to the tiebreaker.
Prediction: 49ers 31, Seahawks 27
49ers' 2025 season prediction: 11-6