The NFL is trying to give the San Francisco 49ers' 2024 opponents all the help they can get
The San Francisco 49ers' 2024 schedule has put them in a unique position, and it's one they definitely don't want to be in. San Francisco's full schedule was revealed on Wednesday, with the 49ers seeing the difficulty level kicked up a notch by a challenge no other team in the league faces. Of the 32 […]
The San Francisco 49ers' 2024 schedule has put them in a unique position, and it's one they definitely don't want to be in.
San Francisco's full schedule was revealed on Wednesday, with the 49ers seeing the difficulty level kicked up a notch by a challenge no other team in the league faces.
Of the 32 teams, the 49ers are the only one to face an opponent coming off a bye week in four separate games.
The rematch of Super Bowl 58 will see the Kansas City Chiefs face San Francisco after having the benefit of a bye, though the Niners will have a mini-bye with their Week 6 game with the Seattle Seahawks taking place on a Thursday.
A week later, the 49ers will take on a Dallas Cowboys team coming off a bye, and the Seahawks will also have had some time off before they travel to Levi's Stadium in Week 11.
Perhaps most crucially, the Buffalo Bills will get a bye before they host the 49ers in Week 13. By contrast, the 49ers take on the Packers at Lambeau Field in Week 12.
Only in Week 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and in Week 16 versus the Miami Dolphins will the 49ers be at a rest advantage.
It is the second successive season in which the 49ers will face four opponents coming off a bye. They went 2-2 in 2023 in such games, losing narrowly to the Cleveland Browns in Week 6 and also being defeated by the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 8. In the wins, the 49ers routed the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 10 and the Arizona Cardinals in Week 15.
The comparison to last year is not an equal one, with the caliber of the opponents the 49ers will face who have the benefit of a bye the week beforehand a step up from those they met in such circumstances in 2023.
San Francisco heads into the 2024 season still seen as the dominant force in the NFC, but the Niners' path to maintaining that position is strewn with hurdles, with arguably none greater than having to face three teams seen as Super Bowl contenders who will be coming off byes.
Still, the 49ers' recent history is littered with examples of them overcoming substantial obstacles to make deep playoff runs. It would take an extremely brave person to bet against the 49ers doing the same in 2024 and ensuring the additional rest proves to be of no advantage for a series of foes who will have designs on denying their Super Bowl dreams.
San Francisco 49ers might already have a solution to their toughest stretch of the 2024 NFL season
It could make life much easier.
