The San Francisco 49ers have known for a long time which teams they will face in the 2024 NFL season.

Now we’re finally learning the order.

The 49ers have the tough task of getting over a Super Bowl hangover following their overtime loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, a game they were one fourth-down stop away from winning.

It won’t be easy, but now we know the regular-season route they will traverse as they look to go one better in 2024. So let’s not waste any more time and go over what the 49ers’ regular-season schedule looks like.

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San Francisco 49ers' 2024 schedule

• Week 1: Vs. New York Jets, Monday September 9 (ESPN)
• Week 2: At Minnesota Vikings
• Week 3: At Los Angeles Rams
• Week 4: Vs. New England Patriots
• Week 5: Vs. Arizona Cardinals
• Week 6: At Seattle Seahawks (Amazon Prime)
• Week 7: Vs. Kansas City Chiefs
• Week 8: Vs. Dallas Cowboys (NBC)
• Week 9:  BYE
• Week 10: At Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Week 11: Vs. Seattle Seahawks
• Week 12: At Green Bay Packers
• Week 13: At Buffalo Bills (NBC)
• Week 14: Vs. Chicago Bears
• Week 15: Vs. Los Angeles Rams (Amazon Prime)
• Week 16: At Miami Dolphins
• Week 17: Vs. Detroit Lions (ESPN)
• Week 18: At Arizona Cardinals

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Biggest Games on the 49ers' 2024 Schedule

49ers vs. Chiefs: This one doesn't need much of an explainer. A rematch of a thrilling Super Bowl that produced another gut-wrenching defeat for the Niners, Levi's Stadium will be baying for a win over Patrick Mahomes and Co. It would not heal any of the wounds from those Super Bowl losses, but it might provide some confidence the 49ers can get over the line if they face their tormenter on the biggest stage again.

49ers vs. Lions: Another rematch, this time of the NFC Championship Game that saw the 49ers produce an historic comeback in fighting back from 24-7 down at halftime to win 34-31. With both teams expected to be at the sharp end of the conference again in 2024, there's every chance it could also serve as a title game preview.

49ers at Packers: Are you sensing a theme here? The 49ers will head to Lambeau Field in the regular season for the first time since 2018 — they won a pretty big playoff game there in the interim — in a game that will see San Francisco face another postseason opponent from last season. San Francisco squeaked by the Packers in a downpour at Levi's Stadium in the Divisional round, fighting back from 21-14 down to win 24-21. Brock Purdy will be happy for anything but rain in this one.

49ers vs. Jets: A mammoth opener for the Niners. Kyle Shanahan going up against his former defensive coordinator in Robert Saleh, Aaron Rodgers playing against his boyhood team, and the one that has tormented him in the postseason for years, for potentially the last time, there's so much to intrigue in this interconference matchup.

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Primetime Games and Streaming Service Broadcasts

Which games will be primetime viewing?

• Week 1: Vs. New York Jets, Monday September 9 (ESPN)
• Week 6: At Seattle Seahawks (Amazon Prime)
• Week 8: Vs. Dallas Cowboys (NBC)
• Week 13: At Buffalo Bills (NBC)
• Week 15: Vs. Los Angeles Rams (Amazon Prime)
• Week 17: Vs. Detroit Lions (ESPN)

The 49ers likely won't be thrilled at the prospect of having two Thursday night games and having to deal with the short weeks that come with them, though they do each provide the opportunity for mini-bye weeks ahead of games with the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 7 and the Miami Dolphins in Week 16.

A primetime duel with Dallas, by contrast, is something San Francisco will relish after shellacking the Cowboys on Sunday Night Football last year, while the 49ers’ performance against Josh Allen and Co. on the road in the vociferous atmosphere will be an excellent barometer of their standing as they head into the home stretch of the regular season.

Yet no game on the 49ers’ primetime schedule will be more anticipated than the NFC Championship Game rematch with the Lions. It’s unlikely we’ll see anything as dramatic as what took place in that matchup in late January, but it’s a game that could have massive implications on the playoff race just a couple of weeks out from the postseason. Popcorn at the ready for that one.

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Which games will you need streaming services to watch? 

Thankfully, the only streaming service 49ers fans will need is Amazon Prime Video, as both Thursday Night Football games will be broadcasted there.

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Strength of Schedule (based off Vegas win totals, not the 2023 record)

Warren Sharp of Sharp Football Analysis does this cool thing every year where he ranks teams' strength of schedule based off Vegas' projected win totals for the upcoming season. He doesn't base it off the standard model that looks at the previous season’s win-loss record and it makes a lot more sense, because of all the change teams go through during the offseason.

At the time of this publication, he hasn't updated it to reflect Vegas' updated, post-draft totals and I'll update this once the information becomes available. At the time of writing, Sharp has the 49ers’ schedule as the 14th-toughest in the NFL.

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Revenge Games on the 49ers’ 2024 schedule

• 49ers see Jimmy G, twice: Ok, so it’s unlikely the 49ers will actually have to go against Jimmy Garoppolo in their two division matchups with the Rams, but his presence on the opposite sideline is a compelling extra narrative to a rivalry that has been one-sided in favor of the 49ers in recent times.
• De’Vondre gets to prove a point: De’Vondre Campbell had *a lot* of things to say about his former Packers coaching staff upon leaving the team this offseason before signing a one-year deal with the 49ers. In short, Campbell indicated that decisions made by coaches were the reason for his drop-off in play from a 2021 All-Pro season. In a playoff rematch at Lambeau, the Niners linebacker will get the chance to prove his point.
• The Omenihu bowl: Former 49ers defensive lineman Charles Omenihu has been vocal about wanting to show the Niners letting him go after the 2022 season was a bad decision, having been robbed of the chance to do so in the Super Bowl because of a torn ACL. Assuming he’s recovered by the time the 49ers and Chiefs renew acquaintances, he will get that opportunity.

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3 Must-watch matchups

• Kyle Shanahan vs. Robert Saleh: Shanahan will go against the first defensive coordinator he hired for the first time since Saleh left for the Jets in 2021. It’s a strength on strength matchup. Shanahan knows the Jets’ defensive scheme like the back of his hand and Saleh can say the same about the Shanahan offense. The 49ers were also said to be interested in hiring Jets DC Jeff Ulbrich for the same job this offseason.
• Josh Allen vs. The 49er defense: For as much as Mahomes has been the thorn in their side that has twice prevented the 49ers from winning the Super Bowl, it was a performance by Josh Allen in the COVID-19 season in 2020 in primetime that supposedly convinced Shanahan to make the ill-fated Trey Lance trade. Allen was spectacular in going 32-40 for 375 yards and four touchdowns. It will be a huge challenge for a 49er defense that is much different to the injury-ravaged unit that faced Allen that night in Arizona to contain him on the road in Buffalo.
• San Francisco receivers vs. Chiefs corners: One of the main reasons the 49ers lost Super Bowl 58 was the inability of their receivers to win against the Chiefs’ sticky and physical man coverage. Now that star-studded receiving corps is even deeper after the Niners spent a first-round pick on a separation artist in Ricky Pearsall and a fourth on dynamic speedster Jacob Cowing. Will it be a different story this time around for a 49ers team that hasn’t beaten the Chiefs since Jim Harbaugh was their head coach in 2014? 

San Francisco 49ers’ break from longtime habit in 2024 NFL Draft a vote of confidence in two recent picks

They’re backing them to deliver.