West Coast teams like the 49ers typically travel a lot of mileage, but this NFC West rival surprisingly distinctly won't have to cover a lot of ground.
Usually, once the annual NFL regular-season schedule drops, fans will notice how one of the teams from either the NFC West or the AFC West will be No. 1 out of all 32 squads in terms of total mileage traveled.
The San Francisco 49ers last led the league in traveled miles back in 2021 when they covered a distance of nearly 28,000 miles. In the years since, though, the Niners have regularly been within the top five well-traveled teams.
It's understandable for West Coast teams, which cover greater distances than their counterparts on the East Coast.
So, perhaps to no one's surprise, San Francisco will travel a lot against its slate of opponents for 2025. The rest of the NFC West will travel a lot, too.
Well, most of the NFC West.
NFL schedule gives Cardinals a distinct traveling advantage over rest of NFC West
The 49ers will travel the fifth-most mileage in 2025, a total of 28,363 miles despite not being on the docket for an international game outside of the United States this season.
The Los Angeles Chargers (37,086 miles) are the NFL's most-traveled team this year, while the Niners' NFC West rivals, the Los Angeles Rams, rank second in this department with 34,832 miles to be traveled.
Here's the total mileage for NFC West teams in 2025:
Los Angeles Rams: 34,832
Seattle Seahawks: 31,302
San Francisco 49ers: 28,363
Arizona Cardinals: 20,336
Wait, what?
Thirty-two NFL teams will travel 625,947 miles this season. Here is the breakdown, via @billsperos: pic.twitter.com/WJ2sU5hrVG
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 13, 2025
Three of the four NFC West squads are at (or at least near) the 30,000-mile threshold, but the Cardinals are distinctly well below their division foes. In fact, 11 other teams travel greater distances than Arizona this season, which doesn't exactly make sense.
Sure, the Cardinals are located one time zone to the East of the rest of their division foes, but that doesn't account entirely for the fact they travel more than 14,000 miles less than the NFC-leading Rams or more than 8,000 fewer miles than San Francisco.
Advantage: Arizona.
Seriously, someone needs to write a strongly worded letter.
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