The 49ers boast one of the league's easiest schedules in 2025, but the rest of the NFC West has it pretty easy, too.
Combing through the San Francisco 49ers' 2025 regular-season schedule, it's hard to find too many complaints.
Sure, the Niners don't enjoy a lot of back-to-back home games, and an extremely late bye week could be problematic to some degree.
But, by in large, San Francisco's schedule is, well... easy.
In case you're wondering, CBS Sports' Tyler Sullivan declared the 49ers as one of the big winners from the 2025 schedule release, saying the following:
"The San Francisco 49ers were hit hard by injuries in 2024, which helped derail their season. As they look to leave last season well behind them in the rearview mirror, their fortunes are looking up in 2025. Based on their opponents' combined over/under win total for the upcoming season, San Francisco has the fourth-easiest schedule in the NFL. The Niners also square off against just three teams that made the playoffs in 2024: Los Angeles Rams (twice), Houston Texans and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Niners also have a well-situated bye week coming in Week 14. After that, three of their final four games on the season are at home, with their lone road game being in Indianapolis to face the Colts. "
The Niners benefit from playing two of the more historically bad divisions in the NFL this season, the NFC South and the AFC South. Tack on having a last-place schedule, stemming from 2024's 6-11 finish, and it makes sense why things are easy.
However, San Francisco's NFC West rivals have things relatively easy, too.
For the novices, the 49ers' division foes also end up playing both the NFC South and AFC South, so that's not exactly a specific advantage.
The Arizona Cardinals open up against the rebuilding New Orleans Saints and the still-scuffling Carolina Panthers in Weeks 1 and 2, which could give the red birds an easy 2-0 start to the season. And Arizona travels the fewest miles out of any of the NFC West teams, too.
Meanwhile, four of the Seattle Seahawks' final seven games come against opponents from those two lackluster divisions, meaning the Hawks may experience a late-season surge before finishing off against the Niners in Week 18.
Finally, while no portion of the Los Angeles Rams' schedule is relatively easy, there aren't exactly any gauntlet-like points either.
You can check out all 32 teams' schedules here.
There's a simple conclusion to this, particularly from San Francisco's vantage point: win games within the division.
A year ago, the 49ers went 1-5 against the rest of the NFC West, which pretty much sums up why they finished last. Fortunately for the Niners, three of their first five games on the year are within the division, so they'll have a chance to set a much-needed tone early.
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