Coming off a disappointing 6-11 season that saw the San Francisco 49ers finish in last place in the NFC West for the first time since 2020, Kyle Shanahan's squad is obviously hoping for a bounce-back campaign in 2025. And the schedule certainly sets up for it.
Based on last season's win-loss records, the Niners have the easiest strength of schedule heading into the 2025 campaign, as their opponents had a combined .415 winning percentage, the lowest mark since the Atlanta Falcons went into 2015 facing a slate of opponents who had a combined .410 winning percentage the year before.
Strength of schedule, of course, always has to be taken with a grain of salt, given the changes that occur during the offseason. Still, though, the fact that the 49ers have just four games against teams that made the playoffs a season ago, two of which come against the Los Angeles Rams, bodes well for the time being.
Given the time of year it is, projections for the upcoming season are naturally everywhere right now, but it'd be difficult to find one more thorough than that of Sports Illustrated senior NFL analyst Conor Orr, who recently dropped his annual article in which he predicts the outcomes of all 272 regular-season games.
While 49ers fans might not be pleased with every prediction Orr makes, including his pick for the season opener against the Seattle Seahawks, they can at least feel good that he's got them bouncing back to win the division with an 11-6 record.
Week Opponent Prediction (Record)
1 at Seahawks Loss (0-1)
2 at Saints Win (1-1)
3 vs. Cardinals Win (2-1)
4 vs. Jaguars Win (3-1)
5 at Rams Loss (3-2)
6 at Buccaneers Loss (3-3)
7 vs. Falcons Win (4-3)
8 at Texans Win (5-3)
9 at Giants Win (6-3)
10 vs. Rams Win (7-3)
11 at Cardinals Loss (7-4)
12 vs. Panthers Win (8-4)
13 at Browns Win (9-4)
14 Bye N/A (9-4)
15 vs. Titans Win (10-4)
16 at Colts Loss (10-5)
17 vs. Bears Loss (10-6)
18 vs. Seahawks Win (11-6)
As you can see, Orr has the Niners dropping their Week 1 matchup with Sam Darnold and the Seahawks in Seattle, which is actually part of an overall theme, as he has them taking defeats in every divisional matchup on the road, losing to the Rams in Week 5 and the Cardinals in Week 11. But he also has every NFC West matchup at Levi's Stadium resulting in a victory.
San Francisco's Week 6 matchup with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers ends up being the deciding factor in the NFC playoff picture, which Orr sees shaking out as follows:
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (12-5)
San Francisco 49ers (11-6)
Philadelphia Eagles (10-7)
Detroit Lions (10-7)
Los Angeles Rams (10-7)
Minnesota Vikings (10-7)
Washington Commanders (10-7)
Here's Orr's full breakdown on how he approached the 49ers' upcoming season:
"With the Rams in a bit of an unknown space, I look to Kyle Shanahan, Brock Purdy and a—possibly—healthy Christian McCaffrey for a bit of stability. With this schedule, I didn’t get overly cute, save for losses to Chicago at home and at Indianapolis toward the end of the season.
"The 49ers of 2023, if you’ll remember, had a three-game losing streak against middle-tier opponents that was similarly eye-popping at the time but was merely a sign of exhaustion."
The likelihood of every one of Orr's predictions coming to fruition is obviously low, but one certainly has to give him credit for the effort. That said, though, one would think that given the chance to take a division title and the second seed in the conference right now, the Niners (and their fans) would take it.
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