Coming off a disappointing 6-11 campaign that saw them miss the playoffs for the first time since 2020, the San Francisco 49ers are obviously hoping for better results during the upcoming 2025 campaign.
While strength of schedule based on records from the previous season must always be taken with a grain of salt, the Niners have the easiest slate in the entire league in that regard, as their opponents this season had a combined winning percentage of just .415 last year.
And only four of their 17 games come against teams that made the playoffs, those being their pair of matchups with the Los Angeles Rams in Weeks 5 and 10, a Week 6 battle with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and a Week 10 contest against the Houston Texans. Again, one can't put too much stock into what went down a season ago, but San Francisco is set up to have some success.
Naturally, getting off to a good start goes a long way, and CBS Sports NFL analyst John Breech believes Kyle Shanahan & Co. will do just that. In fact, when making his predictions on when all 32 franchises will lose their first game of the 2025 campaign, he has the 49ers being one of the last undefeated teams in the league.
Obviously, that means he's got them taking down former Niners QB Sam Darnold and the new-look Seattle Seahawks in Week 1, breaking down the NFC West matchup as follows:
"The 49ers have won six of the past seven games in this series and with San Francisco finally expected to be healthy, the 49ers will use the opener to show that they're going to be a Super Bowl contender in 2025."
Now, we're not sure in exactly what world the 49ers are healthy, given all the injury issues with which they're dealing at the moment, but at least Breech was nice enough to call them a Super Bowl contender.
With Breech predicting no ties in Week 1, that leaves 16 undefeated teams. After Week 2, when the Niners would beat the New Orleans Saints, he has 10 remaining unbeatens.
Following Week 3, when San Francisco would take down the Arizona Cardinals in the home opener at Levi's Stadium, the number drops to seven. And after Week 4, when the 49ers would defeat the Jacksonville Jaguars, he predicts five remaining unbeatens, the other four being the Buffalo Bills, Cincinnati Bengals, Houston Texans, and Pittsburgh Steelers, thus leaving San Francisco as the only NFC team on the list, which is a pretty bold take.
Breech finally has the 49ers losing in Week 5 in their first matchup with the Rams, which is a Thursday night contest at SoFi Stadium. And it's because of the game being played on short rest that he's got Los Angeles picking up the victory.
"Since the start of the 2020 season, no team has been better than the Rams when it comes to winning a Thursday game on short rest. Over the past five seasons, the Rams have played six such games and they've won them all, so we'll say that streak continues here."
It's not great reasoning, but it is what it is. And one would think the 49ers would be thrilled with a 4-1 start after going 2-3 in their first five a season ago.
For those wondering, Breech also has the Bengals and Texans going down in Week 5. He then has the Steelers dropping their first game in Week 7 and the Bills being the last to lose in Week 9.
How all of this actually plays out obviously remains to be seen, but Niners fans should be pleased that their team is getting a little love here.
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