Niners Nation
The San Francisco 49ers have a new-look team coming off a disappointing 6-11 2024 campaign, as they’re set to take on the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field to kick off the season on September 7th.
It’s been a much different offseason for the 49ers, who elected not to splash on a marquee free agent and instead focused their efforts towards new deals for key players and the 2025 NFL Draft, where they tied for the league-high with 11 selections.
Several of those rookies, including first-round pick Mykel Williams, should play prominent roles in 2025, and the 49ers now have a last-place schedule at their hands. In fact, San Francisco has been deemed to have the easiest schedule in the NFL heading into 2025.
Still, the 49ers are rebuilding on both sides of the ball, as they look to improve their run defense while getting healthier. As we saw in 2024, nothing is a given in the NFL.
Currently, FanDuel Sportsbook has the 49ers’ win totals projected at 10.5 games. Will the 49ers eclipse that mark in 2025? Or will it be another up-and-down season as they move ahead to 2026? Let’s take a look at the schedule and break it down into tiers.
Easiest games on the schedule
Looking at the 49ers schedule, they could face three of the worst teams in the NFL this season with the New Orleans Saints, the Cleveland Browns, and the New York Giants.
San Francisco will likely be favored in each of those matchups, despite being on the road, with the first one coming up in Week 2 against New Orleans.
Even with a roster reliant on younger pieces, the 49ers have three major opportunities for wins in those games.
Likely favorites
In addition to the three games above, San Francisco has matchups against the Carolina Panthers (home), Indianapolis Colts (road), Tennessee Titans (home), and Jacksonville Jaguars (home), where they should be favored.
Now, none of these games should be considered a cake-walk; nothing is in the NFL. But, it’s easy to see why the 49ers could be favored in all four.
Carolina should be better than they were a season ago, but they’re still rebuilding on both sides of the ball, especially defensively, where they really struggled in 2024. Indianapolis has a questionable quarterback situation once again, while its secondary has been incredibly banged up heading into the year. Tennessee was the worst team in the NFL last year and has a rookie quarterback in 2025 with Cam Ward.
Of these three, Jacksonville should be the most improved, but they’re also working through issues on both sides of the ball after hiring head coach Liam Coen in the offseason.
The Division
The NFC West could return to being one of the toughest divisions in the NFL this year.
The Rams continue to trend up, seeming like the current favorites to win the NFC West after adding Davante Adams on offense and continuing to develop with younger talent defensively.
Seattle added Sam Darnold at...
