SANTA CLARA — Too many road games early for a youth-laden defense that will have growing pains.
Too late into the season for a bye, in Week 14.
Too cruel to kick off at 10 a.m. on five separate business trips.
There, does that sum up the 49ers Faithful’s gripes about an otherwise seductive schedule?
First of all, don’t count on the defense starting five rookies. First-round pick Mykel Williams might be the only sure-fire Day 1 starter, unless others from the 11-man draft class mature fast in four months.
Second, the late-season bye indeed is at a historically distant spot in franchise history, but the 49ers might covet that rest with four games to go before a potential playoff return.
Third, Kyle Shanahan’s 49ers have fared slightly better with 10 a.m. starts (15-12) than other time slots (20-19) on the road.
OK, now here are 10 aspects about the 49ers’ schedule to really dig into after Wednesday’s unveiling:
1. BYE, BYE, BYE, BYE
The 49ers drew the latest bye possible — and latest in their franchise history — with the Week 14 slot (Sunday, Dec. 7). Also out of work that day are the Carolina Panthers, the New England Patriots and the New York Giants.
The 49ers are playing no teams coming off a bye, a year after going 1-3 in such scenarios (beating the Cowboys; losing to the Chiefs, the Seahawks, and the Bills.) In turn, the 49ers are 5-3 after regular-season byes under Shanahan — and 2-0 in byes for the wild-card playoffs.
The bye came too early in 2019 in Week 4, yet they powered way through to (*checks notes*) the Super Bowl.
Three road-game opponents could be travel weary. The Giants (Week 9) and the Cardinals (Week 11) will be coming off back-to-back road games, and same with the Colts (Week 16) who actually have 3-of-4 on the road before hosting the 49ers.
2. PRIME-TIME FLEX
Sure, the 49ers could get flexed out of prime time considering some of their five games don’t initially ooze compelling matchups, at least after the Week 5 Thursday night affair at the Rams (Oct. 2). Then come Sunday night home games against Atlanta (Oct. 19) and Chicago (Dec. 28), and Monday night matchups vs. Carolina (Nov. 24) and at Indianapolis (Dec. 22)
But who knows, maybe the 49ers get MORE prime-time games, such as at Cleveland (Nov. 30) or against Tennessee (Dec. 14). Neither of those teams has a single prime-time game scheduled but boast young quarterbacks (see: the Browns’ Shadeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel, the Titans’ Cam Ward).
The 49ers are 18-16 under the lights under Shanahan. They went 3-3 in prime-time games last season, losing their final three vs. the Bills, the Rams and the Lions. In his previous years, they were 0-1 in 2017, 1-2 in ’18, 5-1 in ’19, 1-3 in 2020, 1-3 in ’21, 4-1 in ’22, and 3-2 in ’23.
3. ODDS AND ENDS
Not only are the 49ers are favored by 1 1/2 points to win their opener at Seattle, Bet MGM has the 49ers (+145) slightly favored to reclaim the NFC West from the Rams (+200) and ahead of the Cardinals (+475) and the Seahawks (+500).
Only five teams have better odds than the 49ers (+1800) to win the Super Bowl, per Bet MGM: the Eagles (+650), the Ravens (+700), the Bills (+750), the Chiefs (+750) and the Lions (+900).
By the way, Brock Purdy ranks 10th among quarterbacks — not financially yet — as the 10th favorite to win NFL MVP honors.
4. PLAYOFF TEAMS
Only four games are against teams that made last season’s playoffs, and each is projected to win just 9.5 games – the Los Angeles Rams, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Houston Texans.
Not on the agenda are any teams from the AFC East and AFC West, who combined to send four teams to last season’s playoffs, including the 49ers’ Lombardi Trophy kryptonite from Kansas City.
5. FEELING A DRAFT
They’re playing 7-of-10 teams that drafted ahead of them in the first round, including the leadoff threesome of the Titans (QB Ward), the Jacksonville Jaguars (wide receiver/cornerback Travis Henry), and the New York Giants (defensive end Abdul Carter).
6. HOLIDAY ROW
Two years ago, the 49ers won on Thanksgiving night, lost on Christmas night and celebrated the NFC’s No. 1 seed on New Year’s Eve. This year, none of their games fall on holidays. They’ll fly out the day after Thanksgiving to Cleveland, and they’ll come home likely past midnight from their Dec. 22 game at Indianapolis to make for a sleepy Christmas week before hosting Chicago on Dec. 28.
7. COACHES CORNER
Week 1 offers a matchup of not just first-year offensive coordinators but brothers, in the 49ers’ Klay Kubiak and the Seahawks’ Klint Kubiak, who was the Saints’ coordinator last season after serving as the 49ers’ pass-game specialist.
In Week 2, the 49ers will visit the Saints and defensive coordinator Brandon Staley, who served as the 49ers’ assistant head coach last season after losing out to Nick Sorensen for the DC role.
Shanahan will oppose four coaches for the first time: Ben Johnson (Bears) and Liam Coen (Jaguars) in their initial seasons, and Dave Canales (Panthers) and Brian Callahan (Titans) in their second. Reunions of the Shanahan coaching tree will play out against Sean McVay (Rams), Raheem Morris (Falcons) and DeMeco Ryans (Texans).
8. TURF BURN
Six of their nine away games will be on synthetic turf: New York, New Orleans, Houston, Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and Seattle, The 49ers are 17-13 on turf since 2017.
Notably, MetLife Stadium changed its synthetic turf in 2023, three years after the 49ers sustained a barrage of leg injuries (Week 2 win over Jets) that took out Nick Bosa (ACL, MCL), Solomon Thomas (ACL), Jimmy Garoppolo (ankle) and Raheem Mostert (knee sprain).
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9. ODD-YEAR TREND
The 49ers opened with back-to-back road games in 2019, ’21 and ’23, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that odd-year trend resumes this Sept. 7 in Seattle. Of course, those 2019 and ’23 seasons culminated in a Super Bowl berth – and the 2021 squad came mere minutes from another in the NFC Championship Game.
This is the seventh time in 49ers’ history they’ve started 6-of-9 on the road, the last being in 1992 (7-2). Their 1989 squad won all six road games amid an 8-1 start en route to repeating as Super Bowl champs. The other years: 1952, ’61, ’86, and ’87.
10. NOT ONLY SHOW IN TOWN
For those looking for extra sporting events while caravaning with the 49ers on the road, here are some notable crossover events: Washington football hosts U.C. Davis on Sept. 6, a day before the 49ers visit the Seahawks; LSU football hosts Florida on Sept. 13, a day before the 49ers visit the Saints; and, the New York City Marathon is on Nov. 2, the same day the 49ers play the Giants in East Rutherford, N.J.