Schedule shaping up to be much easier in ’21
Finishing in last place may not help the 49ers’ pride, but it will benefit them next season when five other last-place teams appear on their 2021 schedule.
By virtue of clinching fourth place in the NFC West, the 49ers (6- 9) currently have games against fellow cellar- dwellers Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Atlanta added to next year’s schedule that already included last-place Detroit and Jacksonville.
Following their run to the Super Bowl last season, the 49ers entered this season with the fourth-toughest schedule based on their opponents’ 2019 records — a cumulative .527 winning percentage. Heading into the final week of the regular season, the 49ers’ opponents next season are a combined winning percentage of .502, or one game over .500.
The 49ers’ home schedule in 2021 will include non-divisional opponents Green Bay, Minnesota, Houston, Indianapolis and, currently, Atlanta. Should the Falcons win their finale against the Buccaneers and the Panthers lose to the Saints, then Carolina would finish last in the NFC South.
The Texans and Colts will be making their first ever visits to Levi’s Stadium, assuming of course the pandemic will allow 49ers to be back playing in Santa Clara. That would leave Buffalo, which beat the 49ers in Arizona earlier this month, as the only NFL team to never play at Levi’s.
The 49ers’ road schedule is set to include non-divisional games against Chicago, Detroit, Jacksonville, Tennessee and, currently, Philadelphia. The 49ers would travel to the Meadowlands to face the Giants instead of the Eagles if Philly beats Washington and the Giants lose to Dallas.
As usual, the 49ers will have home-and-home games against NFC West rivals Seattle, Los Angeles and Arizona.
The NFL’s schedule won’t be officially released until April, but a league spokesman acknowledged to the Bay Area News Group there’s a mistake in the NFL Record and Fact Book that caused some confusion about the 49ers’ 2021 schedule. A column on the 49ers’ schedule in the NFL operations manual was inadvertently transposed, and it mistakenly listed San Francisco’s games against the Packers, Vikings, Texans, Colts and the NFC East fourth place-finisher as road games.
The league is expected to announce in April it is adopting a 17-game schedule in 2021. The 17th game for each team will be a onegame crossover against an opponent from the other conference.
The 49ers’ 17th game, or one- game crossover, will be against Cincinnati, the last-place team in the AFC North. It hasn’t yet been determined whether it will be a home or away game for San Francisco.
In order to maintain competitive balance, the onegame crossover to determine each team’s 17th opponent will either be a ninth home game for all NFC Conference teams or for all AFC Conference teams on a rotating basis. The league is expected to announce by April whether the NFC or AFC teams will have a ninth home game next season.