49ers 2025 schedule in review: A favorable second half positions the Niners for a playoff run

After a disappointing 2024 campaign, the San Francisco 49ers were rewarded with one of the easiest schedules for the 2025 season.

We discovered the order and times of those games on Wednesday, and the schedule announcement revealed some surprises. The schedule reveal included a divisional opener, plenty of road games to open, and five prime time slots (including a tease at some new uniforms).

With the 2025 schedule, let’s review the 49ers’ fixtures for the upcoming season:

Still primetime players

A 6-11 showing in 2024 didn’t do much to hurt the 49ers’ brand, at least according to the national broadcasts. After six primetime games in 2024, the Niners are slated for five standalone games in 2025.

The primetime schedule starts with the nearly annual night game against the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday night in Week 5. The 2025 season marks the sixth time in the last seven seasons that the 49ers’ rivalry will be renewed in primetime, with San Francisco dominating Los Angeles with a 4-1 record in those five games.

San Francisco’s next two primetime games come against NFC South foes, with the 49ers hosting the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday night of Week 7 and a Monday night game against the Carolina Panthers in Week 12 at Levi’s Stadium. The last time the 49ers faced Atlanta in prime time was in 2013, with Navarro Bowman’s “pick at the stick” sealing a San Francisco win in the last game held at Candlestick Park.

The 49ers’ prime time schedule comes to a close in back-to-back weeks, traveling to Indianapolis in Week 15 for a Monday night game against the Colts before returning to Santa Clara for a Sunday night game against the Chicago Bears. Interestingly enough, the matchup against the Bears will mark the second straight season the 49ers have faced Ben Johnson in prime time in Week 17, losing to Johnson and the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football in Week 17 last season.

There were concerns that the 49ers’ poor 2024 showing would affect the number of primetime games San Francisco would have in 2025. It shows that no matter what, the red and gold are always relevant.

A spread-out divisional schedule

It’s not often that the 49ers open a season with an NFC West rival. The last time was when San Francisco lost to the Arizona Cardinals to open the 2020 season.

San Francisco opens the 2025 campaign in Seattle, marking the third time since 2012 that the 49ers have opened the season with a divisional game. It also marks the first time the 49ers have opened a season on the road against the NFC West since 2010 when they fell to the Seahawks in Seattle to open what would be a 6-10 season.

The 49ers will quickly get accustomed to the NFC West in 2025, with three of their first five games against division rivals. After a 2024 season that saw the 49ers finish 1-5 against the NFC West, San Francisco will quickly find out how they compare to their division with their opener in Seattle, followed by their home opener against the Cardinals in Week 3, before the Thursday night tilt in Los Angeles.

After the spurt of divisional games to open the season, the 49ers will wait until Week 10 before their next divisional matchup. They will re-up against the Rams in Santa Clara before heading to Arizona for a Week 11 game against the Cardinals.

However, the most interesting quirk of the 49ers’ schedule is the space between the two games against the Seahawks. San Francisco opens and closes its 2025 campaign against their rivals in the Pacific Northwest, the first time since the division realignment of 2002 that the 49ers start and end their season against the same opponent.

San Francisco hopes to return to its 2022 and 2023 form, when it finished 11-1 against the NFC West, before falling off the wagon in 2024.

The worst stretch isn’t too bad

There’s always a stretch on the 49ers’ schedule of good teams in multiple weeks. Last season, the 49ers had a six-game stretch that included the Chiefs, Seahawks, Packers, and Bills, which saw the Niners go 2-4. In 2023, another stretch included Tampa Bay, Philadelphia, and Seattle (twice), which looked tough when the schedule was announced, but the 49ers won all four games.

2025 also includes what could be a difficult stretch, but on paper, it’s not too bad. The stretch begins with the Week 5 game in Los Angeles. While the 49ers will benefit from a ten-day break with the Thursday night game, San Francisco travels across the country to take on the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay in Week 6. The 49ers return to Santa Clara for the Sunday night game against Atlanta before turning around and heading to Houston for a tough matchup against the Texans. The five-game stretch ends with a trip to the Meadowlands, where the Giants will host the Niners.

A five-city trip in five weeks won’t be easy, but each game is winnable, with the Texans the toughest team of the group.

A favorable back half

The four road games in five weeks end the first half of the season, in which the 49ers play six of their first nine games away from Levi’s Stadium. But a front-loaded road schedule means a back half chock-full of home games.

After Week 9, the 49ers will be at Levi’s Stadium for five of the team’s last eight games, including a Week 14 bye, the latest a team can have a bye.

Not only is it a home-heavy end of the season, but it could also be the easiest portion. After San Francisco’s Week 11 game in Arizona, the 49ers’ last six games are against teams that went a combined 34-68 in 2024.

Not only does the schedule weaken in the back half, but San Francisco will also mostly avoid any potential bad weather games with four of the last six games at Levi’s Stadium. The only threat for some bad weather would be Week 13, with the 49ers closing November in Cleveland. San Francisco’s only other road game during that stretch is in Indianapolis – another cold-weather city – but the roof will likely be closed for a December night game at Lucas Oil Stadium.

If San Francisco gets off to a good start in the first half of their schedule, the back half could be perfectly set up for the 49ers to get rolling for a potential playoff push.