The Arizona Cardinals finished in last place in arguably the toughest division in the league (NFC West) at 5-10-1.
Facing opponents from the Eastern Division in both conferences in 2020, Week 2 will see the 49ers take a trip to New Jersey where they'll play the first of back to back away games at MetLife Stadium. The first of which coming against the New York Jets in a reunion with 49ers all-time leading rusher Frank Gore. Number three on the NFL's all-time rushing list, Gore, a future Hall of Famer who did most of his damage in a 49er uniform and will undoubtedly have his number enshrined in Santa Clara one day, has not shied away from publicly expressing his love for the 49ers organization and will have a chance to remind them of his greatness when he takes second-string duties in the backfield behind Le'Veon Bell.
The New York Jets were 7-9 without their starting quarterback for much of the year and finished in third place in the AFC East.
Week 3 the 49ers wrap up their two week stay in the New York-New Jersey area by facing the Giants who have alternated wins with San Francisco in each of their previous five bouts. After finishing 4-12 a season ago, the Giants are preparing for life after Eli Manning as the newly retired, 2-time Super Bowl-winning quarterback has officially handed over the reigns to second-year QB Daniel Jones whom the G-Men selected with the 6th overall pick in last year's Draft. Having undergone a bit of a makeover, 2020 will mark the Giants' first year under head coach Joe Judge who's the latest member of the Bill Belichick head coaching tree to land a top job in the NFL.
Finishing third in the NFC East were the New York Giants at 4-12.
The 49ers return home to Levi's Stadium in Week 4 to host the Philadelphia Eagles in their first of five prime time games scheduled in 2020. One of six playoff teams from a season ago that San Francisco is slated to face this year, coach Kyle Shanahan and company will see a familiar face on the other sideline in receiver Marquise Goodwin who was traded to Philly on day 3 of April's Draft. Last year's winners of the NFC East, the Eagles are near the top of the list in terms of easiest strength of schedule for 2020, with a trip to San Francisco figuring to be one of the lone bumps in the road for head coach Doug Peterson's squad.
Philadelphia is coming off a 9-7 record that was still good enough to top the NFC Eastern Division.
The Miami Dolphins were dead last in the AFC East at 5-11, but began stringing wins together towards the end of the season.
Renewing rivalries with the Rams, the 49ers will square off in a prime time game against Los Angeles for the second consecutive season and the first on Sunday Night Football since 2004. A battle between the last two NFC Champions, the 49ers will look to continue their recent success against head coach Sean McVay's Rams team as the 49ers closeout their three-game homestand in Week 6.
The L.A. Rams followed a first place finish in 2018 with a third place finish a year later in 2019 at 9-7 overall.
Hitting the road again, the 49ers pay their first visit to Foxborough, Massachusetts since 2012 to face Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots in what will be quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo's first crack at his former team. With Tom Brady no longer in the picture, it'll be interesting to see who we see under center for the Pats out of former-49er Brian Hoyer who's entering his third stint with the team and second-year QB Jarrett Stidham. With recent rumors leaked and confirmed by 49ers GM John Lynch that Belichick had countered and offered to trade Tom Brady instead of Garoppolo before the deal that eventually sent Jimmy G to the Bay Area in 2017, it's quite possible that the phone call between the two parties was what sparked the beginning of the end of Brady's time in New England.
The Patriots finished atop the AFC East for the 11th consecutive season in 2019 at 12-4, but were upset in the first round of the playoffs by Tennessee.
One of the two Wild Card teams in 2019, the Seattle Seahawks finished second in the NFC Western Division by logging another strong record under head coach Pete Carroll at 11-5.
In their only Thursday Night tilt of the season, the 49ers once again welcome Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers in the first ever TNF match-up between the two franchises. With San Francisco getting the better half of Green Bay in both meetings last season by way of double-digit beat downs, including a dominant 37-8 win in the NFC Championship game, Rodgers will try to right the ship against the team he grew up rooting for as the 49ers and Packers face off for a third consecutive season for the first time since 1998-2000. And with the Packers drafting Rodgers' likely successor during April's Draft in Utah State QB Jordan Love, expect to see A-Rod playing with a chip on his shoulder in 2020.
An impressive 13-3 record under rookie head coach Matt LaFleur, the Green Bay Packers were the top dog in the NFC North at 13-3.
Continuing the gauntlet of formidable NFC foes, the 49ers head to the Big Easy in a match-up that will be anything but versus Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints. One of the more exciting games played all of last season when these two teams met in December, it was the 49ers who escaped the Superdome with a 48-46 victory. One player who helped San Francisco come out on top in that thrilling back and forth game, was receiver Emmanuel Sanders who signed a 2-year pact with the Saints. One of the hardest stadiums to come out victorious as a visiting team, the 49ers have won three of the past four meetings in N.O.
Matching the 49ers and Packers for the best record in the NFC, the New Orleans Saints logged a 13-3 record to win the NFC South, but were upset in the first round of the playoffs by Minnesota.
After a bizarre and very early Week 4 BYE in 2019, the 49ers return to a more familiar Week 11 BYE in 2020, marking their third Week 11 BYE in the last four years for San Francisco.
Returning home, the 49ers look to add to their all-time wins record on Monday Night Football with win no. 50 as they host the Buffalo Bills in San Francisco's one and only appearance on MNF in 2020. With the Bills making their first ever trip to Levi's Stadium, it'll mark the first time since the 2012 season that the Niners will play host to a Buffalo team that enters their 2020 campaign as the AFC East favorites for the first time in over a decade with Tom Brady no longer in the mix.
On the heels of the Patriots for much of 2019, the Buffalo Bills finished second in the AFC East at 10-6. Representing the AFC as a Wild Card team, the Bills once again failed to win their first playoff game since 1995.
In one of the uglier games played in 2019 which featured a low score, lots of rain, plenty of mud and a ton of defense when the 49ers took a trip to Landover, Maryland to take on the Washington Redskins, it's unlikely we'll see only 9-points scored or similar weather conditions in the 2020 rematch as things shift to San Francisco for Week 14. The game will showcase newly acquired 49er Trent Williams squaring off against his former team following a rocky relationship between player and the team's medical staff which ultimately led to a holdout and eventual trade request granted on day 3 of last month's Draft. It will also be the first season under newly hired head coach Ron Rivera.
At 3-13, the Washington Redskins finished at the bottom of the NFC East with the worst record in the conference.
Rivalries renew for two of the NFL's most historic franchises when the San Francisco 49ers head to the Lone Star State to take on the Dallas Cowboys in Week 15. Surprisingly, the two are slated for a prime time meeting on Sunday Night Football for the first time since 1990. Under new head coach Mike McCarthy who served as the 49ers' offensive coordinator in 2005, Dallas hopes to have found a guy who can get them into the playoffs and coach them beyond the NFC Divisional Round, something Jason Garrett was unable to accomplish in his 9+ seasons at the helm. One familiar face 49er fans will see on the other sideline is defensive-end Aldon Smith who was a star on San Francisco's defense from 2012-2014 before running into a series of DUI and domestic violence troubles that eventually led his release from the team. Out of NFL action since 2017, Smith signed with the Cowboys this offseason after being reinstated by the league.
Coming down to the final game of the regular season, the Dallas Cowboys just missed out on a playoff berth by finishing behind the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC East at 8-8 which ultimately led to the team not renewing the contract of head coach Jason Garrett who agreed to an offensive coordinator position with the rival Giants.
For the second straight season, the 49ers will closeout their regular season against the hated Seattle Seahawks, only this time in San Francisco. With the fate of the division crown coming down to the final game of the regular season between these two teams in 2019, Kyle Shanahan and company hope to repeat as division winners, but certainly not in the same fashion, as they'd much rather clinch before their final regular season bout. And with each of their last two meetings at Levi's heading to overtime, who knows what fireworks will ensue this time around.
Having finished the 2019 regular season with a record of 13-3 which was tops in the NFC, not many pundits (hell, none of them really) had expected this young 49ers team to win as many games as they did or make it to the Super Bowl as they had developed and performed ahead of schedule. Now coming off a dominant 2019 campaign and appearance in the final game of the season, teams will be gunning for the reigning NFC Champs who will have a target on their back as the team that everyone in the league will want to beat and one that will certainly get the very best from their opponent come gameday. Even then, coach Shanahan who's entering his fourth season at the helm, has a very young core of talent, especially on the defensive side of things, which will see the return of 10 of 11 starters from a season ago. That said, I'm predicting a repeat total in the win column at 13-3, even in spite of their tough schedule which trails only the (1) Patriots, (2) Jets and (3) Dolphins as the most difficult in terms of strength of schedule for the upcoming season.
Follow me on Twitter: @FraserKnowsBest
