The San Francisco 49ers already have a target on their back being the defending NFC champions. Their path to the Super Bowl just got a lot tougher, thanks to an oddity in the regular season schedule.
San Francisco is playing a league-high four teams coming off their bye week this season, adding even more to an already challenging schedule. The 49ers play the Seattle Seahawks (home), Kansas City Chiefs (home) and Dallas Cowboys (home) in a three-week stretch from Weeks 6 through 8, but how they draw two of these teams is key.
The Chiefs are coming off a Week 6 bye when the 49ers face them in Week 7 and the Cowboys are coming off a Week 7 bye when the 49ers face them in Week 8.
That's two consecutive weeks the 49ers will face an opponent coming off a bye. They are not done.
The Seahawks are coming off a Week 10 bye when the 49ers play them in Week 11. The 49ers will play the Buffalo Bills in Week 13, on the road, at night in December. Oh, and the Bills are coming off their bye.
This comes after San Francisco plays Green Bay on the road in Week 12. The 49ers will likely come home for Thanksgiving, so they'll be making another cross-country trip. The Buffalo game could be the toughest on the schedule.
San Francisco doesn't have the toughest schedule in the league, but the 49ers have an unlucky quirk with playing teams coming off a bye week.
On the opposite end, twelve teams won't play any team coming off a bye in 2024. Those teams are the Buffalo Bills, Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots, Baltimore Ravens, New York Jets, Cincinnati Bengals, Jacksonville Jaguars, Tennessee Titans, Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons, Minnesota Vikings, and Green Bay Packers.
