Inman: Top 10 things I see about the 49ers’ schedule

SANTA CLARA Too a multitude of road games early for a youth-laden defense that will have growing pains Too late into the season for a bye in Week Too cruel to kick off at a m on five separate business trips There does that sum up the ers 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 starter unless others from the -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 ers might covet that rest with four games to go before a expected playoff return Third Kyle Shanahan s ers have fared slightly better with a m starts - than other time slots - on the road OK now here are aspects about the ers schedule to really dig into after Wednesday s unveiling BYE BYE BYE BYE The ers drew the latest bye feasible and latest in their franchise history with the Week slot Sunday Dec Also out of work that day are the Carolina Panthers the New England Patriots and the New York Giants The ers are playing no teams coming off a bye a year after going - in such scenarios beating the Cowboys losing to the Chiefs the Seahawks and the Bills In turn the ers are - after regular-season byes under Shanahan and - in byes for the wild-card playoffs Three road-game opponents could be passage weary The Giants Week and the Cardinals Week will be coming off back-to-back road games and same with the Colts Week who truly have -of- on the road before hosting the ers PRIME-TIME FLEX Sure the ers could get flexed out of prime time considering several of their five games don t initially ooze compelling matchups at least after the Week Thursday night affair at the Rams Oct Then come Sunday night home games against Atlanta Oct and Chicago Dec and Monday night matchups vs Carolina Nov and at Indianapolis Dec But who knows maybe the ers get MORE prime-time games such as at Cleveland Nov or against Tennessee Dec Neither of those teams has a single prime-time battle scheduled but boast young quarterbacks see the Browns Shadeur Sanders and Dillon Gabriel the Titans Cam Ward The ers are - under the lights under Shanahan They went - in prime-time games last season losing their final three vs the Bills the Rams and the Lions In his previous years they were - in - in - in - in - in - in and - in ODDS AND ENDS Not only are the ers are favored by points to win their opener at Seattle Bet MGM has the ers slightly favored to reclaim the NFC West from the Rams and ahead of the Cardinals and the Seahawks Only five teams have better odds than the ers to win the Super Bowl per Bet MGM the Eagles the Ravens the Bills the Chiefs and the Lions By the way Brock Purdy ranks th among quarterbacks not financially yet as the th favorite to win NFL MVP honors PLAYOFF TEAMS Only four games are against teams that made last season s playoffs and each is projected to win just 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 ers Lombardi Trophy kryptonite from Kansas City FEELING A DRAFT They re playing -of- 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 HOLIDAY ROW Two years ago the ers won on Thanksgiving night lost on Christmas night and celebrated the NFC s No 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 event at Indianapolis to make for a sleepy Christmas week before hosting Chicago on Dec COACHES CORNER Week offers a matchup of not just first-year offensive coordinators but brothers in the ers Klay Kubiak and the Seahawks Klint Kubiak who was the Saints coordinator last season after serving as the ers pass-game specialist In Week the ers will visit the Saints and defensive coordinator Brandon Staley who served as the ers 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 TURF BURN Six of their nine away games will be on synthetic turf New York New Orleans Houston Indianapolis Los Angeles and Seattle The ers are - on turf since Notably MetLife Stadium changed its synthetic turf in three years after the ers sustained a barrage of leg injuries Week win over Jets that took out Nick Bosa ACL MCL Solomon Thomas ACL Jimmy Garoppolo ankle and Raheem Mostert knee sprain Related Articles ers schedule reveal Easy road map out of NFC West cellar Harry Edwards continues his life s work of social activism with another major recognition coming ers rookie camp Top pick Mykel Williams grooving Alfred Collins watching ers unload top draft pick Drake Jackson add three veterans ers kicker Jake Moody has assistance of new boss but still must win job ODD-YEAR TREND The ers opened with back-to-back road games in and so it shouldn t be a surprise that odd-year trend resumes this Sept in Seattle Of discipline those and seasons culminated in a Super Bowl berth and the squad came mere minutes from another in the NFC Championship Match This is the seventh time in ers history they ve started -of- on the road the last being in - Their squad won all six road games amid an - start en direction to repeating as Super Bowl champs The other years and NOT ONLY SHOW IN TOWN For those looking for extra sporting events while caravaning with the ers on the road here are several notable crossover events Washington football hosts U C Davis on Sept a day before the ers visit the Seahawks LSU football hosts Florida on Sept a day before the ers visit the Saints and the New York City Marathon is on Nov the same day the ers play the Giants in East Rutherford N J