It's almost time to start planning your trips to Levi's Stadium for San Francisco 49ers home games, trips to other stadiums for road games, or maybe just your Sundays (and possibly assorted other days) in front of your big screen television. The NFL confirmed that the regular season schedule will be released on Thursday, April 20 at 5 p.m. PT. As usual, they will be debuting the schedule with a two-part special on NFL Network.
Of course, we have known who the 49ers' opponents will be since the end of the 2016 regular season. They are as follows.
Home: Cowboys, Giants, Jaguars, Titans, Panthers, Cardinals, Rams, Seahawks
Away: Eagles, Redskins, Texans, Colts, Bears, Cardinals, Rams, Seahawks
The only remaining question has been when the 49ers will face these opponents. That will be revealed on Thursday night, just one week prior to the 2017 NFL Draft. The NFL released its 2017 preseason schedule last week but what fans are really waiting for is the regular season schedule.
Last year, the NFL schedule was also revealed on a Thursday while the year before, it was announced on a Tuesday. The 49ers will be kicking off their third straight season with a new coaching staff. Kyle Shanahan was hired a day following the Super Bowl while general manager John Lynch took over the front office on January 29.
Over the past two years, the 49ers have opened up the regular season at home as the second game of a Monday night doubleheader. They then had to travel across the country for early Sunday games against teams coming off of playoff appearances. Both years resulted in a decisive Week 1 victory by the 49ers followed by disastrous Week 2 beatings by the Pittsburgh Steelers (2015) and the Carolina Panthers (2016). The 49ers likely hope to avoid another scenario like that.