There is no competitive advantage to traveling across the country for an NFL game. The San Francisco 49ers are coming off of a four-win season and will try to turn their fortunes around in 2019 while owning one of the most brutal travel schedules in the league.
John Breech of CBS Sports recently published a list of the NFL teams ranked by travel miles in 2019. The Oakland Raiders were No. 1 when it comes to the most distance traveled, clocking in at a brutal 32,023 miles. Of course, much of that is due to their international game in London. In fact, each of the teams in the top three plays regular-season international games in 2019 (Raiders — London, Los Angeles Rams — London, Los Angeles Chargers — Mexico).
The 49ers rank No. 5 on the list with 25,512 travel miles in 2019. That sits one spot behind the division-rival Seattle Seahawks, who will journey 27,484 miles. The Seahawks are the only team which has more road games (5) than the 49ers (4) where the team travels more than 2,000 miles.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan and his squad will travel more than the Buffalo Bills, New York Giants, and New York Jets combined. They open the season with a cross-country trip to Tampa, Florida to play the Buccaneers and then head to Cincinnati, Ohio to face the Bengals before playing their first home game at Levi's Stadium on September 22.
The 49ers will also travel three time zones to face the Washington Redskins and Baltimore Ravens. You can add a Central Time Zone matchup against the New Orleans Saints to their extensive travel list.
San Francisco last won a game on the Eastern Time Zone on November 16, 2014, in a victory over the New York Giants.
You can view the complete ranking at CBS Sports.
H/t to Kirk Larrabee of 24/7 Sports for the find
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