The NFL revealed today that it will release the full 2021 regular-season schedule on Wednesday, May 12, at 5 p.m. PT (8 p.m. ET). The unveiling will take place simultaneously on the league's official website, team sites, and be featured during a breakdown show on NFL Network.
Get ready for the biggest season ever. The 2021 NFL Schedule powered by AWS will be released on May 12th.
📺: NFL Schedule Release '21 presented by Verizon on @NFLNetwork Wednesday, May 12th at 8pm ET. pic.twitter.com/PnhtS3V0dd
— NFL (@NFL) April 21, 2021
Last season's schedule was released on Thursday, May 7, 2020. The last Wednesday schedule release came in 2019.
The NFL's recently expanded regular season will begin this year, adding a 17th opponent for each NFL team. For the San Francisco 49ers, that will mean a road trip to play the Cincinnati Bengals. On May 12, we'll finally learn the date and time for that matchup, along with the 16 others.
The extra game will always be an inter-conference matchup based on each team's finish from the previous season. The 2021 season will feature each NFC West team facing the AFC North opponent that finished the 2020 season with the same division ranking. Both the 49ers and the Bengals finished in last place within their respective divisions.
As it does every season, San Francisco will play each NFC West opponent twice. The team will also face the entire NFC North and AFC South divisions and this past season's last-place opponents from the NFC South and NFC East — the Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles.
Below are the 49ers' opponents for the 2021 season.
Home Opponents
Arizona Cardinals
Los Angeles Rams
Seattle Seahawks
Atlanta Falcons
Green Bay Packers
Houston Texans
Indianapolis Colts
Minnesota Vikings
Road Opponents
Arizona Cardinals
Los Angeles Rams
Seattle Seahawks
Chicago Bears
Cincinnati Bengals
Detroit Lions
Jacksonville Jaguars
Philadelphia Eagles
Tennessee Titans
Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reported two other NFL tidbits today. One is that a proposal to change the rules surrounding jersey numbers has passed.
Proposal on changes to jersey numbers passed, per source. Break out the single-digits!
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 21, 2021
🤔 https://t.co/Szu3kuwLmF pic.twitter.com/32UjLmm90i
— Kyle Juszczyk (@JuiceCheck44) April 21, 2021
The proposal to eliminate overtime during preseason games has also passed.
Also passed: No more preseason overtime.
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) April 21, 2021
