How 49ers fared in 8 games vs. playoff teams this season

How’d the #49ers do against playoff teams this year?

The 49ers entered 2023 knowing they’d have a tough schedule. Their cluster of games where they faced the Seahawks, Eagles and Seahawks wound up being just one of a slew of tough stretches for San Francisco.

Predicting schedule difficulty before a season is nigh impossible given how many variables are introduced during the year. The 49ers’ slate wound up being about as tough as anticipated, although injuries in the middle of the season made things harder than they likely needed to be.

In all San Francisco finished 12-5 and played eight games against teams that made the playoffs. Here’s how they fared in those games:

San Francisco 49ers 2024 opponents set

Here’s a look at the #49ers’ 2024 opponents:

The 49ers don’t have their 2024 schedule yet, but their 2024 opponents are set after Week 18 action wrapped up.

San Francisco will have its regular NFC West games, but they’ll also face the AFC East, NFC North, and winners from the NFC East, NFC South and AFC West.

Here’s a look at their 2024 opponents on the road and at home:

What’s at stake for 49ers in Week 12 action?

Here’s what’s at stake for the #49ers in Week 12:

Typically a Sunday off for the 49ers means there are several games for fans to keep an eye on that could impact San Francisco. That’s not the case in Week 12 with only one game affecting the 49ers and their quest for the No. 1 seed.

That one game is massive though. It’s the Bills visiting the Eagles for a 1:25pm Pacific Time kickoff.

If the Eagles win it lightens the stakes of the 49ers-Eagles showdown in Philadelphia a little since Philly would still have a two-game lead on San Francisco. It would still be a huge game since the Eagles could effectively lock up the one seed by beating the 49ers, while San Francisco would still be one game back even if they won at Philly. They would hold the all important head-to-head tiebreaker though, which would be crucial in the scenario where they’re still a game back.

However, that situation pales in comparison to what happens if Philadelphia loses to Buffalo.

If the Bills win and drop the Eagles to 9-2, it sets up a showdown for the NFC’s top seed in Week 13. A 49ers win over a 9-2 Eagles squad puts both teams at 9-3 and gives San Francisco the head-to-head tiebreaker. A 49ers loss in that scenario would effectively end their hopes of a top seed in the NFC since they’d be two back and not hold the tiebreaker.

Things could get messy down the stretch in the NFC with the Lions also in the mix for the No. 1 seed. For now though the Eagles are directly ahead of the 49ers and losses for them put San Francisco in a more advantageous spot heading into their NFC championship game rematch in Week 13.

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49ers schedule: Biggest remaining games in 2nd half

There are some huge games left on the #49ers’ schedule. We rolled through the big ones:

The 49ers’ stumble into the bye week that featured three consecutive losses turned the second half of their schedule into a much more daunting slate.

San Francisco from Week 10 on was always going to have a tough road with several games against playoff teams and a couple more against potential playoff teams. However, after Week 5 it looked like the 49ers would steamroll any team in the league save for a select few like Philadelphia and Kansas City.

Now they look far more beatable and capable of losing a few games down the stretch which could launch them not only out of consideration for the No. 1 seed, but out of the playoffs entirely.

Every NFC West or conference game is going to matter for possible tiebreakers. Being good within the division and within the NFC will be crucial. We removed that criteria though to pick out the five biggest games of the nine left on the 49ers’ schedule:

49ers have been dominant after bye week under Kyle Shanahan

The #49ers have been dominant after the bye week with Kyle Shanahan as their head coach. A season-by-season look:

The 49ers couldn’t have gone into their bye week in much worse shape. They were banged up and struggling with three consecutive losses after a 5-0 start. To make matters worse, they had similar issues in all three defeats with their run game struggling and their defense failing to affect the quarterback and get key stops.

A week off should help kickstart a turnaround, and history is on their side in a quest to regain the form they had to start the year.

Under head coach Kyle Shanahan the 49ers have almost always been better after the bye than before, accumulating a 16-30 record (.347 winning percentage) before the break, and a 36-16 record (.692 winning percentage) after it.

Here’s how they’ve looked before and after the bye week in each season under Shanahan:[anyclip-media thumbnail=”undefined” playlistId=”undefined” content=”dW5kZWZpbmVk”][/anyclip-media]

Former Pro Bowl LT Taylor Lewan says 49ers are going 17-0

A former Titans Pro Bowl LT is all aboard the #49ers bandwagon.

The 49ers’ hot start to the 2023 season continued Sunday when they knocked off the Cardinals 35-16 at Levi’s Stadium. They’re now 4-0 to start their quest of avenging a second-consecutive NFC championship game loss. San Francisco’s strong first four games has former Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan believing the team can make some history.

In an appearance with Kay Adams on her show, ‘Up & Adams,’ Lewan threw out the idea that the 49ers would not only beat the Cowboys in Week 5, but would actually win the rest of their games.

I think the Niners win that game,” Lewan said of the upcoming divisional playoff rematch. “I’m riding the Niners ’til they lose. And then I’ll come on this show and be like ‘hey, we finally lost. Thank God, I can start to think logically.’ But I think the Niners right now, in my mind, they’re going 17-0.”

A 17-0 run by the 49ers would be pretty remarkable considering the daunting schedule they have ahead of them.  Five of their remaining opponents are presently in the playoffs after four weeks. They also have a gauntlet late in the year where they go to Seattle on a short week, then visit the Eagles before heading home to face the Seahawks again.

They’ll certainly earn it if they wind up becoming the first team to win 17 regular-season games. There’s a long way to go until then though, and their first step is getting past the Cowboys at home in Week 5.

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49ers ticket prices plummet in resale market

The average price of a 49ers ticket on the secondary market has dropped substantially since last season.

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Despite sitting in the upper tier of the NFC heading into the 2023 campaign, the 49ers have seen the prices of their tickets on the resale market plummet since last season.

The average price of a 49ers ticket on the secondary market is sitting at $410. That’s down a whopping $332 from last year’s average price of $714 according to TicketSmarter.

A drop in average ticket price on the secondary market isn’t common across the NFL this year. The 49ers are one of just four teams to see a dip, along with the Bengals, Rams and Cardinals.

It’s easy to see why the 49ers and Bengals saw their prices dip despite their success last season. They made playoff runs that might’ve inflated the cost to get in the door, especially late in the year. For the Rams and Cardinals, they’re simply teams expected to struggle this season after going into 2022 with varying levels of expectations.

For 49ers fans planning to attend a game this year, it may be wise to get tickets now because it wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see those average prices climb if the team makes another run to the postseason in 2023.

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2 of 49ers 3 preseason games will be on national TV

2 of the 49ers 3 preseason games will be on national TV.

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The NFL on Thursday announced the slate of preseason games that will be carried on NFL Network. The announcement brought good news for 49ers fans who live outside the team’s market with two of their three preseason contests landing on that slate.

San Francisco’s preseason opener against the Raiders and their preseason finale against the Chargers will both be NFL Network broadcasts.

The 49ers and Raiders kick off from Allegiant Stadium on Sunday, August 13 at 1:00pm Pacific Time. That game will be preceded by joint practices between the two clubs in Southern Nevada.

The 49ers host the Chargers on Friday, August 25 at 7:00pm Pacific Time to wrap up their exhibition schedule.

All of San Francisco’s preseason games will be shown on KPIX in the Bay Area.

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Ranking quarterbacks on 49ers schedule from best to worst

Ranking the 14 quarterbacks on the 49ers’ schedule from best to worst:

The 49ers have a tough schedule in 2023 after finishing first in the NFC West last season. Typically a tough schedule means needing to go through a gauntlet of very good quarterbacks.

How good are the QBs on the 49ers’ schedule though? We went through and ranked the 14 presumed starting QBs on their 17-game slate and found that it mostly reflects the QB landscape in the NFL.

There are some heavy hitters at the top, followed by a massive middle tier where the players are mostly interchangeable depending on supporting cast and coaching staff, then there’s a small bottom tier of unknowns or outright bad QBs.

For our rankings we chose one QB from each team, though a couple clubs will have QB battles playing out during the offseason. Here’s how the list shook out before the season, and we’ll update it at year’s end:

Here’s when 49ers and Raiders will hold joint practices

Here’s when the 49ers and Raiders will hold joint practices in Nevada:

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The 49ers and Raiders in will face off in Las Vegas to open the preseason. Before their bout on Aug. 13, they’ll hold a couple of joint practices. Dates for those sessions were released Saturday per NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco.

San Francisco will head to Vegas for some early joint sessions on Aug. 10 and 11 at the Raiders’ practice facility in Henderson, Nev.

It’s unclear for now whether the joint practices will be open to fans. Last year when the 49ers and Vikings had practice together in Minnesota fans were allowed to attend.

These practices will be particularly interesting for the 49ers since head coach Kyle Shanahan typically values them more than he does the preseason games. With quarterback questions aplenty it’ll be intriguing to see how the team operates at that spot in this environment. It could tell us a lot about how the battle for depth chart positioning is going.

Kickoff for the 49ers and Raiders matchup is set for 1:00pm Pacific Time on Aug. 13.

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