San Francisco 49ers 2023 schedule: Heavy travel, early starts add a challenge

The 49ers will face a schedule stacked with intensive travel this fall. That’s the initial takeaway following the NFL’s official release of its 2023 slate, which has the 49ers set for nine games on the road and eight at home.

Coach Kyle Shanahan’s team will play five games in the Eastern time zone, including four which are currently set for an “early-body-clock start” at 10 am. Pacific time (they played only three such games in 2022). The schedule also doesn’t offer many opportunities for East Coast stayovers. The most logical candidate, the week between October contests at Cleveland and Minnesota, might not qualify because the game against the Vikings isn’t until Monday night.

Advertisement

In all, the 49ers are set to fly 29,958 miles to cover their 2023 schedule, the second most of any NFL team. Only the Seahawks, who are slated to fly 31,600 miles, are set to spend more time on airplanes.

Here are takeaways on the 49ers’ schedule, which opens Sept. 10 at Pittsburgh.

The 49ers will be headed to Pittsburgh before the cold-weather season, although they did learn last year that adverse conditions are still possible on the road in Week 1 (remember the monsoon in Chicago). The Steelers are coming off a 9-8 season during which they fielded a middling offense (No. 18 defense-adjusted value over average) and defense (No. 12 DVOA). Then-rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett started 12 of Pittburgh’s final 13 games and is expected to be back under center for Year 2.

The 49ers should be favored to win regardless of who’s playing quarterback for them, so winning the turnover battle can be considered the top key to victory.

This one, a rematch of the NFC Championship Game, is obvious. The 49ers have openly lamented the fact that quarterback Brock Purdy suffered his elbow injury so early during their last trip to Philadelphia. They feel it robbed them of a fair shot at victory.

“I am glad we’re not playing Philly Week 1,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said at a fundraiser event Wednesday evening. “I want to play them at a better time. I want to make sure our whole team is right there. … We feel like we didn’t get to do it last time, and I’m ready to go back again.”

GO DEEPER

Finding NFL games on TV in 2023 could be confusing. Here's what you need to know

Call it the Philadelphia sandwich (cheesesteak?). The 49ers play divisional rival Seattle twice, once before their trip to face the Eagles and once after it. The first game against the Seahawks comes in Seattle on Thanksgiving night, while the second is Dec. 10 at Levi’s Stadium.

Advertisement

The 49ers beat the Seahawks three times last season, but it does appear that Seattle is a rising stock — and divisional games tend to be tough battles. Will Shanahan’s team be able to conjure the necessary intensity for three straight big games against presumably good opponents? The bridge from November to December is a tough one, as teams are usually beaten up by then — but the finish line isn’t yet in clear sight.

When the 49ers last traveled to face the Jaguars, Urban Meyer was Jacksonville’s coach. He’d be fired before a miserable 3-14 season even ended. The Jaguars have turned it around since then. Quarterback Trevor Lawrence made big strides under new coach Doug Pederson last season. Jacksonville went 9-8, won the AFC South and prevailed in the wild-card round of the playoffs with a spectacular 27-point comeback win against the Chargers.

The 49ers will be coming off their bye week when they play the Jaguars, and that should provide them a boost. But the early-body-clock start against an up-and-coming team lines up to create a challenging Sunday for them.

The Cardinals were abysmal last season. Will they improve under new head coach Jonathan Gannon in 2023? Maybe. But it would still be a bad look for the defending NFC West champion 49ers to drop an early-season game to the 2022 cellar dwellers.

The Week 4 game against Arizona also comes right before the 49ers’ first presumably “tough” stretch of the season. They follow it with a Sunday night showdown against the Cowboys and then a road trip to Cleveland and Minnesota, which precedes another heavyweight home bout against Cincinnati. So the 49ers could really use a win heading into that four-game run.

The Eagles and Bengals ranked No. 3 and 4 offensive DVOA, respectively, last season. They both return star quarterbacks in Jalen Hurts and Joe Burrow, so these two games figure to be big-time showdowns against a 49ers’ defense that finished the 2022 season ranked No. 1 across several categories.

Advertisement

New 49ers’ defensive coordinator Steve Wilks is expected to bring a more aggressive approach to his unit, especially on the back end. That should make for an electric matchup against Hurts, Burrow and the cadre of skill-position weapons that the Eagles and Bengals both feature.

The Cowboys’ defense finished 2022 ranked No. 2 in defensive DVOA, behind only the 49ers. Not surprisingly, the divisional playoff game between the two teams was a low-scoring struggle. It seems very possible that the Oct. 8 rematch will play out in a similar fashion. 

Dallas Edger rusher Micah Parsons figures to be a problematic matchup for anyone assigned to block him. Last season, 49ers right tackle Mike McGlinchey struggled through that job. This could be a pivotal early test for Colton McKivitz, the favorite to succeed McGlinchey at right tackle.

The 49ers finished 13-4 last season. Their defense, which has added star defensive tackle Javon Hargrave, has a chance to be even better in 2023. Their offense has retained its bevy of skill-position talent. It’s reasonable to assume that the 49ers can keep churning and post another strong campaign because they were dominant before Purdy hurt his elbow in Philadelphia last season.

The Seahawks seem to be improving, but it’s hard to see the Rams — who were forced to jettison some front-line talent due to salary-cap issues this offseason — or Cardinals posing a major threat to the 49ers, who were clearly the division’s best team in 2022. Until they’re actually unseated, it’s only fair to predict that the 49ers will again finish on top.

(Photo: Tim Nwachukwu / Getty Images)