Niner Noise
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3 biggest reasons to worry about the 49ers in 2020

By Peter Panacy

MIAMI, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 02: Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers is forced out of bounds by Rashad Fenton #27 of the Kansas City Chiefs during the fourth quarter in Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium on February 02, 2020 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 02: Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers is forced out of bounds by Rashad Fenton #27 of the Kansas City Chiefs during the fourth quarter in Super Bowl LIV at Hard Rock Stadium on February 02, 2020 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
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DeForest Buckner, Latavius Murray, 49ers, Saints
DeForest Buckner #99 of the San Francisco 49ers tackles Latavius Murray #28 of the New Orleans Saints (Photo by Michael Zagaris/San Francisco 49ers/Getty Images) /

No. 1: 49ers 2020 Schedule Could Be Tougher than 2019

In 2019, CBS Sports’ John Breech broke down how the Niners had the league’s 11th toughest schedule, based on their opponents’ previous year’s win-loss records.

If anything, the second half of the schedule turned into a gauntlet with the 49ers facing playoff-bound teams like the Green Bay Packers, Baltimore Ravens, New Orleans Saints and Seattle Seahawks.

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No big deal, right? After all, San Francisco finished the regular season with a 13-3 record and the first overall seed in the NFC.

In 2020, however, Breech listed the Niners having the fourth toughest schedule and the hardest within the conference. The schedule isn’t known yet, but the opponents are. And the 49ers will have some notable 2019 playoff teams on the docket, including the Seahawks (twice), the Packers, the Saints along with the Philadelphia Eagles and Buffalo Bills.

Granted, the parity of the league is something real. 2019 playoff teams can just as easily be sub-.500 squads the following season. But that argument cuts both ways. All one needs to do is look at San Francisco going 4-12 in 2018, then answering with a Super Bowl appearance the following year.

As such, sub-.500 teams like the New York Giants, Arizona Cardinals and New York Jets — all facing the Niners this season — could be the 2020 editions of the next upstart.

Next. Ranking 49ers' top 5 safety options in 2020 NFL Draft. dark

Each one of those teams won’t overlook San Francisco this season. The 49ers aren’t going to be a trap-game beneficiary like they were in 2017 or 2018. Yet one hopes they can replicate the same mentality, schedule-wise, they had a season ago.