49ers 2020 schedule: 3 potential trap games for San Francisco
By Peter Panacy
The San Francisco 49ers will have a tough schedule in 2020, but often the assumed wins on the NFL schedule wind up being the most problematic. Here are three potential trap games this season.
Late in the 2019 season, the San Francisco 49ers were returning home from a grueling two-game road trip against the playoff-bound Baltimore Ravens and New Orleans Saints, getting the chance to host the four-win Atlanta Falcons in Week 15.
All signs pointed to a Niners victory. San Francisco barely lost a tough game on the road to Baltimore before pulling off one of the more miraculous comebacks against the Saints in New Orleans. The 49ers should have trounced the lowly Falcons, right?
Except it didn’t go that way.
The Niners fell to the Falcons 29-22 in what was the epitome of a trap game. Granted, Atlanta finished the year strong by winning its last four games. But still, the Super Bowl-bound 49ers should have been the victor in this particular contest.
Now, the 2020 NFL schedule has been announced, and there’s no shortage of tough games on San Francisco’s calendar:
- Week 1 vs. Arizona Cardinals
- Week 2 @ New York Jets
- Week 3 @ New York Giants
- Week 4 vs. Philadelphia Eagles
- Week 5 vs. Miami Dolphins
- Week 6 vs. Los Angeles Rams
- Week 7 @ New England Patriots
- Week 8 @ Seattle Seahawks
- Week 9 vs. Green Bay Packers
- Week 10 @ New Orleans Saints
- Week 11 BYE
- Week 12 @ Los Angeles Rams
- Week 13 vs. Buffalo Bills
- Week 14 vs. Washington Redskins
- Week 15 @ Dallas Cowboys
- Week 16 @ Arizona Cardinals
- Week 17 vs. Seattle Seahawks
The big games will get all the attention and hype. But the Niners also have to be leery about falling victim to yet another trap-game scenario like the one which happened at home against the Falcons.
Especially if head coach Kyle Shanahan and Co. are gunning to make it back to the Super Bowl with a high seed.
Here are three trap games San Francisco should worry about this upcoming season.