49ers NFL schedule: Ranking 5 toughest games in 2020
By Peter Panacy
Ranking out the 49ers’ five toughest games on the 2020 NFL schedule.
The San Francisco 49ers have the fourth-toughest strength of schedule heading into their 2020 campaign.
This, of course, is based on last year’s win-loss totals, and the crop of teams the Niners will play this season features seven matchups against teams that made the playoffs in 2019, including playing San Francisco’s NFC West division rivals, the Seattle Seahawks, twice.
It’s not always a wise move to suggest last year’s playoff contenders pose the same challenges a year later. Case in point, the New England Patriots host the 49ers in Week 7. While a trip to the East Coast is never an easy task for a West Coast team, the Patriots’ 2020 outlook is awfully different than it was a year ago, thanks to future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady leaving in free agency for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Week 7 will still be a tough challenge for San Francisco. But it’s not one of the toughest games head coach Kyle Shanahan and Co. will face this season.
Instead, Niner Noise explores the five other toughest contests on the 49ers’ upcoming 2020 NFL schedule.
No. 5: 49ers @ Cardinals, Week 16
Another NFC West rival, the Arizona Cardinals, are on the ascent and played the Niners hard both games last season, forcing a nail-biting relentless effort on Halloween in Arizona last year before a fourth-quarter comeback when the 49ers hosted the Cardinals two weeks later.
One of the biggest challenges San Francisco faced in both games was chasing down then-rookie quarterback Kyler Murray, whom former Niners defensive tackle DeForest Buckner called “like a little squirrel.”
The 49ers host the Cardinals in Week 1, and the hope is San Francisco’s defense will be fresh and ready.
By Week 16, however, the context will be wholly different, and chasing an elusive quarterback like Murray could prove to be one of the more difficult challenges coordinator Robert Saleh’s defense will face late in the season.
It also doesn’t help the Cardinals are trending upwards, particularly after a strong NFL Draft and trading for all-world wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.
This late-season contest could pose a lot of problems for San Francisco if both of last year’s games are any indication.