The 49ers must endure a first-place schedule in 2020 with some top quarterbacks in the NFC West alone. Who are the toughest QBs on the schedule?
A year ago, the San Francisco 49ers had the benefit of being an under-the-radar team yet still had to face quite a number of top-tier teams en route to their 13-3 regular-season finish and NFC West crown.
Along the way, the Niners beat some exceptional quarterbacks, including the New Orleans Saints’ Drew Brees and the Seattle Seahawks’ Russell Wilson. And San Francisco came close to beating Wilson twice and nearly knocked off the NFL’s eventual MVP, Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.
Now facing a first-place schedule entering 2020, the 49ers are again going to be tasked with battling some top-tier quarterbacks.
The division alone provides some key challenges, and it’ll be provocative seeing which of those NFC West bouts winds up being the most problematic for the Niners’ own quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, and Co. Yet there are plenty of other quarterbacks to watch when San Francisco undergoes its regular-season campaign to get back to the Super Bowl.
Some, like the Philadelphia Eagles’ Carson Wentz and Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen, could provide some serious challenges. The Niners could also potentially face a rookie upstart, the Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa, in Week 5 and he could create problems.
Same with the veteran and former 2015 MVP, Cam Newton, who’s expected to spark the New England Patriots offense in the wake of the future Hall of Famer Tom Brady’s offseason departure.
But Wentz, Allen, Tagovailoa and Newton don’t quite make the cut for the five toughest signal-callers San Francisco will face this season.
And No. 5 on the list should spark off a new chapter in a longstanding rivalry.