49ers schedule: Early win/loss predictions for 2021 season

The NFL released the 49ers schedule for the 2021 season on Wednesday, so Niner Noise takes an early stab at the team’s win/loss record for the year. 

Like the rest of the league’s 32 teams on Wednesday, the San Francisco 49ers revealed their 2021 schedule to the fanbase, which, for the first time in the history of the NFL, includes a 17-game table for all teams.

This post-draft period of the league’s calendar is generally one of high optimism for every team in the league. After all, everyone is 0-0 and with the high rate of worst-to-first teams the NFL is well known for, every fanbase is excited about its team’s potential.

The schedule release can have a major impact on that sense among fans across the league as the order of games can have as much an impact on who teams play throughout their schedule.

The difference between playing the same team early in the season versus the end of the campaign could mean a win at one point and a loss at another. Ideally, it shouldn’t matter, but as fans of the Niners are well aware, injuries are massively impactful as are things like winning streaks, travel, and other non-football-related elements.

Another factor will be the travel the 49ers will endure, as they will travel the most miles in the NFL in order to complete their 17-game schedule, including flights to Cincinnati, Tennessee, Jacksonville, Philadelphia, and Detroit.

Not to mention the return flights to California and road games against division opponents.

With all that in mind, let’s take a stab at predicting San Francisco’s win/loss record for the 2021 schedule now that it is out in the world. Obviously, things like the quarterback decision and health of returning players such as EDGEs Nick Bosa and Dee Ford could change the outcomes here.

But for now, the prediction is based on what we know now.