49ers schedule: 5 games that could determine playoff push

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A general view of a San Francisco 49ers helmet (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/Getty Images) /

With the 2021 San Francisco 49ers schedule out, Niner Noise looks at five games which could determine a lot for the postseason.

Maybe the most anticipated part of any offseason is the revealing of the new schedule. The 2021 edition for the San Francisco 49ers looks promising and we could see some playoff implications within the first few weeks.

Since we’ve all had some time to book our flights, hotels, and tickets we’ll start thinking about January and the playoffs.

Some highlights of the new 49ers schedule include:

Five games with a start time of 1 p.m. ET.
Five prime-time games including the home opener on Sunday Night Football.
A matchup against former 49ers defensive lineman DeForest Buckner and the Indianapolis Colts.
A potential head-to-head with Chicago Bears rookie quarterback Justin Fields and 49ers rookie quarterback Trey Lance.
A Week 6 bye.

The Niners also have a string of NFC games just before the bye which could determine who will host a playoff game.

Looking at the back half of their schedule, there are some pretty winnable games for San Francisco. The 49ers will take on the Cincinnati Bengals, Atlanta Falcons, and Houston Texas in the final five games of the season with the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 11. This isn’t a knock on those teams and the games will certainly be competitive, but if the Niners want to make the postseason, they’ll need to take care of business.

But for not highlighting strictly all the NFC West games, we’ll take a look at five other games on the 49ers’ schedule which could determine if they make the playoffs and where they’d end up.

Starting with the second game of the year against Philadelphia.