We don’t even know the 49ers’ full NFL schedule for 2022 just yet, but we do know the opponents. Why not some way-too-early win-loss predictions, right?
The San Francisco 49ers have no clue just how the league is going to put together the 2022 regular-season NFL schedule, and that schedule won’t be announced until later this spring anyway.
As far as the prime-time games, when the Niners’ bye week is, which week will feature Thursday Night Football and whether or not there are a lot of two- or even three-game road trips remains an unknown.
However, we do know the opponents San Francisco will face off against next season. At least that’s clear:
49ers home opponents
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Los Angeles Chargers
- Miami Dolphins
- New Orleans Saints
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers
- Washington Commanders
- Arizona Cardinals
- Los Angeles Rams
- Seattle Seahawks
49ers away opponents
- Atlanta Falcons
- Carolina Panthers
- Chicago Bears
- Denver Broncos
- Las Vegas Raiders
- Arizona Cardinals
- Los Angeles Rams
- Seattle Seahawks
Even without the actual NFL schedule being known, there are still so many other unknowns and X-factors working their way into the equation. How will each of those teams, even including the 49ers, navigate free agency and the NFL Draft? We know the Niners will all but assuredly move quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo this offseason. But what other blockbuster moves end up taking place between now and training camp?
Pretty much what we do know is the Niners will be playing their regular NFC West games, divisional matchups against the AFC West and NFC South, and a third-place schedule, all amounting to the league’s fifth-toughest schedule in terms of 2021 win-loss percentages.
It might seem a bit silly to go ahead and predict wins and losses for 2022. But, given we’re in the business of far-reaching predictions, let’s do it anyway.
49ers win/loss predictions: NFC West
Let’s get the NFC West out of the way first, the three obligatory inter-divisional road games and three road games San Francisco will have against the Seahawks, Rams and Cardinals.
Last season, the 49ers went 2-4 within the NFC West, the only two wins against the conference-champion Rams.
However, there are reasons to suspect the NFC West diminishes as the NFL’s toughest division. Los Angeles went all-in on its bid to win a Super Bowl, and Seattle endured the first sub-.500 season with quarterback Russell Wilson at the helm. While it’s not a back-breaking situation, neither the Niners, Rams nor Seahawks have a first-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, and only Seattle is in the clear in terms of being under the salary cap this offseason.
The biggest question, though, is whether or not San Francisco can improve within the division over last year’s mark.
49ers vs. Seahawks
Wilson is one of those quarterbacks linked to blockbuster-trade rumors, and that would clearly change everything if he’s moved this offseason.
He’s still rostered, though, yet it’s reasonable to assume it’ll take a year for Seattle to retool if it wants to keep him through the end of his two years remaining on his current contract.
The 49ers have won just one game in Seattle, Week 17 of the 2019 season, dating back to 2012, so let’s go ahead and suggest the Niners lose their road bout versus the Seahawks this year, too.
Splitting the series would still be an improvement, though.
Prediction vs. Seahawks: 1-1
49ers vs. Rams
Well, head coach Kyle Shanahan’s six-game win streak against Rams head coach Sean McVay was nice, but it ultimately came to a crashing end in the NFC Championship game.
However, Shanahan’s 10-5 record, including that playoff bout, is still considerable ownership. And if one is banking on Los Angeles suffering some kind of Super Bowl hangover, regardless of the outcome, it wouldn’t be too shocking to see San Francisco reestablish its dominance over LA once again.
Prediction vs. Rams: 2-0
49ers vs. Cardinals
Ever since quarterback Kyler Murray has been in the picture, the Cardinals have been a feisty opponent for the 49ers, including those nail-biting victories in 2019 and outside the flop of a performance Arizona showcased to close out 2020.
Let’s forget the Murray-less game versus the Niners that the Cardinals won last year, shall we?
So much of this depends on when the two Arizona games fall on the schedule. Head coach Kliff Kingsbury’s squad now has a reputation for second-half collapses during the regular season, evidenced by the Cards going 1-4 over their final five games of the year.
Kind of similar to what happened in 2020, too.
We can’t speculate on when San Francisco will play Arizona both times in 2022, but it’s surely within reach to split the series.
Prediction vs. Cardinals: 1-1
49ers win/loss predictions: Home games
The 49ers were on the road for the NFL’s first-ever 17th game of a regular-season, meaning they’ll get the extra home game this year.
After predicting a 4-2 NFC West record in 2022, let’s take a further look at the Niners’ remaining home bouts on the NFL schedule.
49ers vs. Chiefs
A rematch of Super Bowl LIV?
Yes, San Francisco would love to enact some vengeance here. But there’s no reason to suspect quarterback Patrick Mahomes, tight end Travis Kelce and wide receiver Tyreek Hill slow down after their own disappointing conference-championship exit.
And if Kansas City’s defense is even modestly as good as it was during the second half of 2021, it’ll be problematic for the 49ers.
Prediction vs. Chiefs: Loss
49ers vs. Chargers
The AFC West could take over as the league’s toughest division, and Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert is a big reason why.
The Bolts still have a lot of problems to figure out this offseason, namely fixing the league’s fourth-worst scoring defense. But Herbert masks a lot of those problems anyway.
If this game was on the road, we’d chalk it up to a loss. Since it’s at home, though, let’s predict the Niners win a shootout.
Prediction vs. Chargers: Win
49ers vs. Dolphins
A highly anticipated reunion between San Francisco and its former offensive coordinator, now-Dolphins head coach Mike McDaniel. That’ll be fun.
McDaniel knows Kyle Shanahan. Shanahan knows McDaniel. Both will try to exploit that.
The 49ers are, however, pound-for-pound better than Miami, though. Should be an easy victory.
Prediction vs. Dolphins: Win
49ers vs. Saints
The Saints actually travel to the Bay Area for a change, but they’re in the shadow of retired head coach Sean Payton, massively over the salary cap (almost $76 million) and don’t have a clear-cut answer at quarterback.
Prediction vs. Saints: Win
49ers vs. Buccaneers
No quarterback Tom Brady? No problem.
Well, sort of. The Buccaneers could still feature plenty of offensive weapons and an elite offensive line. Their defense, while aging and questionable within the secondary, is still good, too.
Still, if the Bucs don’t land a clear-cut successor to Brady this offseason, they’ll be in some trouble.
Prediction vs. Buccaneers: Win
49ers vs. Commanders
Chalk the Commanders up to being another one of those teams in need of a quarterback this offseason. While Taylor Heinicke impressed modestly over the course of the year, he’s little more than a stopgap option.
Like so many teams thus far on this list, Washington will pose a significantly greater threat if it lands a proven signal-caller. If not, it’ll have to rely on what’ll look to be a rebounding defense to get by.
Defenses travel, but a cross-country trip could make that challenging.
Prediction vs. Commanders: Win
49ers win/loss predictions: Road games
OK, so we’ve notched a 4-2 NFC West record and San Francisco winning all but one of its other non-divisional home games at Levi’s Stadium, accounting for a 9-3 record without covering the non-NFC West road bouts.
Generally speaking, handling your business at home while striving to go .500 or better on the road is a smart way to make the playoffs.
Let’s dive into the games on the road the 49ers will play.
49ers vs. Falcons
On paper, the Niners are vastly superior to the Falcons, who face a challenging offseason anyway being over $6.5 million over the cap and don’t have the means to wholly rebuild the franchise.
Still, Atlanta gave San Francisco a tough scrap at Levi’s Stadium last year, and the Falcons surprisingly finished 7-10 when many analysts thought they’d be no more than a four- or five-win team.
The 49ers should win this game, at least on paper. But if there was a deflating road loss against an inferior opponent, this feels like it.
Prediction vs. Falcons: Loss
49ers vs. Panthers
One of the benefits the Niners have with playing the NFC South in 2022 is three-quarters of that division is in need of a quarterback and will be faced with awfully few options to upgrade.
Such is the case with the Panthers, who couldn’t make it work with Sam Darnold last season and didn’t exactly enjoy the fruits of Cam Newton’s return either.
Running back Christian McCaffrey, Carolina’s best weapon, is returning from a serious injury suffered last season, too, and asking him to do it all against a strong San Francisco defense isn’t a strong proposition from the Panthers’ vantage point.
Prediction vs. Panthers: Win
49ers vs. Bears
Perhaps first-year Bears head coach Matt Eberflus helps turn second-year quarterback Justin Fields into a bona fide star.
Still, Chicago has more than a handful of holes to fill this offseason, and it’ll probably be at least another full year before the Bears are legitimate contenders.
Prediction vs. Bears: Win
49ers vs. Broncos
Of all the teams in need of a quarterbacking upgrade, the Broncos seem the most likely to engineer one. Perhaps the Green Bay Packers’ Aaron Rodgers heads on over to follow his former offensive coordinator, now-Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett.
Read More: Predicting where Jimmy Garoppolo, 5 other QBs end up playing in 2022
If that happens, Denver has almost all the pieces in place necessary to compete with an awfully tough AFC West, right up there with the likes of the Chiefs and Chargers.
If not, the Broncos will still be missing that vital piece under center despite a strong roster elsewhere.
Let’s include in our prediction the chance Rodgers jumps ship for Denver, meaning the 49ers lose this road game.
Prediction vs. Broncos: Loss
49ers vs. Raiders
The Raiders managed to navigate the storm in the wake of former head coach Jon Gruden’s dismissal and the tragedy surrounding former wide receiver Henry Ruggs last season, finishing with an admirable 10-7 regular-season record, a playoff berth and quarterback Derek Carr having arguably his best season since his Pro Bowl 2017 campaign.
With new head coach Josh McDaniels now in town, Las Vegas might be a tougher nut to crack than the last time these two teams squared off in 2018.
However, McDaniels still has to oversee fixing what was a not-good defense in 2021, and that’ll play right into the reason why the Niners pull off the victory here.
Prediction vs. Raiders: Win
San Francisco goes 3-2 in non-NFC West road games this season. And when matching up the remaining games on their schedule, our way-too-soon and pre-start-of-the-league-new-year 2022 NFL schedule predictions have the 49ers finishing the upcoming year with an impressive 12-5 finish.
Lofty? Sure. Based on 2021 rookie quarterback Trey Lance being at least as good as Jimmy Garoppolo was last season? Absolutely.
But not out of the question.