5 nightmare scenarios 49ers would hate to see in 2022
By Peter Panacy
No. 4: 49ers schedule proves to be too difficult to overcome
In theory, San Francisco finishing in third place within the NFC West a year ago would amount to facing a relatively light 2022 campaign.
Well, not so much.
Based on last year’s win-loss records, the 49ers are tied for the fifth-toughest strength of schedule entering this season, and a big reason why is the fact the Niners aren’t going to get away from having to contend within a still-tough NFC West division.
Sure, the Seattle Seahawks might be in rebuild mode. But the Arizona Cardinals and Super Bowl-champion Los Angeles Rams remain legitimate threats.
And then there’s the AFC West, the division that should have effectively taken over as football’s toughest division this year after the notable arms race that took place with all four teams making serious strides to match up against each other.
Yes, the AFC West is going to beat itself up. But the NFC West plays the AFC West this year, too, and there’s always the danger of San Francisco not quite being equal to the task of handling its business within its own division, then falling way short when matching up against many an AFC rival in this context.