49ers schedule: 3 games in 2nd half San Francisco can’t afford to lose

Some may argue the 49ers schedule in the second half of 2022 is easier than the first eight games, but the Niners still better win these three tilts.

In an ideal world, the San Francisco 49ers schedule over the first eight weeks of the 2022 season would have produced a record better than the 4-4 mark where head coach Kyle Shanahan’s squad found itself entering the bye.

Looking at the four losses, it’s probably fair to say the Niners should have beaten inferior teams like the Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos and Atlanta Falcons, although Atlanta has been feisty this season despite critics thinking it boasted one of the worst rosters in the NFL entering the year.

Regardless, San Francisco is at .500 with nine games remaining, and there are certainly some challenges left on the 49ers schedule from here on out. Road games against the Seattle Seahawks have been tough for well over 10 years now, even though quarterback Russell Wilson is out of the NFC West, while welcoming quarterback Tom Brady and a suddenly resurging Tampa Bay Buccaneers team to Levi’s Stadium will present challenges in itself.

Especially Brady facing off against his boyhood team back in California.

But, thinking about those three could-have-been-win losses the Niners coughed up in the first half of the season (we’re looking at you, Weeks 1 and 3, especially), what games remaining on the calendar need to be classified as “must win” games?

Here are three contests in the second half of 2022 that San Francisco better have no business losing.