49ers schedule: Way too early win/loss predictions for 2023

The 2022 NFL season isn’t over, but we know who the 49ers will be playing next year. So let’s take a much too-early look at where the wins and losses could come in 2023.

With the Super Bowl coming up this weekend, two fanbases have a lot to talk about as it relates to an upcoming game. For fans of the 49ers and the rest of the NFL, the conversations swirl around what’s next: the offseason, free agency, the draft, and the like.

In this case, we’re going to leapfrog everything that will happen over the course of the next several months and skip ahead to September 2023 when the NFL will kick off its next season.

While we won’t know the order of the games will come in until later in the spring, the 49ers’ opponents for 2023 are all set. With the unbalanced 17-game schedule, the Niners will play a ninth road game in 2023, leaving their matchups looking like this:

Home:

Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, Baltimore Ravens, Cincinnati Bengals, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Away:

Arizona Cardinals, Los Angeles Rams, Seattle Seahawks, Philadelphia Eagles, Washington Commanders, Cleveland Browns, Pittsburgh Steelers, Minnesota Vikings, Jacksonville Jaguars

There are a lot of elements that could factor into the wins and losses, both internally — such as who will be the starting quarterback for the 49ers in 2023 — and externally — such as the length of road trips and other travel issues. Still, we’ll attempt to take on the predictions with what little information that’s available here in January.

And, of course, since the week-to-week schedule isn’t available as of yet, we’ll keep it simple and discuss the home and away games together. Be on the lookout for a more in-depth analysis of the actual schedule when it drops later in the offseason. Until then, without further ado, let’s dive into the games.

49ers’ 2023 home opponents

Arizona Cardinals

What to make of the Cardinals, who fired former head coach Kliff Kingsbury (who is headed to Thailand indefinitely) after a disastrous 2022 season, is anybody’s guess. A lot of the question of whether they’ll be able to turn the ship around and contend in the NFC West will depend on who comes in to steer it. An offensive-minded head coach seems to make sense considering how much the franchise has invested in quarterback Kyler Murray, but they also featured one of the weakest defenses in the NFL this year.

All this adds up to far too much to fix in one offseason and a game the 49ers should win.

Los Angeles Rams

The Rams are another mystery of the NFC West.

After winning the Super Bowl they fell harder than any former champion before them in 2022, and head coach Sean McVay’s waffling at the end of the campaign doesn’t bode well for a team that handed out draft picks like candy en route to that Super Bowl title. To put it lightly, there’s a great deal of flux in Los Angeles at the moment.

The most important element at play, however, is that the 49ers haven’t lost a regular-season game to the Rams since December 30, 2018. And while the NFC Championship loss is a blip on that otherwise impeccable record, expect the Niners to keep the streak going in 2023, especially if the Rams don’t improve.

Seattle Seahawks

Most 49ers fans were, shall we say, miffed by the Seahawks being in the playoff race in 2022. Especially when the expectation was that they’d be among the NFL’s worst teams heading into the season. Still, Seattle had to ride a fast start, a bevy of close games, and some late-season luck to get into the bracket, so the off-season is key for them.

And after sweeping the NFC West in 2022, the 49ers will be looking to do it again next season. A split to one of these three teams seems most likely, but I’ll bet on the Niners to take all three games at home.

Dallas Cowboys

The 49ers have ended the Cowboys’ season for two straight years but Dallas gets to visit Levi’s Stadium again in 2023, this time with lesser stakes.

But if there’s anything that the past two playoff matchups have proven it’s that the 49ers’ brand of football works well against the Cowboys, at least in their current iteration. With this 40th contest between these two storied franchises coming up in 2023 and each team having won 19 games (with one tie in 1969), this rubber match (at least for now) seems likely to go the 49ers’ way at the moment unless the Cowboys beef up their skill position players on offense.

New York Giants

The Giants got off to a fast start in 2022 before falling back down to earth and barely sneaking into the playoffs. They did beat the Vikings, but it’s likely they weren’t as good as their record showed, before getting trounced by the Eagles.

The biggest question for the G-Men will be what they do about their quarterback situation, a position currently being held down by Daniel Jones. The former Duke signal-caller has been wildly average as a starter for New York since being drafted no.6 overall in 2019 leaving the Giants to decide if the average quarterback they know is better than the potentially better one they don’t.

Next year feels like they’ll step back from the moderate success of 2022, so this feels like another home win for the 49ers.

Baltimore Ravens

This matchup comes down to one very important question: what will the Ravens do about Lamar Jackson?

Since winning the MVP in 2019, Jackson has seen a precipitous drop in his production and his availability. And after missing the final five games of the 2022 season, a fact that directly led to the Ravens falling short of the playoffs in spite of what Tyler Huntley’s making the Pro Bowl Games roster may tell you.

Jackson is more than likely getting the franchise tag while the franchise and their star quarterback try to work out a long-term deal, which means he’ll be a Raven, barring some sort of unexpected trade, when Baltimore travels to Levi’s.

If he plays, this matchup is one of the least favorable for the 49ers on their 2023 home schedule. Don’t be surprised if the Ravens come out on top here.

Cincinnati Bengals

The second of the home games against the AFC North opponents may be the toughest of all the 49ers’ matchups in 2023.

While the 49ers have beaten the Bengals the last two times the franchises have met, including a 41-17 smashing in Week 2 of 2019 as the 49ers began their Super Bowl run, Cincinnati is undoubtedly one of the marquee teams in the NFL, led by quarterback Joe Burrow and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase.

This game will come down to the trenches and whether the Bengals, for the second offseason in a row, can fix their offensive line and match up well against what should be yet another top-notch 49ers’ defensive line.

If Cincinnati does improve that unit, it could be a long day for the 49ers’ front seven. Losing to both AFC North visitors is not out of the question.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Bucs, on the other hand, are going to be in a pretty major state of flux for next season. Who steps in after the retirement of Tom Brady to play quarterback will be the major narrative of the offseason in Tampa.

The other problem is that Tampa built a short-term team around TB12, which means they have aging players all over the roster without much of a contingency plan for the club’s next steps.

All that to say, unless they convince another top quarterback to join them, there’s little reason to believe the 49ers will lose to Tampa, making it two years in a row with a victor at Levi’s against the Bucs.

Final home record: 6-2

49ers’ 2023 road opponents

Arizona Cardinals

Unless the Cardinals take drastic action, they should be bad again in 2023 while they continue to search for an identity. Cue the conversations about how they can unload Kyler Murray’s contract this time next year.

It’s another sweep of Arizona for the 49ers.

Los Angeles Rams

It must continue to be said that the Rams have struggled against the 49ers for years now (sadly, save for one game, which we won’t discuss any further). There are a lot of questions about this roster heading into 2023, especially after the injury-plagued 2022 that Matthew Stafford just came through.

Another sweep.

Seattle Seahawks

I hate this, but it’s well-documented that the Seahawks have been really good at home against the 49ers in recent years. This is the anti-Rams situation.

In fact, since head coach Kyle Shanahan arrived, the 49ers have only beaten Seattle five times overall and just twice in the Pacific Northwest. Three of those wins, including one on the road for the Niners, came in 2022.

That means the 49ers just manage a 5-1 interdivisional record in 2023.

Philadelphia Eagles

I’ll go on record: if the Eagles win the Super Bowl on Sunday, I want to see that season-opening Thursday Night Football contest as an NFC Championship Game rematch.

Maybe this time the Niners will have one healthy starting quarterback for the entire game and we’ll get to see what these two NFC heavyweights are really made of.

Maybe I’m just willing this into existence, but I want to see the 49ers get the chance to show how good they are and beat the Eagles on the road this time.

So I’m calling it now. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

Washington Commanders

The Commanders are sort of a milder version of the 49ers on the east coast.

They have a strong defensive, especially along the defensive line, and depend heavily on this unit to keep them in games in spite of who is playing quarterback on their offense.

And after just missing the playoffs (the only NFC East team to do so), they’ll be looking to improve their offense to give themselves a better chance at competing in a very difficult division. One way they might be looking to do so is by hiring 49ers’ offensive assistant Anthony Lynn as their new offensive coordinator, a move that’s still a possibility.

Still, barring some massive movement, Washington still stands to be a very winnable game for the 49ers. And so I expect they will win.

Cleveland Browns

It seems like the 49ers have at least a few games where they lose to teams they have no business losing to. Last year it was Chicago (albeit in an opening week monsoon), Atlanta, and a putrid Denver team. This upcoming season doesn’t have a lot of obvious candidates, but you can count the Browns among the options.

They should continue to have a talented defense and they’ll be heading into 2023 with a full offseason and season for DeShaun Watson, who will have a lot to prove given the scandal surrounding his life and how poorly he played in his return last year.

Still, I can’t quite make the leap with Cleveland, however, their division rivals feel like the perfect trap game.

Pittsburgh Steelers

The Steelers are well-coached and should once again feature a finicky and difficult defense. All their success, or lack thereof, will be predicated on the improvement of Kenny Pickett from his rookie season into year 2.

If he can show marked improvement and continue to put the team in a position to win, Pittsburgh will be another tough matchup for the 49ers, especially on the road.

This one, I think, will be the AFC North game they’ll drop on their travels in 2023, which means a less-than-stellar 1-3 record against that division.

Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings were the luckiest team in the NFL last year, as they won an absurd eleven one-score games last year while finishing with a point differential of -3. All the while, they won 13 games and the NFC North title.

Based on that, they should have won between eight and nine games in 2022.

This doesn’t seem like a team destined for a long run as division champs, despite what happens with Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. Especially consider the Lions might be on the rise.

This is a game the 49ers should win.

Jacksonville Jaguars

Speaking of teams on the rise, we come to the 49ers’ extra road game. And it’s one that comes with the intrigue of a possible international trip, as the Jaguars, who are owed by Shahid Khan who also owns Fulham FC of the English Premier League, and so gives up a home game each season to bring his team to London.

The Jags might have been a little ahead of schedule in 2022, winning their truly putrid AFC South division and winning a home playoff game in dramatic comeback fashion against the Chargers. But a good offseason could see them elevate themselves a little closer to the AFC’s elite group of Kansas City, Cincinnati, and Buffalo.

This feels like it could be a difficult matchup for the 49ers, especially if they do end up in London.

Final road record: 6-3

Final overall record: 12-5

Sure, it’s early, but it’s fun to speculate about what the team’s record might look like so far in advance. The offseason will tell us a lot, a fact that is as true for the 49ers in many ways as it is for most teams.