The San Francisco 49ers have announced which jerseys they will wear for which games next season, and sadly, their all black “rivalry” uniforms may be the death of them yet again.
The Niners have only worn that uniform once before, and it was earlier this year in Week 18 against the Seattle Seahawks. With a win, the Niners would have claimed the No. 1 seed in the NFC and would have had a first-round bye. With a loss, they had to go on the road.
The 49ers offense was completely shut down by Seattle’s defense, and they ended up having to go on the road against Philadelphia, which was a much tougher playoff path. Are the uniforms entirely to blame? Probably not, especially since the Niners got smoked again by Seattle just a few weeks later while wearing their usual white road uniform.
Fans do not have fond memories of those black jerseys, and many are split on how they look, but the Niners are going to wear them again in 2026, this time against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 14.
That game will be at home at Levi’s Stadium, and it could be an absolutely pivotal game in the NFC West. No one would be shocked if it ends up being a three-horse race again between the Niners, Rams, and Seahawks, so every head-to-head game has so much importance on it.
The first matchup against the Rams will be in Week 1. That contest will take place in Australia, so it’s unpredictable who will win that game, especially since there are usually a lot of upsets early in the season when teams are just playing in their normal stadiums.
That second matchup could matter a lot because we will have a better sense of which teams are contenders and which ones are pretenders by that point.
The Week 14 matchup will be hard for a number of reasons. For one, the Niners will be flying cross-country after a game in New York against the Giants the week prior. Plus, it kicks off a tough four-game stretch for San Francisco in which they will face the Rams, Los Angeles Chargers, Kansas City Chiefs, and Philadelphia Eagles.
That four-week stretch could very well define the 49ers’ season.
Common sense says what uniform a team wears doesn’t matter, but it does. It has to be at least a little jarring going from throwing to red or white jerseys all year to suddenly having to throw to black jerseys.
Minor details matter in close games, so let’s hope those black jerseys do not derail San Francisco’s season yet again.
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