If there’s one thing that San Francisco 49ers fans like to do, it’s complain about the team’s schedule. Fans have good reason to be miffed about the 2026 schedule because the Niners will play two international games and travel an absurd amount of miles.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan has not tried to hide his frustration about that fact, especially his team’s Week 1 matchup with the Los Angeles Rams in Australia.
But even when asked about some of the “softer” parts of the schedule, Shanahan is simply not having it.
Shanahan was asked about the fact the Niners have three home games following the Australia game, and here is what he had to say in response:
“I mean, three home games is irrelevant. That doesn’t mean anything. It means you’re going to have three more road games in December and January. So that’s my answer on three home games.”
He does have a point, especially since those three home games in September coincide with the hottest part of the season at Levi’s Stadium. The 49ers have had problems with the heat at home in the past, so they may not exactly be jumping for joy at the prospect of those three games.
It does make one wonder what Shanahan would deem a fair schedule. Perhaps, if every week, San Francisco alternated between home and road games, with the first few home games of the season being night games to negate the heat effect; there wouldn’t be a larger number of road games late in the season as the 49ers may be trying to make a playoff push.
Still, the schedule complaining does feed into a narrative the 49ers and their fans feel like everything goes against them. Whether it’s the schedule, injuries or penalties, some think Niner fans will blame anything else for their team not winning.
That’s not the fairest picture to paint, but the best way the Niners can shut all of that talk down is by going out and winning despite the schedule disadvantages they have this season.
No schedule is ever going to be perfect, and the NFL schedulers are not trying to make things completely fair for every team. They cannot do that with so many variables and different countries and games being played on different days of the week.
All Shanahan and the Niners can do is keep their heads down and try to take it one game at a time. It will not be an easy year, but if they play up to their potential, they should be a playoff team, so they can’t let the schedule throw them off mentally as well as physically.
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