Here is a week-by-week look at the 49ers’ 2025 schedule as they try to return to the playoffs and make another Super Bowl run
Week 1: Sunday, Sept. 7 (1:05 p.m., FOX)
at Seattle Seahawks
Sam Darnold’s Seahawks debut comes against a rebuilt 49ers’ defense with Robert Saleh reprising his role as coordinator after four years as the Jets’ head coach. Linebacker Fred Warner and the run defense will get a firm test out the gate to see if it’s improved enough to thwart Kenneth Walker III. If Brock Purdy improves to 3-0 all-time in Seattle, critics of his contract extension will be silenced – for a week. If Christian McCaffrey is available for this opener, then the 49ers already will be off to a better start than last year.
Week 2: Sunday, Sept. 14 (10 a.m., FOX)
at New Orleans Saints
A week after Saints coach Kellen Moore makes his debut at the Superdome against the Arizona Cardinals, here come the 49ers. Opening with back-to-back road games could be a sign of good things ahead for San Francisco. The 49ers did in 2019, ’21 and ’23, and those Niners teams started 2-0 and reached the playoffs.
Week 3: Sunday, Sept. 21 (1:25 p.m., FOX)
vs. Arizona Cardinals
It’s the 49ers’ home opener and official unveiling of an updated Levi’s Stadium, which will host the Super Bowl on Feb. 8. The last time the Cardinals were in town, the 49ers blew a 10-point fourth quarter lead and lost in the stadium’s hottest game ever (89 degrees at kickoff, with temperatures eventually reaching 100).
Jauan Jennings #15 of the San Francisco 49ers and Starling Thomas V #24 of the Arizona Cardinals fight after the play during the second quarter at State Farm Stadium on Jan. 05, 2025 in Glendale, Arizona. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Week 4: Sunday, Sept. 28 (1:05 p.m. FOX)
vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
The Jaguars interviewed Saleh before hiring Liam Coen as a first-time head coach, so look for the 49ers’ defensive coordinator to have extra motivation to scheme the 49ers’ attack on quarterback Trevor Lawrence. After three games, will Jaguars hot-shot two-way rookie Travis Henry still be more of a wide receiver than cornerback?
Week 5: Thursday, Oct. 2 (5:15 p.m., Prime Video)
at Los Angeles Rams
The 49ers’ appearance at SoFi Stadium is sure to attract another sea of red-jersey fans to create a home-away-from-home environment. But the reigning division champs will give the SoCal fans something to cheer for with a top-notch defensive front and an offense that now includes former Packers star Davante Adams to complement Matthew Stafford, Puka Nakua and Kyren Williams. Williams scored three touchdowns in last year’s Rams’ home comeback win over the 49ers.
Week 6: Sunday, Oct. 12 (10 a.m., CBS)
at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Neither an early start nor Jake Moody missing his first three field-goal attempts of the game derailed the 49ers’ 2024 visit, which Moody settled by booting a 44-yarder as time expired. The wild game included Christian McCaffrey’s season debut and Deebo Samuel’s pep talk/confrontation.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers starting quarterback Baker Mayfield (6) throws under pressure against San Francisco 49ers’ Nick Bosa (97) and San Francisco 49ers’ Chase Young (92) in the fourth quarter at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 19, 2023. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
Week 7: Sunday, Oct. 19 (5:20 p.m., NBC)
vs. Atlanta Falcons
After back-to-back road games against 2024 division winners, the 49ers return home to face a Falcons team in transition and projected by many to take a small step back after winning eight games last season. The 49ers’ young defense figures to face 2024 first-round quarterback Michael Penix, who played in just five games as a rookie. The 49ers offense faces a young defense bolstered by 2025 first-round pass rushers in Jalon Walker and James Pearce Jr.
Week 8: Sunday, Oct. 26 (noon, FOX)
at Houston Texans
DeMeco Ryans, who replaced Saleh as the 49ers’ defensive coordinator in 2021, is entering his third season as Texans head coach. He’s led the Texans to consecutive 10-win seasons and AFC South titles. Other ex-49ers on the Texans are linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, safety Jimmie Ward, guard Laken Tomlinson and offensive tackle Trent Brown (cousin of 49ers rookie Alfred Collins).
Week 9: Sunday, Nov. 2 (10 a.m. CBS)
at New York Giants
The 49ers return to MetLife Stadium five years since Nick Bosa and Solomon Thomas both suffered season-ending ACL tears during a 30-13 Week Two win over the Jets. The oft-criticized surface at the stadium the Giants and Jets share was replaced before the 2023 season. The New York City Marathon is taking place on the same day, so let’s just predict that Christian McCaffrey will run his way to NFC Player of the Week honors.
Runners cross the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge at the start of the New York City Marathon in New York, Sunday, Nov. 6, 2022. The world’s population is projected to hit an estimated 8 billion people on Tuesday, Nov. 15, according to a United Nations projection. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Week 10: Sunday, Nov. 9 (1:25 p.m., FOX)
vs. Los Angeles Rams
The 49ers-Rams series wraps up with two months left in the regular season? Bummer. Kyle Shanahan is 4-4 vs. Sean McVay in coaching duels at Levi’s Stadium. This is the fourth game in six weeks against a team that won a division in 2024 but also the last of the regular season.
Week 11: Sunday, Nov. 16 (1:05 p.m., FOX)
at Arizona Cardinals
In last season’s finale in Glendale, Kyler Murray threw four touchdown passes to send the 49ers into the offseason with a 47-24 defeat. Officials ejected the 49ers’ Jauan Jennings in the second quarter for being involved in fights on back-to-back plays. Jennings finished 25 yards shy of his first 1,000-yard season and was never fined, unlike the Cardinals combatants.
Week 12: Monday, Nov. 24 (5:15 p.m., ESPN)
vs. Carolina Panthers
The teams haven’t met since Week 5 of the 2022 season, when Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey accumulated over 100 yards in rushing and receiving yards and scored a touchdown, but the 49ers rolled to a 37-15 blowout win in Charlotte. Twelve days later, he was traded to the 49ers. This is the first week in the NFL calendar that a Monday Night Football matchup can be flexed, and we’ll know if that’s the case here by Nov. 12.
Week 13: Sunday, Nov. 30 (10 a.m., CBS)
at Cleveland Browns
The 49ers look to finally break through in Cleveland, where they have lost four in a row. They haven’t won in the Forest City since 1984, when Bill Walsh was head coach, Joe Montana was quarterback and Kyle Shanahan was a month shy of his 6th birthday. This is where the 49ers’ unbeaten start to the 2023 season unexpectedly ended in Week 6, when Jake Moody missed a 41-yard field-goal attempt in the final seconds to spoil a gritty comeback drive by Brock Purdy.
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Week 14: Bye
If this seems late in the season to finally happen, it is. It’s the latest bye in franchise history and the latest possible week in NFL regular season.
Week 15: Sunday, Dec. 14 (1:25 p.m., FOX)
vs. Tennessee Titans
The 49ers have won four of their past five games coming off the bye week and could be gearing up for a big finish. The Titans are planning to turn their offense over to rookie quarterback Cam Ward, this year’s top pick in the NFL draft. It will be a homecoming for Titans second-year head coach Brian Callahan. Callahan, who led the Titans to a 3-14 record last season, is a De La Salle High-Concord graduate whose Bay Area ties include serving as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at San Mateo’s Serra High from 2008-09.
Tennessee Titans head coach Brian Callahan during the second half of a preseason NFL football game against the Minnesota Vikings, Friday, Aug. 22, 2025, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
Week 16: Monday, Dec. 22 (5:15 p.m., ESPN)
at Indianapolis Colts
Another road game against an opponent the 49ers haven’t seen much of in recent years. The 49ers have lost five in a row against the Colts, a streak that dates to 2005 – when Peyton Manning was Indy’s quarterback and only had won the first two of his eventual five league MVP awards. The teams last met in 2021, a 30-18 49ers loss at Levi’s Stadium. The Colts are dedicating this season to late owner Jim Irsay, who died in May at the age of 65.
Week 17: Sunday, Dec. 28 (5:20 p.m., NBC)
vs. Chicago Bears
The longtime rivals are meeting for the 70th game, including two lopsided NFC championship games (during the 1984 and 1988 seasons) that sent the 49ers to the Super Bowl to titles No. 2 and No. 3. The teams are playing each other for the fourth time in five seasons, with the home team prevailing in the past two meetings, including the 49ers’ 38-13 win last season.
Week 18: Saturday/Sunday, Jan. 3 or 4 (time/TV TBD)
vs. Seattle Seahawks
Yes, the always entertaining 49ers-Seahawks series serves as bookends to this season. This is the fifth time they meet in a regular-season finale, the previous two coming in 2019 (a 49ers win at Seattle) and 2020 (a Seahawks win at 49ers).
San Francisco 49ers fans react in the final seconds of the 49ers 20-17 loss to the Seattle Seahawks late in the fourth quarter at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
