The San Francisco 49ers will have a lot of eyes on them in 2024. That is because for the second time in five years, they lost to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
Recently, the full 2024 NFL schedule was revealed. When we learned the exact dates of every 49er game next season, one thing became clear. San Francisco has a major scheduling disadvantage they will have to overcome. Read below to find out what that disadvantage is.
San Francisco 49ers Have Biggest Rest Disadvantage
The number of rest days for every team compared to their opponents in 2024 was measured by Warren Sharp of SharpFootballAnalysis.com. According to his research, the 49ers have the biggest rest disadvantage in the NFL next season.
On the chart linked above, the 49ers have 21 fewer rest days than their opponents next season. To put that in perspective, only four teams in the NFL have more than 10 fewer rest days compared to their opponents. The 49ers are the only team with more than 20 fewer rest days.
Facing Multiple Teams After Byes
The most notable disadvantage is the number of teams the 49ers have to face coming off of a bye. This happens three times to San Francisco in 2024. The occurrences are Week 7 against the Kansas City Chiefs, Week 8 against the Dallas Cowboys, and Week 11 against the Seattle Seahawks. No other team in the NFL has this happen to them more than twice next season.
Other Scheduling Disadvantages
While the bye week disadvantage is the most notable, there are other times the 49ers have a rest disadvantage this season. One of the most notable examples is in Week 2. Because they open the season on Monday Night Football against the New York Jets, the 49ers will have one less day to rest before their Week 2 game against the Minnesota Vikings.
There are also multiple instances where the 49ers have to face teams coming off of Thursday Night Football games. Two of the most notable occurrences are Week 4 against the New England Patriots and Week 14 against the Chicago Bears.
Merciful Break
There is one notable instance where the 49ers have a major rest advantage in 2024. This comes in Week 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
San Francisco plays Tampa Bay coming off of their own bye week. In Week 9, Tampa Bay has to play on Monday Night Football against the Kansas City Chiefs. As a result, this is the one week this season where the 49ers have an eight-day rest advantage.
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