We will finally find out the San Francisco 49ers official 2018 regular season schedule on Thursday, April 19 at 5:00 p.m. PT. You can find full coverage right here on 49ers.com as well as NFL Network. Until then, here's a reminder of the 49ers home and road opponents for the coming year as well as a few takeaways.
San Francisco's home opponents in 2018: Chicago Bears, Denver Broncos, Detroit Lions, Oakland Raiders, New York Giants, Los Angeles Rams, Arizona Cardinals and Seattle Seahawks.
And the road opponents: Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Los Angeles Chargers, Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers, Kansas City Chiefs, Rams, Cardinals and Seahawks.
Some observations…
1. The 49ers schedule will be made up of their own division (six games), the NFC North (four games), the AFC West (four games), the last place team in the NFC South (Buccaneers) and the last place team in the NFC East (Giants).
2. San Francisco will play Chicago for the fifth-straight season. The 49ers first ever home game at Levi's® Stadium was against the Bears in 2014. The team then played road games at Soldier Field for three-straight seasons. Now San Francisco will host the Bears once again in 2018. The 49ers own a 2-2 record in those four contests.
3. There are only three 2017 playoff teams on San Francisco's 2018 slate of opponents: The Vikings, Chiefs and Rams (x2). In addition, the 49ers will play six games against teams with sub-.500 records in 2017.
4. Oakland will make its debut at Levi's® Stadium next season. The two teams haven't met since 2014 when the 49ers lost to the Raiders, 24-13, at the Oakland Coliseum. San Francisco had won the previous three meetings. The matchup is made more notable by the fact that next season is potentially the Raiders final year in the Bay Area before moving to Las Vegas.
5. The 49ers will get a "break" in terms of travel distance in 2018. They'll still be towards the top of the league in terms of miles traveled, but next season's total is far less than either of the previous two years. San Francisco will travel approximately 20,252 miles in 2018. By comparison, they traveled 23,758 this past season and 22,130 in 2016. That relief is thanks in large part to an extra trip to Los Angeles for a matchup against the Chargers.
6. San Francisco's visit to Tampa Bay will be their first game at Raymond James Stadium since 2013, when the 49ers beat the Bucs, 33-14.
7. It will be interesting to see if the 49ers 2018 regular season opponents impact the team's preseason schedule. San Francisco usually plays annual exhibition contests against the Broncos and Chargers.
8. The 49ers will play the 15th-toughest schedule in 2018 (tied with). Their upcoming opponents posted a collective 128-128 record in 2017.
