2023 San Francisco 49ers schedule analysis

On Thursday night, the NFL released the complete San Francisco 49ers schedule. Per NFL research, 49ers opponents had a 147-139-2 record in 2022, making their 2023 schedule the 15th-most difficult in the NFL. 

Circle the dates: Oct. 8 vs. Dallas, Oct. 29. vs. Cincinnati

The 49ers host the Dallas Cowboys for "Sunday Night Football" in what could be a potential snapshot of the NFC Championship Game. It will also renew one of the biggest rivalries in football. Elsewhere on the schedule, on Oct. 29, San Francisco will play host to Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals in a possible Super Bowl preview.

Toughest stretch: Weeks 5-10

The 49ers have a stretch from Weeks 5-10 where they will play the Dallas Cowboys, at the Cleveland Browns, at the Minnesota Vikings, the Cincinnati Bengals and then at Jacksonville (with their bye week mixed in between the latter two games). That is brutal. That stretch features three of the best teams in the league from a year ago in Dallas, Minnesota and Cincinnati, with early road kickoffs at Cleveland and Jacksonville.

Easiest stretch: Weeks 1-4

The franchise's easiest stretch might come over the first four weeks of the season, when they travel to the Pittsburgh Steelers, visit the Los Angeles Rams and then play host to the New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals. While none of those games figure to be outright easy, the Giants are the only team in that group that made the playoffs last season. And while the Giants had a strong season, there is the possibility for some regression there. 

Rise and shine?

The 49ers have a lot of early kickoffs -- four of them as of this posting. At Pittsburgh to open the season, at Cleveland in Week 6, at Jacksonville in Week 10 and at Washington in Week 17. Those 1 p.m. ET kickoffs are historically brutal for West Coast teams. The 49ers went 0-2 in those games last season.