The San Francisco 49ers will open their 2009 NFL regular season on the road as they square off against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday, September 13. It marks the fourth consecutive year in which the 49ers will have opened the season against the Cardinals, but the first time on the road since the team traveled to Sun Devil Stadium in 2006. 49ers Faithful will get their first chance to see the team in week two as it hosts the Seattle Seahawks, as Mike Singletary and Jim Mora square off in a battle of new head coaches.
“This is a good schedule with tough opponents,” said 49ers head coach Mike Singletary. “When I look at our schedule, I am excited that our fans get a chance to see how we stack up against our division rivals within the first five weeks of the season. I’m also thankful that our players will have an understanding of the kind of team we have heading into the week six bye. We are all excited about being able to play in front of national audiences on primetime television twice in 2009. Between now and the start of the regular season, we have a lot of hard work to put in and that’s what we are concentrating on now.”
“Every year when the schedule is released it’s an exciting time for our players, coaches, the organization as a whole, and our fans,” said 49ers general manager Scot McCloughan. “From a competitive standpoint, we get to see early on how we measure up in our division. With our bye coming when it does our players will be able to rest their bodies at a critical time. Having two primetime games on national television provides us the opportunity to showcase the ‘Mike Singletary’ brand of 49ers football that we plan to play.”
The 49ers round out the month of September by taking on the Vikings in Minnesota for the first time since 2003. October begins with two home contests against conference foes, as the St. Louis Rams and the Atlanta Falcons visit Candlestick Park prior to the week six bye.
Coming off the bye week, San Francisco will play three consecutive games against AFC South opponents. The 49ers will square off with the Texans on October 25, for just the second time ever. The team defeated the Houston Oilers, 10-9, on October 27, 1996, during their last trip to Houston. The next week, San Francisco takes to the road again to face the Indianapolis Colts for the first time ever at Lucas Oil Stadium, before returning home to host the Tennessee Titans the following week.
Head coach Mike Singletary will welcome the team where he cultivated a Hall of Fame playing career, as the 49ers host the Chicago Bears in a NFL Network Thursday night matchup in front of a national audience on November 12. It is the team’s first ever home Thursday night contest, and the first since a 24-14 win at Seattle on December 14, 2006. The team is 6-1-1 on Thursday nights all-time. The month comes to an end with a trip to historic Lambeau Field to take on the Packers, and first-ever visit to Candlestick Park by the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The final third of the season begins with a trip to Seattle, followed by a home Monday Night Football contest on ESPN against the defending NFC Champion Arizona Cardinals. It is the first home Monday Night game since the 49ers defeated the Cardinals, 20-17 on September 10, 2007, in a come-from-behind victory. The 49ers round out the season with a trip to Philadelphia, a home contest against the Detroit Lions and a road game at St. Louis.
All 49ers games can be heard on The Bone (107.7 FM) or KNBR (1050/680AM) during the upcoming season. Regular season games will also be aired in Spanish on KIQI (1010 AM) and KATD (990 AM).
Having solved the Cardinals for 2009, the 49ers command our attention following release of their schedule. Can you find more than eight victories for San Francisco without wearing the 49ers Starter jacket your family has owned since 1984?
My initial look at the schedule shows 7-9 or 8-8, depending largely on how the quarterback situation evolves. I'll break the schedule into sections for the sake of analysis.
I'm seeing a potential 3-2 record heading into the bye week. Everything changes if the 49ers pull an upset at Arizona. I don't see the Cardinals overlooking a division opponent at home to enter the season. Looking at Week 2, we know the Seahawks have won their last two games at Candlestick, even when they were struggling last season. That second game of the 49ers' season, against Seattle, stands out as a pivotal one for San Francisco, in my view.
The season appears to get tougher in the first five games following the bye. Am I unreasonable to see a potential 1-4 record for the 49ers during those games? Let's say they win one of the home games, against either Tennessee or Chicago. I'm thinking the 49ers will have a hard time winning road games against the Colts and Packers. Even the Texans have been relatively tough at home.
The hard-nosed mentality Mike Singletary is trying to instill could serve the 49ers well during the closing stretch to their schedule. I've got them winning four of their final six in getting to 8-8, avoiding a losing record for the first time since 2002. It's not a given, though.
The longer I look at those final six games, the more I could see 3-3 instead of 4-2. Let's figure they win two of the three home games during that stretch (Jaguars, Cardinals, Lions). Let's say they win at St. Louis. The 49ers would then need to win at Seattle or Philadelphia to reach 4-2 over the final six.
2009 San Francisco 49ers Schedule
2009 San Francisco 49ers Schedule
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