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Sports Illustrated Projects the 49ers to Win 8 Games in 2025

On paper, the 49ers have the easiest schedule in the NFL this season.
Grant Cohn|
Sep 22, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) reacts following the loss against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images
Sep 22, 2024; Inglewood, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13) reacts following the loss against the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images | Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

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San Francisco 49ers

On paper, the 49ers have the easiest schedule in the NFL this season.

They have a last-place schedule, they get to face the NFC South and the NFC South and they don't have to face a team coming off a Bye week. Missing the playoffs for the second season in a row could be a fireable offense.

And yet, that's exactly what Sports Illustrated expects the 49ers to do. They project the 49ers to finish the season 8-9 and miss the playoffs.

"The 49ers have spent most of their offseason hearing about all the talent they lost in free agency," writes Sports Illustrated's Gilbert Manzano. "This team could be highly motivated and dangerous, especially if Christian McCaffrey, Brandon Aiyuk and Trent Williams stay healthy. It wouldn’t be a surprise if the 49ers turn many doubters into believers after starting the season against the Seahawks, Saints, Cardinals and Jaguars."

I agree with Manzano's analysis.

The 49ers are in an awkward position. Early in the season, their offense could perform well if healthy but the defense could struggle with so many rookies in the starting lineup. Then later in the season, the offense could struggle if injury-prone veterans miss time while the defense could improve as young players develop.

It seems unlikely that Trent Williams and Christian McCaffrey will stay healthy and play like All Pros all season. It also seems unlikely that the 49ers defense will be dominant right away. So will the offense and defense ever be good at the same time in 2025?

The 49ers should be much better in 2026.

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Grant Cohn
GRANT COHN

Grant Cohn has covered the San Francisco 49ers daily since 2011. He spent the first nine years of his career with the Santa Rosa Press Democrat where he wrote the Inside the 49ers blog and covered famous coaches and athletes such as Jim Harbaugh, Colin Kaepernick and Patrick Willis. In 2012, Inside the 49ers won Sports Blog of the Year from the Peninsula Press Club. In 2020, Cohn joined FanNation and began writing All49ers. In addition, he created a YouTube channel which has become the go-to place on YouTube to consume 49ers content. Cohn's channel typically generates roughly 3.5 million viewers per month, while the 49ers' official YouTube channel generates roughly 1.5 million viewers per month. Cohn live streams almost every day and posts videos hourly during the football season. Cohn is committed to asking the questions that 49ers fans want answered, and providing the most honest and interactive coverage in the country. His loyalty is to the reader and the viewer, not the team or any player or coach. Cohn is a new-age multimedia journalist with an old-school mentality, because his father is Lowell Cohn, the legendary sports columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle from 1979 to 1993. The two have a live podcast every Tuesday. Grant Cohn grew up in Oakland and studied English Literature at UCLA from 2006 to 2010. He currently lives in Oakland with his wife.

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