How Many Games will the 49ers Lose this Season?

Teams lose games they should win all the time. But not these 49ers. They've been an absolute roll since Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey joined forces.

Grant Cohn | Oct 12, 2023

In this story:

San Francisco 49ers

Could the 49ers actually go undefeated this season?

That outcome is within the realm of possibilities. The 49ers are THAT good. If they remain relatively healthy, they should be the favorites in each of their remaining games. And of course, teams lose games they should win all the time. But not these 49ers. They've been an absolute roll since Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey joined forces.

So let's look at the remaining schedule and see which games the 49ers could potentially lose.

Week 6 @ Cleveland Browns

The Browns have the No. 1 defense in the league, but starting quarterback Deshaun Watson has a shoulder injury and might not play. They have no chance without him.

Week 7 @ Minnesota Vikings

They're 1-4. Forget about it.

Week 8 vs. Cincinnati Bengals

They're 2-3 and their quarterback, Joe Burrow, has a calf injury. If he's healthy by Week 7, the Bengals have a chance. But right now, they're awful.

Bye Week

Week 10 @ Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars are 3-2, but they just beat the Buffalo Bills who are legitimate Super Bowl contenders, and Jacksonville quarterback Trevor Lawrence is the real deal. This is a game the 49ers could lose, but it's unlikely.

Week 11 vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

They're 3-1 but they haven't beaten anyone good and their quarterback is Baker Mayfield. Forget about it.

Week 12 @ Seattle Seahawks

This is a Thursday night game, which is tough on road teams, and the Seahawks have a talented enough secondary to cover the 49ers' offensive weapons. This is a game the 49ers could lose but probably won't.

Week 13 @ Philadelphia Eagles

This is the toughest game on the 49ers schedule and they still should win.

Week 14 vs. Seattle Seahawks

There's no way the 49ers will lose twice to the Seahawks.

Week 15 @ Arizona Cardinals

The Cardinals are a year away from being a year away from being able to beat the 49ers.

Week 16 vs. Baltimore Ravens

Mobile quarterbacks used to give the 49ers defense fits until they hired Steve Wilks. Now they don't.

Week 17 @ Washington Commanders

In no universe will the 49ers ever lose to Sam Howell.

Week 18 vs. Los Angeles Rams

This will be the 49ers' 10th consecutive regular season win over the Rams.

You could see the 49ers losing three of those games. You also could see them losing none.

Stay tuned.

Published Oct 12, 2023

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.