Top 5 Takeaways from the 49ers 2020 Schedule

One: It's tough.

The 49ers released their schedule for 2020 Thursday evening. Here are my top-five takeaways.

1. It’s a tough schedule.

Much tougher than last season, when the 49ers were coming off a four-win campaign and got to play a bunch of teams that finished third in their divisions. This season, the 49ers will have to play lots of teams that finished first.

The weakest teams on the schedule are Miami and Washington, and the weakest quarterbacks the 49ers will face are Tua Tagovailoa and Dwayne Haskins -- two first-round picks. Last season, the 49ers got to face some glorified third-stringers -- Mason Rudolph, Kyle Allen and Case Keenum.

No glorified third-string quarterbacks on the schedule this season, at least for now.

2. The season opener is tough, too.

The 49ers will play the Cardinals at home. Last season, the Cardinals won just five games, but they played well against the 49ers twice. Almost beat them both times. And this offseason, the Cardinals improved tremendously after trading for wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins.

Quarterback Kyler Murray could be an MVP candidate during his second season. Lamar Jackson won the MVP in his second season, and so did Patrick Mahomes. Murray has lots in common with those two.

The Cardinals will be much better than last season.

3. The 49ers caught a break getting back-to-back road games in New Jersey.

In Week 2, the 49ers will have to fly across the country to play the New York Jets. Then in Week 3, the 49ers will have to stay out there to play the Giants.

Blessing in disguise.

Playing two games on the East Coast is tough. Making two separate trips would be even tougher. The 49ers don’t have to make two trips. They can stay in New Jersey or Youngstown, Ohio between the games and adjust their body clocks to East Coast time, so the second game feels like a home game. Worked last season for the 49ers -- they stayed in Youngstown twice, and won both games immediately following their stays.

This season, the 49ers should have to make just one trip to Youngstown. Another blessing.

4. The 49ers will have to play in Seattle after playing in New England.

The 49ers should beat the Patriots -- the Patriots don’t even know who their starting quarterback is.

But Foxborough is far, far away from Santa Clara. The 49ers will be exhausted after that trip. And then the next week, they’ll have to play their most difficult road game every season -- in Seattle against the Seahawks.

The last time the 49ers played in Seattle one week after playing in New England, the Seahawks beat the 49ers 42-13. That was 2012. The 49ers still went to the Super Bowl that season.

5. The 49ers caught another break with a late start time in New Orleans.

The 49ers will have to travel across the country later in the season to play the Saints Week 10. But that game won’t start until 1:25 Pacific Time. Usually, cross-country games start at 10:00 a.m. Pacific Time, and those games are difficult for West Coast teams because their players still are waking up when the game starts.

Fortunately for the 49ers, they’ll be awake when they face the Saints. But this game still will be the most difficult one on the 49ers’ schedule.