Niners Nation After Dark: Continuing the 49ers 2011 Schedule Party

Welcome back to Niners Nation After Dark, where we're ready to continue partying the release of the 49ers 2011 Schedule. The lockout has kept things relatively tame and we haven't had a monster discussion post really since the Jim excitement of the Jim Harbaugh hiring. People are pissed off at the NFL owners and players and that's perfectly reasonable. It's not surprising some folks haven't wanted to discuss football until a deal is done.

Nonetheless, the excitement of the schedule is still there. The 49ers have a very interesting schedule in the sense that there are enough winnable games in there that the 49ers have a chance to remain right in the thick of things in 2011. Of course, without an answer at the quarterback position it's hard to make any hard assessments of the schedule.

In looking through the schedule (posted again after the jump for ease of viewing), I don't see a hugely difficult stretch of games. If I had to pick the hardest, those back to back 10am games at Cincinnati and Philadelphia will be a challenge. The Eagles game moreso given the talent level and being on the latter half of the two games. Additionally, that stretch run at Arizona, versus Pittsburgh, at Seattle and at St. Louis could very well be a make-or-break stretch if the 49ers have hung around that long. I'll roll out some predictions in the morning, but it's shaping up to be an interesting slate of games.

Week 1: vs Seattle Seahawks - Sunday September 11, 1:15pm FOX

Week 2: vs. Dallas Cowboys - Sunday September 18, 1:05pm FOX

Week 3: @ Cincinnati Bengals - Sunday September 25, 10:00am FOX

Week 4: @ Philadelphia Eagles - Sunday October 2, 10:00am FOX

Week 5: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Sunday October 9, 1:05pm FOX

Week 6: @ Detroit Lions - Sunday October 16, 10:00am FOX

Week 7: BYE

Week 8: vs. Cleveland Browns - Sunday October 30, 1:15pm CBS

Week 9: @ Washington Redskins - Sunday November 6, 10:00am FOX

Week 10: vs. New York Giants - Sunday November 13, 1:15pm FOX

Week 11: vs. Arizona Cardinals - Sunday November 20, 1:05pm FOX

Week 12: @ Baltimore Ravens - Thursday November 24, 5:20pm NFLN

Week 13: vs. St. Louis Rams - Sunday December 4, 1:15pm FOX

Week 14: @ Arizona Cardinals - Sunday December 11, 1:05pm FOX

Week 15: vs. Pittsburgh Steelers - Monday December 19, 5:30pm ESPN

Week 16: @ Seattle Seahawks - Saturday December 24, 1:15pm FOX

Week 17: @ St. Louis Rams - Sunday January 1, 10:00am FOX