49ers 2022 opponents have been finalized

The annoying thing about playing in the NFC West in 2021 is that you could win 10 games and still end up in third place. The upshot of playing in the NFC West in 2021 is that you could be good enough to win 10 games and still get a third-place schedule the following season. Here are the 49ers’ opponents for the 2022 season.

Home:

Buccaneers (12-4)

Chiefs (11-5)

Chargers (9-7)

Dolphins (8-8)

Saints (8-8)

Washington (6-10)

Cardinals (11-5)

Rams (12-4)

Seahawks (6-10)

Away:

Atlanta (7-9)

Carolina (5-11)

Chicago (6-10)

Denver (7-9)

Las Vegas (9-7)

Arizona

Los Angeles Rams

Seattle

While it’s way too early to make any grand pronouncements about the difficulty of the schedule, I’m going to do it anyway.

First, it looks almost all of the 49ers' most difficult games will come at Levi’s Stadium. Games against Tom Brady (assuming he continues to drink from the fountain of youth), Patrick Mahomes, and Justin Herbert aren’t going to be easy to win. I can already hear the national media calling the Chiefs game the Super Bowl LIV revenge game, and I’m already tired of it.

Second, there’s a decent chance the 49ers are playing against Deshaun Watson at some point next season. Miami, Carolina, and Denver are all possible landing spots for him, assuming the almost two dozen criminal complaints against him are dealt with.

Third, I count 10 potential games against teams that could have a new starting quarterback next season. It’s entirely possible that one of those teams calls John Lynch this offseason and works out a trade for one James Garoppolo. I can already hear the national media calling that game the Jimmy Garoppolo revenge game, and I’m already tired of it.