49ers predicted to thrill in the regular season before worst-case playoff scenario
After making massive changes to their roster and coaching staff over the last few months, the 49ers are working hard at training camp to ensure they get a different result in 2025.
While expectation for San Francisco this year are all over the place, USA Today's Nate Davis recently predicted that not only will the 49ers flip their record from last year and go 11-6 in 2025, but he also thinks they'll win the division.
"On the opposite side of the scheduling scale from the Giants, the Niners, little more than a year removed from an overtime loss in Super Bowl 58, drew the league's easiest schedule (.415 opponent winning percentage in 2024) – one that includes all of the AFC and NFC South teams and three additional last-place operations from last year," Davis wrote. "San Francisco opens with four 2024 non-playoff teams and finishes with seven of the same. Make no mistake, a new-look defense has much to prove, and the team's best players – RB Christian McCaffrey, LT Trent Williams, WR Brandon Aiyuk – have to stay on the field, and Aiyuk (knee) may not be ready for Week 1."
Davis also has the Los Angeles Rams finishing with an 11-6 record in the regular season and taking a wild-card spot, which would mean that the 49ers hold a tiebreaker over them.
However, Davis predicts that the Rams will take down the 49ers in first round of the playoffs before eventually falling to the Green bay Packers in the NFC Championship.
While most 49ers fans would probably be thrilled with winning the NFC West for the third time in four years, losing in the playoffs to their rivals would likely cause a meltdown, and for good reason. With Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford already dealing with injuries before the season even starts, a lot of things would have to go right for Los Angeles to accomplish this feat.
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