2015 San Francisco 49ers Schedule: Full Listing of Dates, Times and TV Info

Turmoil might undersell what went on with the San Francisco 49ers this offseason. They said goodbye to Jim Harbaugh and Frank Gore, and nearly their entire linebacking corps decided to hand in their retirement papers.

Sure, the team gave quarterback Colin Kaepernick a desperately needed deep threat in Torrey Smith and got value contracts from veterans Reggie Bush and Darnell Dockett, but "disappointing" is probably the nicest term most 49ers fans would use to describe the last few months.

All of which makes the 2015 team one of the most interesting in football. Jim Tomsula will have to prove himself as a viable head coach. General manager Trent Baalke will see his roster construction come under more fire than ever after Harbaugh's departure. Even Kaepernick, who was far from perfect in 2014, will be called upon to take the next leap into franchise signal-caller status.

If these things don't happen, the offseason nightmare will become a downright disaster as the 2015 season progresses. Following an 8-8 season that felt utterly hopeless in comparison to the previous three years, things will likely swing one way or the other on the pendulum in San Francisco. With the full slate of games revealed Tuesday, let's take a look at the 49ers' schedule and predict how things should work out.

2015 San Francisco 49ers Regular-Season Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Time (ET)	TV
1	Sept. 14	vs. Minnesota Vikings	10:20 p.m.	ESPN
2	Sept. 20	at Pittsburgh Steelers	1 p.m.	Fox
3	Sept. 27	at Arizona Cardinals	4:05 p.m.	Fox
4	Oct. 4	vs. Green Bay Packers	4:25 p.m.	Fox
5	Oct. 11	at New York Giants	8:30 p.m.	NBC
6	Oct. 18	vs. Baltimore Ravens	4:25 p.m.	CBS
7	Oct. 22	vs. Seattle Seahawks	8:25 p.m.	CBS/NFL Network
8	Nov. 1	at St. Louis Rams	1 p.m.	Fox
9	Nov. 8	vs. Atlanta Falcons	4:05 p.m.	Fox
10	Bye
11	Nov. 22	at Seattle Seahawks	4:25 p.m.	Fox
12	Nov. 29	vs. Arizona Cardinals	4:05 p.m.	Fox
13	Dec. 6	at Chicago Bears	1 p.m.	Fox
14	Dec. 13	at Cleveland Browns	1 p.m.	Fox
15	Dec. 20	vs. Cincinnati Bengals	8:30 p.m.	NBC
16	Dec. 27	at Detroit Lions	1 p.m.	Fox
17	Jan. 3	vs. St. Louis Rams	4:25 p.m.	Fox

Analysis

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In a word, ouch. The scheduling Gods did not do any favors for the 49ers if 2014 records hold over. Only the Steelers and the Bengals have more difficult slates based on that criteria, which is imperfect relative to metrics like Pythagorean strength of schedule, but it is still an indicator that a return to the top of the division won't be easy.

As the third-place team in the NFC West, the 49ers add a home game against Atlanta and a road tilt with the Giants as their non-common games. Neither team is especially daunting on paper, but they're not going to be pushovers, either.

Daniel Shirey/Getty Images

Dan Quinn's arrival gives Atlanta an instant coaching upgrade over Mike Smith. The former Seahawks defensive coordinator should be able to at least make marginal improvements to a Falcons defense that's cost them a ton of games over the last two years. It wouldn't be a stretch to see quarterback Matt Ryan and Co. back at the top of a weak NFC South.

The Giants are playing next season for head coach Tom Coughlin's job. There's no other way to put it. He's gone 13-19 over the last two seasons. With new coordinators installed on both sides of the ball, the buck stops with Coughlin if the Giants aren't back in playoff contention.

Otherwise, the NFC West's common matchups are just hard. Not only do the 49ers have to go head-to-head with the toughest division in football (their own), they have to do so with perhaps the second-toughest (NFC North), too. NFC West teams represent the second through the sixth-hardest schedules in football this season.

It's going to be slog just to get back to 8-8.

Pivotal Matchups

Elaine Thompson/Associated Press

The 49ers play in football's most difficult division, so their most important games will obviously be against fellow NFC West squads.

The Seattle Seahawks are again the best all-around team in terms of talent, and they'll add a different offensive wrinkle this season in tight end Jimmy Graham. The Cardinals are healthy, which should be a boost by itself after they started the worst offense in modern playoff history last season. The Rams have perhaps the NFL's best defensive line, might have bought low on quarterback Nick Foles and have the perennially competitive (albeit typically mediocre) Jeff Fisher at the helm.

On paper, no team in this division should finish with fewer than seven wins. Given their offseason turmoil and talent concerns on both sides of the ball, the 49ers appear the likeliest of the four to take a nosedive out of contention.

By my count, there are only three near-lock wins on the schedule: home games against Minnesota and Atlanta and a road trip to Cleveland. There are also only a few games in which a win is unlikely: both Seattle contests, at Detroit and at Pittsburgh. 

Otherwise, the 49ers play a difficult slate filled with 50-50 contests that will be decided on a combination of coaching and injuries. Hosting Green Bay, Cincinnati and Baltimore is a nice break considering they'd be heavy underdogs on the road, but going on the road against the Giants and the Bears turns likely wins into toss-ups.

There are so few walkovers and so few expected blowouts that it's hard to pick out matchups that especially stand out. The 49ers are headed toward a season in which each game carries potential playoff implications. Take a few against the NFL's elite at home and San Francisco could be headed for a 10-6 rebound that sees fans forget about the offseason ugliness.

Drop a few of those contests, though, and 5-11 isn't too far off.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.