49ers slated for five prime-time games in 2018

After spending the last two years in the shadows of the NFL TV schedule, the 49ers will step back into the bright lights of prime-time football.

San Francisco will have five scheduled appearances in nationally televised games for the 2018 season, nearly doubling their total from the last two seasons combined (3).

Thanks in part to the emergence of Jimmy Garoppolo, who helped San Francisco finish their 2017 campaign with five consecutive victories, the 49ers burst onto the scene as one of the toughest matchups in the league in the last month of the regular season.

Taking out three playoff contenders in those five wins has subsequently placed the 49ers on the radars of every team in the league as well as catching the eyes of the nation. With expectations shifting from playoff spoilers to potential playoff hopefuls, a 2018 schedule peppered with prime-time games suits a young, up-and-coming team like the one led by head coach Kyle Shanahan in his second season as a head coach.

The 49ers first taste as headliners will come in Week 6 (Oct. 15) when they visit Lambeau Field in Green Bay to take on Aaron Rodgers and the Packers on Monday Night Football. The last time the 49ers played in Green Bay was in a sub-zero 2014 divisional playoff game when Colin Kaepernick racked up 181 rushing yards.

The following week (Oct. 21), San Francisco will host the defending NFC West champions, the Los Angeles Rams, at Levi’s Stadium on Sunday Night Football. Touted as the biggest hurdle in the NFC West, this will be the 49ers first look at Los Angeles until the last game of the season.

To open the month of November (Nov. 1), Santa Clara will play host to the Week 9 Battle of the Bay when Oakland’s Raiders head south. This  will be the only Thursday Night Football game on the 49ers schedule and will award bragging rights to the winner for the next four years.

Week 10 will be the 49ers last appearance on Monday Night Football for the season (Nov. 12) as the New York Giants will come to town. Since losing the Giants in the 2011 NFC Championship game, San Francisco has gone 2-2 versus the Giants including a win last season which came as the 49ers first victory after beginning the year 0-9.

In their last prime-time game of the year, the 49ers will take on the Seattle Seahawks at Centurylink Field in Seattle in Week 13 (Dec. 2). This will be Richard Sherman’s first game back in Seattle since being cut by the team earlier in the year. As sparks are expected to fly it is a no-brainer why this will be a nationally televised game.

The 49ers full 2018 Schedule, including television rights, is as follows:

Week 1: at Vikings, Sunday, Sept. 9, 10 a.m. (FOX)

Week 2: vs. Lions, Sunday, Sept. 16, 1:05 p.m. (FOX)

Week 3: at Chiefs, Sunday, Sept. 23, 10 a.m. (FOX)

Week 4: at Chargers, Sunday, Sept. 30, 1:25 p.m. (CBS)

Week 5: vs. Cardinals, Sunday, Oct. 7, 1:25 p.m. (FOX)

Week 6: at Packers, Monday, Oct. 15, 5:15 p.m. (ESPN)

Week 7: vs.Rams, Sunday, Oct. 21, 5:20 p.m. (NBC)

Week 8: at Cardinals, Sunday, Oct. 28, 1:25 p.m. (FOX)

Week 9: vs. Raiders, Thursday, Nov. 1, 5:20 p.m. (FOX/NFLN)

Week 10: vs. Giants, Monday, Nov. 12, 5:15 p.m. (ESPN)

Week 11: BYE 

Week 12: at Buccaneers, Sunday, Nov. 25, 10 a.m. (FOX)

Week 13: at Seattle, Sunday, Dec. 2, 5:20 p.m. (NBC)

Week 14: vs. Broncos, Sunday, Dec. 9, 1:05 p.m. (CBS)

Week 15: vs. Seattle, Sunday, Dec. 16, 1:05 p.m. (FOX)

Week 16: vs. Chicago, Sunday, Dec. 23, 1:05 p.m. (FOX)

Week 17: at Rams, Sunday, Dec. 30, 1:25 p.m. (FOX)