NFC West Report: 21 Things to Know about the 49ers Divisional Schedule

You don’t need to be told that beating your division rivals is the best way to ensure a postseason birth. As has been the case in recent years, the San Francisco 49ers road to January football won’t be easy with the NFC West still regarded as one of the toughest divisions in football. The Seattle Seahawks and Arizona Cardinals are each coming off double-digit win totals. The St. Louis Rams figure to be a team on the rise. The 49ers found out Tuesday when and where their six divisional matchups will be in 2015. Here’s the full NFC West schedule: Week 3 – at Arizona Cardinals – 1:05 p.m. PT – FOX Week 7 – vs. Seattle Seahawks – 5:25 p.m. PT – CBS “Thursday Night Football” Week 8 – at St. Louis Rams – 10:00 a.m. PT – FOX Week 11 – at Seattle Seahawks – 1:25 p.m. PT – FOX Week 12 – vs. Arizona Cardinals – 1:05 p.m. PT – FOX Week 17 – vs. St. Louis Rams – 1:25 p.m. PT – FOXTakeaways: For the second consecutive season, the 49ers open divisional play with a Week 3 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. For the seventh consecutive year, the 49ers end the regular season against an NFC West opponent. San Francisco is 6-0 in those divisional Week 17 matchups since 2009. Interestingly enough, none of those games will have been against the Seahawks (three against the Rams, four against the Cardinals). The six-week, five-game stretch between Weeks 7-12 features four of San Francisco's six divisional contests. That starts with the Thursday night game against Seattle in Week 7 and ends in Week 12 with a home game versus the Cardinals. Only one of the 49ers final five games is a division contest (that being the season finale against St. Louis). The 49ers went 2-4 in divisional games in 2014. No team has won the NFC West with a record of .500 or below since the 2006 Seahawks (3-3). San Francisco’s 2-4 divisional record in 2014 was the first time the team posted a losing record against the NFC West since 2005, ending a run of eight straight seasons at .500 or better.Other Notes From Around the Division:Arizona Cardinals 2014 Record: 11-5 Home: 7-1 Road: 4-4 Division: 3-3 vs. 49ers: 1-1 The Cardinals were awarded with three primetime games, one on “Monday Night Football”, one on “Sunday Night Football” and one on “Thursday Night Football.” Arizona starts the season with three of its first four games at home and will also host three of its final four games. There are three separate occasions when the Cardinals host consecutive home games. The 49ers only have one set of back-to-back home contests in 2015 (Week 6 vs. Baltimore and Week 7 vs. Seattle). Arizona's bye week comes in Week 9.Seattle Seahawks 2014 Record: 12-4 Home: 7-1 Road: 5-3 Division: 5-1 vs. 49ers: 2-0 The NFL Scheduling Committee gave Seattle the maximum five primetime games, a Seahawks franchise record (one on MNF, three on SNF, one on TNF). Seattle opens the season with back-to-back road games for the first time since 2011, playing the Rams in Week 1 and the Green Bay Packers in Week 2. The Seahawks first game at CenturyLink Field is in Week 3 against the Bears. The Seahawks get three consecutive home games in November from Weeks 9-11. The three-game stretch marks the first time Seattle has hosted three-straight games since 2011. The Seahawks will play nine games against teams that made the playoffs in 2014. Seattle will play two of its final three contests at home. Like the Cardinals, the Seahawks have their bye in Week 9.St. Louis Rams 2014 Record: 6-10 Home: 4-4 Road: 3-5 Division: 2-4 vs. 49ers: 1-1 Three of the Rams first five games are on the road, as well as the last two. St. Louis does get a stretch of three-straight home games from Weeks 13-15. For the first time since 2011, St. Louis will not finish the regular season with a Week 17 game in Seattle against the Seahawks. The Rams only received one primetime game, a Week 15 matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on “TNF.” St. Louis will take its bye in Week 6, the earliest bye week in the division.