But they will have to confront the team that broke their hearts in the Super Bowl for the second time in five seasons when San Francisco welcomes the Kansas City Chiefs to Levi's Stadium.
And the date of that rematch has now been revealed.
According to Jordan Schultz of Bleacher Report, the 49ers will face the Chiefs on October 20 in a Week 7 game broadcast on Fox, with Tom Brady in the booth alongside lead announcer Kevin Burkhardt.
Though the game is not on primetime, having Brady on the call adds another enticing element to the 49ers' latest attempt to slay the dragon and defeat Patrick Mahomes.
For the sake of the Niners' self-belief, it is imperative the Niners find a way to do just that.
San Francisco has not beaten Kansas City in any game since 2014, when Jim Harbaugh was the Niners' head coach and Alex Smith was the Chiefs' starting quarterback. Since their first matchup with him in 2018, which saw Jimmy Garoppolo tear his ACL, Mahomes has proven the 49ers' tormenter in chief, going 4-0 against San Francisco including two comeback wins in the Super Bowl.
Simply put, the 49ers desperately need to beat Mahomes, even if it is only a non-conference regular-season game, to prove to themselves they can do it, given the likelihood that the Chiefs will again be the team waiting at the end of another potential Super Bowl run.
San Francisco of course cannot afford to look beyond any opponent as the 49ers aim to go one better in 2024 and finally lift the Lombardi Trophy for the sixth time. Yet for the state of mind of the NFC favorites, no game carries more significance than the rematch with their boogeyman.
