The 49ers will host their old friends, the Seattle Seahawks, for what should be a festive Thanksgiving night gathering at Levi’s Stadium.
The 49ers’ home matchup against their heated NFC West rival highlights the team’s first season in their $1.2 billion Santa Clara stadium.
In an interesting wrinkle in the schedule, which the NFL announced Wednesday, the 49ers will play the Seahawks again two weeks later on Sunday, Dec. 14, after facing the Oakland Raiders in a road game on Sunday, Dec. 7.
The 49ers open the 2014 season on Sunday, Sept. 7, on the road against the Dallas Cowboys.
The 49ers’ first regular-season game at Levi’s Stadium is scheduled for Sunday night, Sept. 14, against the Chicago Bears. Other than Thanksgiving night (Nov. 27), the 49ers do not have any mid-week games in the first year at Levi’s Stadium.
[RELATED: Two Seahawks matchups top games on 49ers schedule]
Santa Clara officials requested that the 49ers play no mid-week home games in the first year of the new stadium so they could have a year to sort out any complications with rush-hour traffic and parking.
The 49ers’ two late-season matchups with the Seahawks are notable because of the increased chances that 49ers All-Pro linebacker NaVorro Bowman will be available for both games.
Bowman sustained a torn ACL in the NFC Championship game against the Seahawks in January. He continues to rehab his knee at the team’s Santa Clara practice facility. The 49ers are expected to place him on the physically-unable-to-perform list to open the regular season, which would make him ineligible for the first six weeks of action.
The 49ers will play a home game on Thanksgiving Day for the first time in club history. The 49ers are 1-2-1 in four previous Thanksgiving games, including a 16-6 loss to the Baltimore Ravens in 2011.
49ers 2014 regular-season schedule
(All times Pacific)
Week 1: Sunday, Sept. 7, at Dallas, 1:25 p.m. (FOX)
Week 2: Sunday, Sept. 14, vs. Chicago, 5:30 p.m. (NBC)
Week 3: Sunday, Sept. 21, at Arizona, 1:05 p.m. (FOX)
Week 4: Sunday, Sept. 28, vs. Philadelphia, 1:25 p.m. (FOX)
Week 5: Sunday, Oct. 5, vs. Kansas City, 1:25 p.m. (CBS)
Week 6: Monday, Oct. 13, at St. Louis, 5:30 p.m. (ESPN)
Week 7: Sunday, Oct. 19, at Denver, 5:30 p.m. (NBC)
Week 8: Bye
Week 9: Sunday, Nov. 2, vs. Rams, 1:05 p.m. (FOX)
Week 10: Sunday, Nov. 9, at New Orleans, 10 a.m. (FOX)
Week 11: Sunday, Nov. 16, at N.Y. Giants, 10 a.m. (FOX)
Week 12: Sunday, Nov. 23 vs Washington, 1:25 p.m. (CBS)
Week 13: Thursday, Nov. 27, vs. Seattle, 5:30 p.m. (NBC)
Week 14: Sunday, Dec. 7, at Oakland, 1:25 p.m. (FOX)
Week 15: Sunday, Dec. 14, at Seattle, 1:25 p.m. (FOX)
Week 16: Saturday, Dec. 20, vs San Diego, 1:30 p.m. or 5:15 p.m. (NFL Network or CBS)
Week 17: Sunday, Dec. 28, vs. Arizona, 1:25 p.m. (FOX)
Schedule notes
--Flexible scheduling may be applied in Weeks 5-10. During that period, flexible scheduling can be used in no more than two weeks by shifting a Sunday afternoon game into primetime and moving the Sunday night game to an afternoon start time.
--A select number of games are being “cross-flexed,” moving between CBS and FOX to bring potentially under-distributed games to wider audiences. That is why the Nov. 23 game against Washington will appear on CBS.
--Flexible scheduling will be used in Weeks 11-17 as it has been in recent years. In Weeks 11-16, the schedule lists the games tentatively set for Sunday Night Football on NBC. Only Sunday afternoon games are eligible to be moved to Sunday night, in which case the tentatively scheduled Sunday night game would be moved to an afternoon start time. Flexible scheduling will not be applied to games airing on Thursday, Saturday or Monday nights. A flexible scheduling move would be announced at least 12 days before the game. For Week 17, the Sunday night game will be announced no later than six days prior to December 28. The schedule does not list a Sunday night game in Week 17, but an afternoon game with playoff implications will be moved to that time slot.
--The broadcasting network and start time for the 49ers Week 16 matchup with San Diego will be set at a later date. If the game airs on NFL Network, kickoff will be 1:30 p.m. If the game airs on CBS, kickoff will be 5:15 p.m.
