Five NFL teams hit with unprecedented scheduling disadvantage that no team has ever been able to overcome

Kyle Shanahan has had a lot to complain about when it comes to this year's NFL schedule, and we're going to go ahead and add one more thing to the list: The 49ers are one of five teams that got hit with an unprecedented scheduling disadvantage that no team has ever overcome.

>The disadvantage? Five different teams are scheduled to play an international game this year, followed by a game against a team coming off a bye.

>The 49ers have to play an international game in Week 11, then follow that up in Week 12 against a Seahawks team coming off a bye. Basically, the 49ers will be dealing with international traveling issues in Week 11, while the Seahawks get to sit at home and rest as they prepare for their huge showdown against the 49ers.

>The NFL's first international game was played in 2005 between the Cardinals and 49ers, and in the 20 years since then, the league has done its best to avoid putting any teams in the situation that the 49ers are in. In two decades, there have been only four instances in which a team coming off an international game faced a team coming off a bye, and none of them have won. Ever.

>It's not just the 49ers, though; the Bengals, Eagles, Lions and Vikings also have to deal with a unique setup.

>In Week 5, the Eagles face the Jaguars in London. In Week 6, the Eagles turn around and host a Panthers team coming off a Week 5 bye.

>In Week 9, the Bengals head to Spain to face the Falcons. One week later, the Bengals host the Steelers on "Sunday Night Football." The Steelers should be pretty fresh heading into that game, as they'll be coming off a Week 9 bye.

>If there's any team that should be complaining about their schedule, it's the Detroit Lions. Their Week 10 game in Germany against the Patriots will start a stretch where they have to play three games in 11 days. After facing the Patriots in Munich, they have to fly back to the U.S. to face the Buccaneers in Week 11 and the Bucs will be coming off a Week 10 bye.

>Both teams playing in Mexico City got hit with this unfortunate schedule setup. As we mentioned at the top, the 49ers have to head to Mexico City in Week 11 before returning to the Bay Area to face the Seahawks in Week 12. Seattle will be coming off a Week 11 bye before that game.

>In Minnesota's case, the Vikings will face the Falcons in Week 12, and Atlanta will be coming off a Week 11 bye.

>So, how bad of a disadvantage is this? It's a small sample size, but in the four previous games, the team coming off an international game is 0-4 against the team coming off a bye and 0-3-1 against the spread, which suggests this might put teams at a competitive disadvantage.

>Here's a brief look at the four games in which a team coming off an international game faced a team off a bye.

>The team coming off the international trip averaged just 15.25 points per game, and the ugly part is that they've been outscored  70-30 over the first three quarters. Again, it's a small sample size, but those are eye-opening numbers.

>The situation that the Eagles, Bengals and Lions will be facing wasn't even possible as recently as 10 years ago. The first London game was played in 2007, and for the first nine years of the series, any team playing Europe received a bye after its game. However, in 2016, the Colts decided they didn't WANT a bye after their London game -- because they didn't want to get it so early in the season -- and since then, the NFL has allowed teams to request whether they want the bye after playing abroad. That being said, even if a team requests a bye, there's no guarantee they'll get it.

>The NFL's vice president of broadcast planning, Mike North, said that teams are no longer guaranteed a bye after an international game because the travel has become more routine.

>"In the 'old days,' quote unquote, we really tried to learn about the inconvenience or the additional travel considerations for international games," North told Bengals.com recently. "I know it's not quite routine, but it's getting to the point where it's pretty routine. You play an afternoon (game) over there, it's morning over here, you're back in the facility by what? Midnight Sunday night? That's better than if it's played out in Seattle or Los Angeles … That's the new normal for us."

>What North didn't mention is the impact of asking a team coming off an international trip to face a team coming off a bye in their next game. Yes, you might get back to your facility late Sunday night, but if your body is still on European time, there will be an adjustment period, and jet lag could last a day or two, which could impact practice for your next game.

>If the Eagles, Bengals and Lions all lose the following week after their international game this year, the NFL will have to give some serious consideration to avoiding this situation going forward, especially when it involves teams coming back from Europe.

>For the Vikings-49ers game, there isn't a huge time change involved -- the Vikings will be staying in their time zone and the 49ers will be moving from Pacific to Central Time -- but there is a lot of travel. Not only will both teams have to take a flight that will last more than four hours, but they'll be playing at an altitude of 7,350 feet in Mexico City. Not to mention, since this is the Sunday night game, neither team will get back to their facility until Monday.

>The 49ers have to deal with a trip to Australia in Week 1 which Shanahan already isn't happy about, and the fact that he has to come back from Mexico to face a Seahawks team coming off a bye will likely just give him something else to complain about on the schedule, but this time, he might have some company with his complaint, because Zac Taylor, Dan Campbell, Kevin O'Connell and Nick Sirianni probably also aren't thrilled with this part of their schedule.