The 49ers are shaking up their schedule before their matchup against the Cardinals on Monday Night Football in Mexico City.
Estadio Azteca, where the 49ers and Cardinals will face off, sits more than 7,200 feet above sea level. To prepare their bodies for elevation, the 49ers are traveling to Denver (5,279 feet) to start acclimating to the thinner air.
San Francisco will travel out Tuesday and spend all week in Denver before flying to Mexico City on Sunday according to head coach Kyle Shanahan.
There are varying theories on when clubs should reach elevation and how much bodies benefit based on time to adapt to the conditions. Shanahan said on a conference call that the club made the decision to spend the week in Denver after chatting with a handful of teams that have played a game at Estadio Azteca.
The team also drew off its own experience spending time in Denver in 2019 for joint practices before a preseason matchup that year.
We’ll see whether the 49ers’ choice of spending a week in Denver pays off when they kick off against the Cardinals at 5:15pm Pacific on Monday.
