The San Francisco 49ers enter their Week 14 bye in a great place in the NFC playoff picture.
They sit in the No. 7 seed, 1.5 games ahead of the Detroit Lions and only 0.5 games behind the NFC West-leading Los Angeles Rams. That No. 7 seed won’t belong to them for long though thanks to the schedule. With how the playoff picture sits entering Week 14, the 49ers are primed to move up in the playoff standings no matter what happens while they’re off.
Here is who the 49ers should be rooting for while they kick their feet up in this week:
49ers want: Falcons win
A win by Atlanta moves the 49ers past Seattle in the standings thanks to their head-to-head tiebreaker. If Seattle loses, the 49ers will be no worse than sixth entering Week 15.
49ers want: Cardinals win
If the Cardinals win and the Falcons win, San Francisco would move into first place in the NFC West and sit at the No. 2 seed when they come out of their bye. A Rams loss would ensure the 49ers finish Week 14 no worse than No. 6.
49ers want: Either one, really
San Francisco gets to No. 6 no matter how this game finishes. The 49ers would move ahead of the 8-4-1 Packers if Chicago wins. They’d jump over the No. 7 seed 9-4 Bears to No. 6 if Green Bay wins. A loss from one of the Seahawks or Rams would push the 49ers up to No. 5, ahead of the NFC West team that lost and ahead of the loser of Packers-Bears.
More 49ers: These stats show just how impressive Christian McCaffrey has been