SANTA CLARA — This 49ers season is so beguiling that they’ll improve their playoff stature without even playing in Week 14.
Currently the NFC’s seventh and final seed, the 49ers (9-4) can sit back and rehab on their bye while climbing to at least the No. 6 spot and potentially No. 2.
They’ll leapfrog the loser of Sunday’s game between the Chicago Bears (9-3) and the host Green Bay Packers (8-3-1) for the No. 6 spot, yet still be in wild-card territory.
The No. 2 slot, behind the victor of that Bears-Packers game, could become the 49ers’ if both the Rams (9-3) and Seahawks (9-3) lose their respective road games, at the Arizona Cardinals (3-9) and at the Atlanta Falcons (4-8).
“If people had said you would be 9-4 going into the bye, and you’re not going to have Fred Warner and Nick Bosa and Kittle is going to miss the first five weeks, and Brock is going to miss (eight) games, a lot of people would have laughed at everybody,” tight end George Kittle said after Sunday’s 26-8 win in Cleveland. “Kudos to our coaching staff, coach (Kyle) Shanahan, (general manager John) Lynch for bringing in the right guys to fill in those spots. … We’re set up really well.”
Here are four ways to examine the final-four push:
FOUR REMAINING GAMES
vs. Tennessee Titans (1-11)
Sunday, Dec. 14, 1:25 p.m.
No. 1 pick Cam Ward follows Brock Purdy into Cleveland this Sunday to try ending a seven-game win streak against Myles Garrett and the Browns. Ward has been sacked a NFL-high 48 times and thrown only seven touchdown passes for a barren franchise that fired coach Brian Callahan at 1-5.
at Indianapolis Colts (8-4)
Monday, Dec. 22, 5:15 p.m.
They’ve lost three of four since a 7-1 start, quarterback Daniel Jones is playing on a fractured fibula and Jonathan Taylor is scoreless in those past three losses. Taylor, however, did run for 244 yards and three touchdowns in a Nov. 9 win over Atlanta, feeding his NFL-best totals of 1,282 yards and 15 touchdowns on the ground.
vs. Chicago Bears
Sunday, Dec. 28, 5:20 p.m.
This could ultimately decide the NFL’s top seed, though the Bears first have two games against the Packers sandwiched around a visit by the Browns. Resurrected by first-year coach Ben Johnson and quarterback Caleb Williams, the Bears have just a plus-6 point differential (313-307), but they are an NFL-best plus-17 in turnovers (26-9).
vs. Seattle Seahawks
Saturday/Sunday, Jan. 3/4, TBD
Different year, different venue, but could be the same stakes as the 2019 regular-season finale when the 49ers won the NFC West and No. 1 seed in Seattle. The Seahawks are allowing only 18.1 points per game; the 49ers won 17-13 in Week 1 at Seattle.
FOUR PLAYERS TO WATCH
1. Christian McCaffrey
While everyone wants to see a quality burst beyond 20 yards for the first time this season, McCaffrey’s quantity of yards and touchdowns are more important. He’s barreling toward 1,000 yards both rushing (849 currently) and receiving (806). His eight rushing touchdowns have come in the past eight games, and he needs eight more scores (rushing or receiving) to match his 2023 NFL-leading total of 21.
2. Bryce Huff
He has been the 49ers’ best pass-rushing threat since Nick Bosa’s Week 3 knee injury, and although Huff has no sacks over the past four games, he has eight quarterback hits in that span. The improving presence of Clelin Ferrell and Keion White should benefit Huff’s speed rushes toward, in order, Ward, Jones, Williams and Sam Darnold.
3. Eddy Piñeiro
Kicker Eddy Piñeiro is expected to reprise his role after missing the past two games with a hamstring strain; Matt Gay went 2-for-2 on both field-goal and point-after kicks in each game. Piñeiro has hit all 22 field-goal attempts since replacing Jake Moody in Week 2, but don’t ignore those three point-after misses Piñeiro’s last two outings.
4. Brock Purdy
Purdy kicked into playoff gear in that final minute before halftime in Cleveland, when he hit Ricky Pearsall on third-and-long, then Jauan Jennings, then the 33-yard, into-the-wind heave to George Kittle for a last-second, go-ahead drive. Purdy needs to keep blocking out his toe pain, not to mention his interceptions of Christmas past.
FOUR TELLING QUOTES
“We have our hands full after the bye. It’s going to be interesting. Guys are going to be hyped.” – safety Ji’Ayir Brown
“It’s a pretty long time if you add up the weeks of training camp and the preseason. (The bye) gives us more time going into the postseason and setting ourselves up for success in that regard.” – center Jake Brendel
“Just rest up and recover, and when we come back we take it just one game at a time like we have but I love our character, I love our urgency, and I like where we are at.” – McCaffrey
“We can’t overlook anybody. We’ve had some guys go down and people will say, `Oh, that’s it, because they’re hurt.’ But man, it’s football, and guys step up. Guys have opportunities in front of them and they seize the moment and don’t look back.” – Purdy, on KNBR 680-AM
FOUR INSIGHTFUL NUMBERS
.500: Teams coming out of a Week 14 bye are 9-9 since 2021. Indianapolis and Washington are each 1-2. Idling this weekend along with the 49ers are the AFC-leading Patriots (11-2), the Panthers (7-6) and the Giants (2-11).
9: Wins by the 49ers, Rams and Seahawks through Week 13. The only other division to pull that off since 2002 was last season’s NFC North, only for all three teams – the Lions, the Vikings, the Packers — to lose their respective playoff opener. Historical anecdote courtesy of the AP’s Josh Dubow.
10: The 49ers allowed less than 10 points in each of their past two wins (20-9 vs. Carolina, 26-8 at Cleveland). Their 2019 team pulled that off in three straight games, shutting out Washington 9-0 to cap that string. The Jaguars have done the sub-10 trick in two of their past three games, and the Rams have done so in four games this season.
322: McCaffrey’s NFL-high in touches this season, including a league-best 237 carries and team-high 85 receptions. He is 50 carries shy of his 2019 total of carries; last season, he had 50 carries in his four games. Most touches in a season: 492, by Tampa Bay’s James Wilder in 1984.