{"id":624648,"date":"2025-12-24T10:14:30","date_gmt":"2025-12-24T10:14:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/624648\/"},"modified":"2025-12-24T10:14:30","modified_gmt":"2025-12-24T10:14:30","slug":"how-the-49ers-can-still-clinch-the-nfcs-no-1-seed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/624648\/","title":{"rendered":"How the 49ers can still clinch the NFC&#8217;s No. 1 seed"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\">While the San Francisco 49ers remain in the hunt for the NFC\u2019s top seed, the path now runs almost entirely through the NFC West.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">San Francisco, which already clinched a postseason spot, stayed alive in the chase for the top seed with its <a href=\"https:\/\/sactownsports.com\/60797\/brock-purdys-5-td-night-49ers-past-colts\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">win over the Indianapolis Colts<\/a>, improving to 11-4 on the season and extending its winning streak to five games.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">With two weeks remaining, the margin is slim \u2014 but the math is finally clean.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Rather than needing chaos across the conference, the 49ers\u2019 best-case scenario is rooted in familiar territory: Seattle and Los Angeles.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Here\u2019s how San Francisco can still finish the regular season as the NFC\u2019s No. 1 seed:<\/p>\n<p><img data-perfmatters-preload=\"\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-60805\" class=\" wp-image-60805\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Screenshot-2025-12-23-at-7.40.50\u202fAM-300x180.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"575\" height=\"345\"  \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-60805\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">(ESPN)<\/p>\n<p>NFC No. 1 Seed Clinch Scenarios for the 49ers<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">San Francisco<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">\u2022 WIN remaining games (including Week 18 vs. Seattle)<br \/>\u2022 AND at least one loss by Seattle<br \/>\u2022 AND no worse than a tie with Los Angeles<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">San Francisco\u2019s win over Indianapolis was needed. From here, the most realistic path involves overtaking Seattle while holding position over the Rams.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Seattle Seahawks<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">This is the key matchup in the standings. If the 49ers and Seahawks are tied entering Week 18, San Francisco can leapfrog Seattle outright with a win. The 49ers already hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, meaning a tied record favors San Francisco as long as they finish strong.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">In short: a Seahawks loss combined with the 49ers winning out flips the NFC West \u2014 and potentially the conference \u2014 in San Francisco\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Los Angeles Rams<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The 49ers already own the tiebreaker over the Rams based on division winning percentage, eliminating the need for additional help from Los Angeles. As long as San Francisco matches the Rams\u2019 record over the final two weeks, the 49ers would finish ahead of them in the standings.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Put simply, the Rams are no longer the primary obstacle. Seattle is.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">If the 49ers close the season undefeated and Seattle slips even once, San Francisco would be positioned to surge past both division rivals and claim the NFC\u2019s top seed, along with a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The margin is tight, but the equation is clear. The 49ers handled their business against the Colts. Now, the NFC West race will determine just how high this run can climb.<\/p>\n<p>More 49ers content from Sactown Sports<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">The San Francisco 49ers today announced that LB Luke Gifford (special teamer), FB Kyle Juszczyk, TE George Kittle, RB Christian McCaffrey, LS Jon Weeks, and T Trent Williams were selected to the 2026 Pro Bowl. In addition, WR Skyy Moore was selected as an alternate.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">Gifford, who signed with San Francisco as a free agent in the 2025 offseason, earns his first career Pro Bowl selection. In 15 games played this season (eight starts), he has registered 19 special teams tackles, which is tied for the fourth-most in the NFL.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">A 13-year veteran who signed with the 49ers as a free agent in 2017,\u00a0Juszczyk\u00a0earns his 10th-consecutive trip to the Pro Bowl (2017-26) and ninth straight as a member of the 49ers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">His 10 Pro Bowl selections are the most ever by a fullback. In 15 games played this season (all starts), he has notched 21 receptions for 194 yards (9.2 average) and one touchdown. His 194 receiving yards are the most among fullbacks this season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\">McCaffrey, who was acquired by San Francisco in a trade with the Carolina Panthers during the 2022 season, earns his fourth overall Pro Bowl selection (2020, 2023-24, 2026). In 15 starts this season, he has registered 280 carries for 1,039 yards (3.7 average) and nine touchdowns on the ground to go along with 92 receptions for 849 yards and seven touchdowns through the air.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sactownsports.com\/60802\/six-49ers-selected-to-2026-pro-bowl-dec\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Six 49ers Selected To 2026 Pro Bowl<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n<p>Upcoming San Francisco 49ers Schedule<\/p>\n<p>Sunday, December 28th\u00a0\u2013 vs. Chicago Bears \u2013 5:20 PM PT<br \/>\nTBD (Flex Game)\u00a0\u2013 vs. Seattle Seahawks<\/p>\n<p>Thank you for reading\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/sactownsports.com\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">SactownSports.com<\/a>. Follow us on\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Sactown1140\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Twitter<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMMGengsw2Ki2Aw?hl=en-US&amp;gl=US&amp;ceid=US:en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Google News<\/a>, and subscribe to our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/SactownSports1140\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">YouTube<\/a>\u00a0channel.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"twitter-follow-button\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FCartoscelli3\" data-show-count=\"false\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Follow @FCartoscelli3<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sactownsports.com\/newsletters\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SactownSportsEmail-300x250-1.jpg\" style=\"margin: 0 auto;\" class=\"mobile-signup\"\/>\t&#13;<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/SactownSportsEmail-830x100-1.jpg\" style=\"margin: 0 auto;\" class=\"desktop-signup\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    <script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While the San Francisco 49ers remain in the hunt for the NFC\u2019s top seed, the path now runs&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624649,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2080],"tags":[220,7,1631,6,9827,9826,1161,252,2624,2623],"class_list":{"0":"post-624648","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-francisco-49ers","8":"tag-49ers","9":"tag-football","10":"tag-home","11":"tag-nfl","12":"tag-sactownsports-com","13":"tag-sactownsports-com-sacramento-sports-news","14":"tag-san-francisco","15":"tag-san-francisco-49ers","16":"tag-sanfrancisco","17":"tag-sanfrancisco49ers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115774021082096581","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624648\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624649"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}