Going into Week 16, the San Francisco 49ers potentially would have clinched the NFC’s No. 1 playoff seed. Unfortunately, the 49ers weren’t allowed that opportunity by the time they faced the Baltimore Ravens. Even if they were, they still ended up losing, so clinching in Week 16 wasn’t meant to be for them. It probably is for the best too since the 49ers wouldn’t have had anything to play for in their final two games.
Despite the loss to the Ravens, the 49ers are still in firm control of their destiny if they win out. However, that might not be needed as they can clinch the No. 1 playoff seed in Week 17. How they can do it is by first and foremost winning against the Washington Commanders. Now, the 49ers will have to fly cross country to play them and are on a short week. Not to mention that their body clocks will be in the morning since it is 10 A.M. pacific time zone start.
But the 49ers should still be able to defeat the Commanders relatively easily at the worst. All the frustrations from losing to the Ravens in beatdown fashion needs to be unleashed on the Commanders. Doing so will put themselves in position to clinch the No. 1 seed, but they will still need a couple of other teams to lose to officially clinch. The Philadelphia Eagles and the Detroit Lions will need to lose so that the 49ers can clinch the No. 1 seed if they beat the Commanders. The conditions for clinching the NFC’s top seed is not as difficult as last week.
The 49ers needed the Dallas Cowboys to lose along with the Eagles and Lions in Week 16, so having only two teams lose makes it a more favorable scenario. However, it is still going to be tough for it to play out. The Eagles will face the Cardinals, while the Lions take on the Cowboys. Detroit could easily lose to the Cowboys, but the Eagles losing to the Cardinals doesn’t seem likely. I do not like the chances of the 49ers being able to clinch the NFC’s No. 1 seed this week. It looks like their best chance of it will be by defeating the Commanders, then the Los Angeles Rams in the season finale.
