Breaking down 5 best playoff scenarios for San Francisco 49ers

With only a quarter of the season to go, the San Francisco 49ers are 10-2 and can finally smell playoffs after years of mediocrity. Niner Noise breaks down the five best playoff scenarios for the team.

For the San Francisco 49ers, it’s been a while between drinks when it comes to the playoff race and where they factor in.

Not since 2014 in what turned out to be the final years of the Jim Harbaugh era has the team featured in the postseason, ending in a heartbreaking loss in the NFC Championship game.

With patience, good drafting and some savvy trades and free agency signings, the Niners finally have a team that looks like they could at least match that 2012 season.

General manager John Lynch deserves hefty praise for how relatively quickly he has pieced this team together. And the coaching staff, led by head coach Kyle Shanahan and defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, deserves credit for getting a lot out of this talented team.

Not just with the starters, either. Unlike last year, where injuries stopped the team from gaining any momentum because the backups weren’t able to properly cover up the cracks, this season has produced a stunning array of backups who possess (at worst) the ability to hold up the fort for multiple games at a time.

With only four games left in the regular season and the 49ers holding a 10-2 record, it’s fine to take the time to look ahead and see what the best playoff scenarios are for San Francisco, right?

Nobody can blame us if we have some preferences on how we want the playoffs to unfold for the 49ers. It’s been some time, but it’s finally time to think about it.