3 positive takeaways from 49ers tough Week 15 loss to Falcons
By Peter Panacy
No. 2: 49ers Can Still Secure the No. 1 NFC Seed
Oddly enough, the Niners loss to the Falcons means little in the grand scheme of the NFC playoff picture.
Sure, San Francisco drops back out of the No. 1 overall seed for now, down to No. 5. But the 49ers are still in a position where they control their own destiny.
For clarity, just check out what Football Outsiders’ Bryan Knowles had to say:
The 49ers will still likely win the NFC West with a Week 17 win over Seattle, no matter what happens next week.
— Bryan Knowles (@BryKno) December 16, 2019
If it's a tie at 12-4, it would come down to strength of victory. 49ers have GB, NO and WAS; Seahawks have ATL, MIN and PHI. That's a three-game lead for SF.
Both the Niners and now-NFC West-leading Seattle Seahawks have identical 11-3 records, with Seattle owning the current tiebreaker. Should both the Seahawks and Niners win their Week 16 matchups against the Arizona Cardinals and Rams, respectively, whoever wins between Seattle and San Francisco in their Week 17 bout at CenturyLink Field to close out the regular season has the better record and wins the division.
Even if the 49ers lose to the Rams, falling to 11-4, and the Seahawks beat the Cardinals to improve to 12-3, a subsequent potential Niners Week 17 victory over Seattle would force a tie as far as records go.
So, if you’re looking at strength of victory, San Francisco has the edge there, too. And that Week 14 win over the Saints could also count for something as well.
Simply put, the loss to the Falcons was almost meaningless. It’s Week 17 which matters most for the 49ers.