How new NFL playoff format potentially affects 49ers in 2020

49ers could be affected by NFL playoff format shakeup.

One of my favorite bits of NFL news this offseason has been the changes the league has made to its playoff format. The NFL chose to add one team per conference for its end-of-year tournament, seeding team Nos. 1 through 7 rather than the customary Nos. 1 through 6. As a result, only the top seed in each conference would receive a bye in the first round, instead of the top two. How the matchups work will remain the same, however: The highest seed will play the lowest seed and so on, so No. 2 versus No. 7, No. 3 versus No. 6 and No. 4 versus No.5. In the divisional round, your No. 1 seed will then play the lowest remaining seed, and the other two teams will match up against each other.

So how does this affect the San Francisco 49ers in 2020? I felt that examining what this playoff format would have looked like in 2019 would clue us in.

The NFC playoffs in 2019 would have been seeded as follows:

1. 49ers (getting warm fuzzy feelings all over typing this)
2. Green Bay Packers
3. New Orleans Saints
4. Philadelphia Eagles
5. Seattle Seahawks
6. Minnesota Vikings
7. Los Angeles Rams

The Rams would have snuck into that No. 7 seed and faced off against Green Bay on Wild Card weekend. While they certainly had an up-and-down year after starting 3-0, they were not a team to take lightly at the end of the season. Look no further than Week 16 where their game in Santa Clara came down to the wire. And were it not for a Robbie Gould 33-yard field goal as time expired, the Rams potentially could have upset the eventual NFC champions.

So is it crazy to think the Rams could have marched into Lambeau Field and beaten quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ team, which despite being the No. 2 seed, was less than dominating all season long?

Crazier things have happened (remember the Tennessee Titans’ two playoff upsets last year).

So let’s live in that world for a minute. The Rams have gone ahead and upset the Packers, and now the Niners have a rematch with their in-state rivals. I would hazard to guess that game would have been better than the one the Minnesota Vikings gave fans at Levi’s Stadium. The familiarity division teams have with each other seem to produce some of the most exciting football games every season.

That seems to be especially true if you are a 49er fan.

And this is the point I wanted to make about the new playoff system. The biggest effect it will have on the 49ers are potential division matchups in the playoffs, as well as stressing the importance of division games during the season.

If you look back at 2019, five of their six division games came down to the final possession. Both games against Seattle were instant classics. But even the 5-10-1 Arizona Cardinals took the 49ers down to the wire in both contests. If a team is a top seed in the playoffs, my guess is most of the time, they are hoping to avoid playing someone within their division.

Let’s take a look at the other matchup in our hypothetical scenario. Seattle beats the Eagles and now get to host a playoff game against the Vikings who took down the Saints. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and the Seahawks already beat the Vikings earlier last season in prime time at home, my bet is they would have advanced to the NFC Championship game.

So now the 49ers have to play division rivals in back-to-back weeks on their way to the Super Bowl. This feels like a much more difficult road than the one that happened in 2019

So what about 2020?

How the 49ers could be affected this season

In 2020, the 49ers are listed as one of those potential Saturday games in Week 16 where they play a division opponent. Only this year, the matchup is against the Cardinals, who to many, have won the offseason by trading for former Houston Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins as well as finding great value in the NFL Draft with former Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons.

Because of the extra playoff spot available this year, this gives a team like Arizona more to play for near the end of the season. There is a real possibility the Cardinals will still be playing meaningful football this late in the season because of the No. 7 seed.

In fact, you could argue Week 16 will end up being one of the most important weeks on the 49ers’ entire schedule depending on how it all shakes out. And then, of course, Week 17 will most likely have real playoff implications when Seattle travels to Santa Clara to wrap up the regular season.

Of course, there will be some years the new playoff format could benefit a team in regards to matchups rather than hurt them. But the likelihood of other teams in your division making the playoffs just went up because of it. And how you feel about it all depends on what seed your team is. If you are the No. 7 seed, maybe you feel your team has a better chance at the upset against a division opponent.

Either way, the 49ers are still reigning NFC champions, and all signs point to them being a top-tier team again in 2020. But we know exciting those NFC West matchups can be, and if we see them come January, buckle up.