NFL playoffs: 5 teams SF 49ers fans can root for this postseason

1 of 5

Washington Football Team quarterback Alex Smith (11) Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports /

With the SF 49ers not in the postseason, fans can still put together a 2021 rooting guide with these five teams in the NFL playoffs this year.

The SF 49ers were officially eliminated from the 2021 NFL playoffs a few weeks ago, but most fans understood the glaring reality the Niners weren’t going to stand a chance once the plethora of injuries started to pile up.

Once EDGE Nick Bosa went down in Week 2 with a season-ending ACL tear, it was going to be a tough path. And that was made all the more difficult with quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, tight end George Kittle, wide receiver Deebo Samuel and running back Raheem Mostert, among many others, joining Bosa on San Francisco’s league-most list of injured players this season.

Alas, SF 49ers fans can think about what may come in 2021. But in the meantime, this year’s NFL playoffs still feature more than enough storylines worth paying attention to.

And for those Niners fans who have endured the bad years, finding another team to root for in the postseason isn’t too foreign a concept.

So, if you’re struggling to identify a team (or teams) you want to see find some postseason success, we’re glad to help you out with these five suggestions.

No. 5: Washington Football Team

SF 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and his former employer, the Washington Football Team, don’t exactly have a harmonious relationship. But that doesn’t mean there’s a lack of feel-good stories emanating out of Landover, Maryland.

While the NFC East was horribly bad this year, Washington still eeked out a division-winning season with a 7-9 record and will square off against the No. 5 seed, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, on Wild Card weekend.

Aside from rooting against Bucs quarterback Tom Brady, Niners fans can feel pretty good about watching veteran quarterback Alex Smith make his return to the postseason after already making one of the more heroic comebacks from his life-threatening leg injury suffered in 2018. That alone was a storyline in itself.

But Smith being back in the playoffs yet again after such a tumultuous journey is pretty epic, too.

If he and the Football Team can somehow knock off Brady and the Buccaneers, it’ll be an even better story.