4 teams 49ers want to see lose to help with playoff push
By Peter Panacy
49ers have to handle business vs. Falcons in Week 15
Falcons remaining schedule: @ 49ers, vs. Lions, @ Bills, vs. Saints
Going purely by win/loss records, both the Vikings and Philadelphia Eagles trail the Niners by only one game in the standings. Yet San Francisco holds tiebreaking regular-season wins over both those teams, effectively giving it a two-game lead in the playoff picture.
Another 6-7 team, the Atlanta Falcons, faces the 49ers at Levi’s Stadium in Week 15.
Owners of the league’s 26th-ranked scoring offense and 28th-ranked scoring defense, it’s somewhat hard to understand why Atlanta is just one game below the .500 mark this deep in the season. Currently slated in the No. 10 seed and trailing both the Vikings and Eagles, it would take a lot for things to go the Falcons’ way down the stretch, which has to include traveling to the Bay Area and knocking off the 49ers.
Read More: 49ers vs. Falcons: Week 15 betting odds, prediction
A win by the Niners, though, would essentially remove Atlanta from this list, though, as that would also create a two-game buffer in the standings.
From that point, San Francisco wouldn’t be threatened by the Falcons as long as it won just one more game after Week 15.