Niner Noise
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49ers would face this team if NFL playoffs started today

By Peter Panacy

Kirk Cousins #8 of the Minnesota Vikings and Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images)
Kirk Cousins #8 of the Minnesota Vikings and Jimmy Garoppolo #10 of the San Francisco 49ers (Photo by Hannah Foslien/Getty Images) /
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There’s a long way to go on the NFL schedule, but if the playoffs began today, the 49ers would be in a Wild Card spot and would face off against this team in the first round.

Now on the back nine (quite literally) of their 2022 NFL schedule, the San Francisco 49ers hope they’ve climbed out of an inconsistent hole over the first half by coming out of their Week 9 bye and beating the Los Angeles Chargers to get to 5-4 after 10 weeks.

Luckily, the NFC West is no longer the gauntlet it once was, even a year ago. And the NFC as a whole is wildly inconsistent with teams many thought would compete for a Super Bowl (ahem, the Green Bay Packers) somehow floundering.

Others, meanwhile, have shocked and surprised.

The Niners are a shade out of the division lead, while the 6-4 Seattle Seahawks have somehow overcome last offseason’s blockbuster trade of quarterback Russell Wilson and are now riding the hot hand of quarterback Geno Smith to first place within the NFC West.

Few predicted that would be the case this deep into the season.

As such, if the NFL playoffs started today, the Hawks would get a home game in the Wild Card round as a division winner, which would mean San Francisco would have to be the road team in Round 1 of the playoffs.

49ers would face Vikings in Wild Card round of NFL playoffs

There are eight more weeks of football left in the regular season, and the 49ers know fully well how much can change over that stretch based on their hot streak a year ago at this time that netted them a postseason berth.

But, if the NFL playoffs began today, the Niners would be clinging onto the No. 7 seed in the NFC, while the standings in the conference would be as follows:

  1. Philadelphia Eagles (8-1)
  2. Minnesota Vikings (8-1)
  3. Seattle Seahawks (6-4)
  4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-5)
  5. New York Giants (7-2)
  6. Dallas Cowboys (6-3)
  7. San Francisco 49ers (5-4)

Read More: 49ers still 2nd in NFC West after Week 10, Rams fall to last

The first four seeds are the division leaders, while the Giants, Cowboys and Niners are the Wild Card teams right now.

And, with the No. 1-seeded Eagles getting a first-round bye, San Francisco would travel to take on the Vikings in the opening round of the playoffs.

If the postseason began this weekend, of course, but it doesn’t.

Next. Predicting each 49ers game, outcome over 2nd half of season. dark