While the San Francisco 49ers got a small bump in the NFC standings during their much-needed bye week, moving from the third and final Wild Card slot at No. 7 into the middle Wild Card slot at No. 6, they weren't able to gain any ground in the race for the NFC West, as both the Los Angeles Rams and Seattle Seahawks improved to 10-3, with each earning a blowout victory.
Nevertheless, at 9-4, the Niners are in solid shape heading into the final four weeks of this 2025 regular season, a stretch that starts this Sunday with a home date against the two-win Tennessee Titans, who snapped a seven-game losing streak this past week with a 31-29 win over the Cleveland Browns.
Naturally, San Francisco is a heavy favorite, but playing against a team that just found a little confidence and has nothing to lose at this point certainly falls into the dreaded "trap game" category.
So, the 49ers will still want to be as sharp as possible heading into this matchup. Again, at 9-4, they're in good shape.
But as you can see below, the NFC playoff picture is far from being decided, and any loss down the stretch could prove costly:
- Los Angeles Rams (10-3, 1st NFC West)
- Green Bay Packers (9-3-1, 1st NFC North)
- Philadelphia Eagles (8-5, 1st NFC East)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-6, 1st NFC South)
- Seattle Seahawks (10-3, 2nd NFC West)
- San Francisco 49ers (9-4, 3rd NFC West)
- Chicago Bears (9-4, 2nd NFC North)
- Detroit Lions (8-5, 3rd NFC North)
- Carolina Panthers (7-6, 2nd NFC South)
- Dallas Cowboys (6-6-1, 2nd NFC East)
- Minnesota Vikings (5-8, 4th NFC North)
While the Niners obviously don't want to taste defeat this week, they'll certainly be rooting for plenty of the other top teams in the conference to take a loss.
So, with that in mind, let's have a look the games San Francisco will be keeping an eye on in Week 15.
Atlanta Falcons at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
This isn't an overly important matchup for the Niners, but seeing as how they could end up battling the Buccaneers for seeding, either among the top four as division winners or in the Wild Card race, it's still worth monitoring, especially since San Francisco would lose a head-to-head tiebreaker due to that 30-19 loss to Tampa Bay back in Week 6.
"Go Falcons" is the rallying cry in this one.
Cleveland Browns at Chicago Bears
As you saw above, San Francisco holds the same 9-4 record as Chicago but wins the tiebreaker due to having a better record against NFC opponents (8-2 to 6-3). The Niners could possibly ruin a lot of things for the Bears when the two clubs square off in Week 17, but they certainly wouldn't mind having a lead on Chicago before then. So, one would assume the 49ers will be rooting for the Browns to pull off an upset here.
Las Vegas Raiders at Philadelphia Eagles
The Eagles are in a freefall at the moment, as they've lost their last three. While the Cowboys are still technically in the mix in the NFC East race, the Birds are still in great shape to win the division, as they lead Dallas by two games in the win column.
The 49ers could certainly end up fighting the Eagles for seeding, so a Philly loss here wouldn't be the worst thing in the world.
Green Bay Packers at Denver Broncos
This is a no-brainer for the Niners, as they obviously don't care one bit about the Broncos. The Packers, of course, are a different story, as San Francisco could end up fighting Green Bay for seeding. So, Denver is the easy rooting interest here.
Detroit Lions at Los Angeles Rams
As the 49ers' ultimate goal for the regular season is to win the NFC West, the easy call here is to root for the Lions. Yes, Detroit is only game back of San Francisco at 8-5, but the Niners are in good shape if a tiebreaker comes into play due to their 8-2 conference record, as the Lions are currently just 5-4 against NFC opponents.
Carolina Panthers at New Orleans Saints
For this one, basically take what was said above about the Buccaneers and apply it to the Panthers. The difference, however, is that the 49ers would win a head-to-head tiebreaker, as they took down Carolina in Week 12. As such, San Francisco would probably prefer Carolina to win the NFC South, but a Panthers loss here still wouldn't hurt.
Indianapolis Colts at Seattle Seahawks
This is another no-brainer, as the 49ers will obviously be pulling for the Colts here, although an Indianapolis victory now looks a lot less promising, given the season-ending Achilles injury to Daniel Jones. Nevertheless, a Colts victory here would obviously serve San Francisco well.
If the 49ers beat the Titans and the Rams and Seahawks both lose, all three teams would be 10-4, but San Francisco would win the three-way tiebreaker and move into first place in the NFC West. And if the Packers lose to the Broncos, the 49ers would also take possession of the No. 1 seed. So, it could be a very fun week.