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It's time to hit the panic button on 49ers' playoff chances after Week 12 loss

The Niners are still in the playoff hunt, but the final route to making the postseason involves some awfully tough scenarios.

By Peter Panacy

San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel (1)
San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Deebo Samuel (1) / Stacy Revere/GettyImages
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The 49ers aren't technically eliminated from the NFL playoffs. But, for all intents and purposes, they might as well be.

During Fox Sports' broadcast of the San Francisco 49ers' Week 12 road game against the Green Bay Packers, a graphic was displayed that showed both teams' playoff chances after a win or a loss in that bout.

The Niners' hopes would descrease sigificantly if they ended up losing the game, which they did by a lopsided score of 38-10.

Now 5-6, San Francisco faces an uphill climb to get back into postseason contention. If there's any solace, no one is running away with the NFC West, and in terms of the standings, the 49ers trail the division-leading Seattle Seahawks, who boast a 6-5 record along with the Arizona Cardinals.

Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Rams are tied with the Niners in terms of record, although LA holds the tiebreaker, thanks to its Week 3 win at SoFI Stadium. Both teams do play again, yes. But, with San Francisco owning a 1-3 record within the division, overcoming tiebreakers to secure the NFC West's crown will be difficult.

Sadly, that's likely the only route the 49ers can get into the playoffs.

49ers' NFL playoff hopes hit critical panic point after loss to Packers

In the wake of Week 12's games, ESPN listed the Niners as having a mere 16-percent chance of making the postseason, and the fact the sports network also gave San Francisco a 13-percent chance of winning the NFC West outright leads one to conclude the only realistic path into the NFL playoffs would be as a division winner.

Currently, the NFC seeding is as follows:

  1. Detroit Lions (10-1)+
  2. Philadelphia Eagles (9-2)+
  3. Seattle Seahawks (6-5)+
  4. Atlanta Falcons (6-5)+
  5. Minnesota Vikings (9-2)*
  6. Green Bay Packers (8-3)*
  7. Washington Commanders (7-5)*
  8. Arizona Cardinals (6-5)
  9. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (5-6)
  10. Los Angeles Rams (5-6)
  11. San Francisco 49ers (5-6)
  12. New Orleans Saints (4-7)
  13. Chicago Bears (4-7)
  14. Dallas Cowboys (4-7)
  15. Carolina Panthers (3-8)
  16. New York Giants (2-9)

+ denotes division leader, * denotes Wild Card team

The 49ers are two wins behind the seventh-seeded Commanders, and it might be difficult to find three-plus victories on the Niners' remaining schedule. Especially with bouts against Super Bowl contenders like the Lions and Buffalo Bills looming.

Plus, climbing over other teams also in the Wild Card hunt is arguably more difficult than just chasing wins.

So, understandably, the easiest path remaining for a San Francisco trip to the postseason would be as the NFC West victor, which essentially requires wins over the Rams and Cardinals in the final six weeks.

Again, though, that would involve leapfrogging the balance of division rivals, which the 49ers haven't been able to do with any sort of consistency this season.

From a realistic vantage point, the data reveals the Niners aren't technically eliminated yet.

However, given all the obstacles in the way of a postseason berth, the likelihood of San Francisco playing deep into January is all but finished.

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