Week 16 was nothing but kind to the San Francisco 49ers.
To kick off the slate on Thursday night, just as San Francisco wanted, the Seattle Seahawks took down the Los Angeles Rams, thus giving the Niners complete control over their own destiny, not only in the NFC West but in regard to the No. 1 seed in the conference as well.
On Sunday, the 49ers officially punched their postseason ticket when Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh Steelers went into Ford Field and defeated the Detroit Lions. Yes, San Francisco would have needed a catastrophic meltdown to miss the playoffs, but just getting that out of the way is always a good thing.
And on Monday night, of course, the Niners took care of their own business, getting a five-touchdown performance from Brock Purdy and 146 total yards and two scores from Christian McCaffrey en route to an emphatic 48-27 victory over the Indianapolis Colts.
With the win, the 49ers upped their winning streak to five and improved to 11-4 on the season, thus inching one step closer to the NFC West crown and the No. 1 seed.
49ers sit in the top Wild Card slot in the NFC after Week 16 win over Colts
Here's a quick look at the updated NFC playoff picture heading into Week 17. (* -- Clinched Playoff Berth, ** -- Clinched Division)
Updated NFC playoff picture
- Seattle Seahawks (12-3*, 1st NFC West)
- Chicago Bears (11-4*, 1st NFC North)
- Philadelphia Eagles (10-5**, 1st NFC East)
- Carolina Panthers (8-7, 1st NFC South)
- San Francisco 49ers (11-4*, 2nd NFC West)
- Los Angeles Rams (11-4*, 3rd NFC West)
- Green Bay Packers (9-5-1, 2nd NFC North)
- Detroit Lions (8-7, 3rd NFC North)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-8, 2nd NFC South)
As you can see, the 49ers currently own the top Wild Card slot in the NFC. While they own the same 11-4 record as the Rams, San Francisco gets the nod due to having a better record within the division (4-1 to 3-2).
But a Wild Card spot obviously isn't the goal for Kyle Shanahan's squad. And with the win over the Colts, the Niners now just need two more to win the NFC West and the No. 1 seed. And thanks to some love from the NFL schedule makers, they'll spend the final two weeks of the regular season at home, first taking on the Chicago Bears in primetime this upcoming Sunday night and following up with a Week 18 matchup with the Seahawks.
It does need to be noted, however, that the 49ers can still drop all the way back down into the No. 7 slot if they lose their final two games and a few other things transpire.