Despite the short week after taking a 20-9 victory over the Carolina Panthers last Monday night and the lengthy trip to Northeast Ohio, the San Francisco 49ers upped their winning streak to three with a 26-8 victory over the Cleveland Browns.
The Niners' offense certainly didn't look its best against a tough Cleveland defense, posting just 252 total yards, but had the benefit of working from several short fields thanks to some help from the special teams, specifically a 66-yard punt return from Skyy Moore that set up Christian McCaffrey's first-quarter touchdown run and a fumble recovery on muffed punt-return attempt from the Browns' Gage Larvadain that led to Brock Purdy's fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Jauan Jennings.
The San Francisco defense, which played phenomenal football as a whole in the victory, also recovered a Harold Fannin Jr. fourth-down fumble that ultimately led to Purdy's 2-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
With the win, the 49ers improved to 9-4 on the season, and while they weren't able to move out of the final wild-card slot in the NFC, they did make a move in the NFC West, as the Los Angeles Rams were upset by the aforementioned Panthers.
The 49ers are now just a half-game back of the Rams and Seahawks in the NFC West
Here's a look at the updated NFC playoff picture.
You'll notice that we've only included the top 10 teams in the conference, as the Atlanta Falcons (4-8), Minnesota Vikings (4-8), and Washington Commanders (3-9) have all seen their probability odds drop to less than 1%, while the Arizona Cardinals (3-9), New Orleans Saints (2-10), and New York Giants, who are also 2-10 heading into their Monday Night Football matchup with the New England Patriots, have all already been officially eliminated.
Updated NFC playoff picture
- Chicago Bears (9-3, 1st NFC North)
- Los Angeles Rams (9-3, 1st NFC West)
- Philadelphia Eagles (8-4, 1st NFC East)
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers (7-5, 1st NFC South)
- Seattle Seahawks (9-3, 2nd NFC West)
- Green Bay Packers (8-3-1, 2nd NFC North)
- San Francisco 49ers (9-4, 3rd NFC West)
- Detroit Lions (7-5, 3rd NFC North)
- Dallas Cowboys (6-5-1, 2nd NFC East)
- Carolina Panthers (7-6, 2nd NFC South)
- Atlanta Falcons (4-8, 3rd NFC South)
- Minnesota Vikings (4-8, 4th NFC North)
As mentioned, the Niners maintained their position in the No. 7 slot and have more cushion than they did a week ago, as the Detroit Lions fell to 7-5 with a loss to the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving Day. The Dallas Cowboys are making things more interesting, but still trail San Francisco by three games in the win column. The Panthers aren't going away either, so getting that head-to-head win last week was huge.
But the 49ers are obviously hoping not to have to worry about the Lions, Cowboys, and Panthers chasing them in the wild-card race, as their goal is to win the division. San Francisco is now just a half-game back of both the Rams and the Seattle Seahawks, who took a 26-0 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday.
Despite the two teams owning the same record, the Rams currently own the tiebreaker thanks to their 21-19 victory over Seattle in Week 11. The two will meet again in Week 16, and the 49ers, who split their two matchups with the Rams, will face the Seahawks for the second time in Week 18. So, there's a lot left to be decided down the stretch in the NFC West and the conference as a whole.
For now, the Niners will sit back on their bye and root for a couple of upsets, as the Rams take on the Cardinals in Week 14, while the Seahawks take on the Falcons.