The 49ers on Monday suffered their first defeat of the year when the Seahawks downed them 27-24 in overtime at Levi’s Stadium.

The gut-wrenching nature of the loss to a division rival may give the 49ers’ first jaunt into the loss column an added sting, but it still counts as just one loss in the standings.

Thanks to the Saints’ loss to the Falcons, the 49ers had an extra game up on New Orleans, so they maintained their spot atop the NFC playoff picture.

Here’s how the NFC looks after Week 10 action:

Playoffs

1. 49ers (8-1)
2. Saints (7-2)
3. Packers (7-2)
4. Cowboys (5-4)
5. Seahawks (8-2)
6. Vikings (7-3)

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In the hunt

7. Rams (5-4)
8. Eagles (5-4)
9. Panthers (5-4)

The 49ers are now in a spot where the Saints are further back than Seattle.  San Francisco had a chance to effectively put the Seahawks away if they moved to 2.5 games up on them.

Instead, they’re now looking back at three teams nipping at their heels – the Seahawks, Saints and Packers.

The good news for the 49ers is they still control their playoff hopes. They have single games left against all three of those teams, so we could see a pretty dramatic shakeup in the NFC playoff picture down the stretch.