The Seahawks’ loss to the Cowboys on Thursday Night Football strengthened the 49ers’ grasp on the NFC West crown. They were already in the driver’s seat for the division, but now if a couple things fall their way they could clinch the division as early as Week 14.
Seattle’s loss was first on the 49ers’ division-clinching checklist. It’s only one of several steps though. Here’s what else the 49ers need to seal up their second consecutive NFC West title by Week 14:
49ers
– Week 13: win at Philadelphia
– Week 14: win vs. Seattle
– Record after Week 14: 10-3
Seahawks
– Week 14: loss at San Francisco
– Record after Week 14: 6-7
Rams
– Week 13: loss vs. Cleveland
– Week 14: loss at Baltimore
– Record after Week 14: 5-8
With the Rams falling to 5-8 they’d be out of the race since they’re maximum 9 wins falls short of the 10 the 49ers would already have reached.
For Seattle, they’d be in a spot where they could mathematically tie with the 49ers at season’s end, but in the scenario illustrated above the 49ers would hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.
San Francisco clinched in Week 15 last year when they beat the Seahawks in Seattle. This year they’d be knocking off their division rivals to clinch the division again, only this time they’d be doing it a week earlier.
While just winning the division isn’t necessarily the 49ers’ goal, it would guarantee them a playoff spot and at least one home playoff game. From there they can jockey for seeding with Detroit and Philadelphia (and Dallas?) down the stretch instead of trying to just nail down a playoff spot.
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