[jwplayer CyWAa1YN-ThvAeFxT]
The 49ers enter Week 12 at the top of the NFC and in a position to secure home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Every team would love to be in that position with six games to go, but 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said he’s not focusing on seeding until his team has secured a postseason berth.
“You’d rather play every game at home, of course,” Shanahan told reporters Wednesday in a pre-practice press conference. “On the road is always a disadvantage when you can’t hear. But I mean, I don’t even think about playoff seeding right now. Our goal is to get in the playoffs. We’re all right there, there’s still a lot of football left. Each game we win, we’ve got a better chance at getting in there. You don’t think about seeds, at least I don’t, until you can narrow it down to one or two games. I think we’re far from that right now.”
While San Francisco is tied for the best record in the NFL, they still have their work cut out for them to clinch a playoff spot.
The 49ers are 9-1, but the Packers, Saints and Seahawks are all just one game behind them. San Francisco is entering a stretch where they play the Packers, Ravens and Saints in consecutive weeks. Green Bay visits Levi’s Stadium, but the 49ers travel to Baltimore and New Orleans for those two contests.
Those teams are all 8-2 and can’t be overlooked. Especially since knocking off Green Bay and New Orleans would likely clinch a playoff spot for the 49ers.
Shanahan is optimistic about his team’s chances going into that stretch of games, but he’s still not focusing on their big-picture impact.
“The other time we went on back-to-back road games we won them so I don’t really think about that,” he said. “I just think about how many wins you need to get in the tournament and no one knows that answer yet and we’re not there. So you just keep going and doing that and once you get in the tournament, then you think about stuff like that. That’s why I think it’s way too early to be thinking that.”
That’s the right mindset to have, especially for a team with such a tough schedule to finish the year. After the next three games, the 49ers face the Falcons and Rams at home, and visit the Seahawks to close the season. Any looking ahead could lead to a fatal stumble that dooms the team’s chances to make the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
Getting a first-round bye and playing at home is a pretty big advantage for playoff teams. The last time a team made the Super Bowl without a first-round bye was the Ravens, who finished as the No. 4 seed in the 2012 season before taking down the 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII.
The good news for San Francisco is their schedule sets up in a way that allows them to simultaneously take steps toward a playoff spot and securing a first-round bye. That starts Sunday night against the No. 2-seed Packers at Levi’s Stadium.