The San Francisco 49ers currently sit at the No. 5 seed in the NFC playoff rankings. If that remains the case, it would mean a road trip to the weakest division winner — whoever emerges from the NFC East — during Wildcard weekend.
Of course, a lot can change in two weeks. The 49ers could win out and earn the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.
San Francisco hosts the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday and then travels to play the Seattle Seahawks to close out the regular season.
Two NFL Network analysts have very different predictions of how the playoff picture in the NFC will turn out.
Kurt Warner, who has been high on the 49ers, believes in the best-case scenario for the Niner Faithful and says the Kyle Shanahan-led squad will finish with the top playoff spot in the conference, which likely means a win in the rematch with the Seahawks at CenturyLink Field.
"When I look at this NFC, I say the two best teams, in my opinion, when healthy, are the San Francisco 49ers and the New Orleans Saints," Warner said on Monday, "and the matchup that we saw just a week ago that San Francisco was able to pull out. ... I see this shaking out as a three-way tie at the top. I believe San Francisco will have the No. 1 seed."
Despite believing the Saints are better than the Packers, Warner goes on to predict Green Bay will emerge with the No. 2 seed and be the second team with a first-round bye.
David Carr, however, doesn't see such an ideal finish for the 49ers. He believes Seattle will beat San Francisco in that Week 17 matchup, and the 49ers will remain the No. 5 seed.
"The 49ers are going to be [the No. 5 seed] because of the fact that they have to play in Seattle," Carr said on Monday. "Seattle is going to be a team that's going to be tough to play."
Carr has the Seahawks as the No. 1 seed and the Vikings as the No. 2 seed in his playoff picture prediction.