The San Francisco 49ers are hoping to exit Week 17 as the NFC West champions and with home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. That would mean a first-round bye and some much-needed rest for the 49ers, who have not had an extended break since their bye in Week 4.
One player who is probably looking forward to some rest more than others is wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders. That's because Sunday night's game against the Seattle Seahawks will be his 17th this season.
The Denver Broncos had not yet had their bye week before trading Sanders to the 49ers on October 22. San Francisco had already had its bye week.
Sanders has racked up 477 receiving yards and three touchdowns on 33 receptions through nine games with the 49ers this season. He has 844 receiving yards and five touchdowns on 63 receptions through his 16 combined games between the 49ers and Broncos this season.
Sanders had a quiet game during the Week 15 loss to the Atlanta Falcons. He caught just two balls for nine yards. He did, however, haul in what could be considered the pass of the night on Saturday against the Los Angeles Rams — a 46-yarder from quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to get the 49ers in position to kick the game-winning field goal.
Sanders was asked after the game about the bounce-back performance.
"I don't care about a bounce back story," Sanders responded. "I just care about a winning story. Right now, we came off of a great win. Obviously, we lost versus Atlanta, which left a sorry taste in our mouth, so it felt good to get back on track, to get a win. But, at the end of the day, we have Seattle coming up. We have to go out there and handle business."
Maybe anyone hoping to expand the NFL season to 17 games should speak with Sanders after this season to find out what he thinks.
Defensive tackle Damon Harrison played in 17 games last season following a trade from the New York Giants to the Detroit Lions.