The San Francisco 49ers emerged from the regular season as the NFC West champions and with the conference's top record. That means home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs and just two wins away from the team's seventh Super Bowl appearance.
The 49ers' Week 17 ended as many of their games this season have — in the final seconds. Unlike their three losses of the year, however, San Francisco ended up with a victory, and did so against the division-rival Seattle Seahawks.
"We've had to win a lot of different ways this year," head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters after the 26-21 win. "I keep feeling like we've done it every way possible. Then we find a new way to do it. I wish it wouldn't have been that close at the end, but it doesn't matter now. I'm pumped how they finished it."
The win was the 49ers' first in Seattle since 2011, and the organization heads to the playoffs for the first time since 2013.
Below is a sample of some of the more prominent power rankings around the web and where San Francisco currently stands within each.
Current Ranking: 2
Previous Ranking: 3
Preseason Ranking: 22
"It took a couple of years (since the hiring of Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch), but the Niners are reaping the rewards now, claiming the No. 1 seed in the NFC and looking like a team loaded with enough young talent and organizational synergy to be a contender for the foreseeable future." — Nick Wagoner
Sports Illustrated
Current Ranking: 2
Previous Ranking: 2
Week 1 Ranking: 19
"The 49ers were an inch away from dropping to the No. 5 seed, but their memorable turnaround season now comes with home-field advantage through the NFC playoffs. Not many teams hit all of their regular-season goals, but this is one that did." — Mitch Goldich
USA Today
Current Ranking: 2
Previous Ranking: 2
Week 1 Ranking: 15
"Of past four instances when Niners have secured NFC's top seed, they lost in NFC Championship Game thrice ... but also won it all in 1994." — Nate Davis
NFL.com
Current Ranking: 3
Previous Ranking: 3
Week 1 Ranking: 24
"The Niners are a better team than the Seahawks, and they showed it for most of Sunday night's epic season-closing showdown. But had Russell Wilson worked his magic and stolen the game? Who knows if the Niners recover? If they did, it would've been on the road this weekend in Philadelphia. Instead, it's a bye week, a home game (or two) and the inside track on a Super Bowl return." — Dan Hanzus
CBS Sports
Current Ranking: 4
Previous Ranking: 5
Week 1 Ranking: 23
"They held on for dear life in Seattle to win the division. But if the offense plays like it did in that game, they can easily win it all." — Pete Prisco
