The San Francisco 49ers are preparing to play their second "home game" in Arizona. They will face the Washington Football Team on Sunday afternoon at State Farm Stadium. San Francisco is 5-7 and coming off a crushing Week 13 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
While the 49ers aren't eliminated from playoff contention, they will need help to reach the postseason. They know that. San Francisco probably needs to run the table and then get some help from other teams along the way.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan discussed the 49ers' situation with his players this week, being honest about their chances but also laying out what needs to happen for the team to continue playing past Week 17.
"I think, particularly with our circumstances, you have to give your players a dose of reality," general manager John Lynch explained on Friday during KNBR's Murph & Mac show. "Also, a dose of hope, and Kyle did a tremendous job of that, kind of pointing out the playoff scenarios on the Wednesday meeting, and here's the reality.
"And do we need a little bit of help? Yes, but Kyle said the same thing that I've always said, that people like Tony Dungy, and any great football mind that I've been around, is that when you take care of your business, and that starts this week against the Washington Football Team, things tend to fall in place. That will give us hope that we're still in this thing."
San Francisco sits at the No. 11 spot in the NFC playoff standings. The Minnesota Vikings, Arizona Cardinals, Chicago Bears, and Detroit Lions are all situated in front of them in the race for the final wild-card spot. At the No. 12 spot is Sunday's opponent — Washington.
"We're running into a team in Washington that's playing really good football," Lynch continued. "They just beat an undefeated team in the Pittsburgh Steelers. Alex Smith, everyone's familiar with him. What an incredible story. But we can't get caught up in this unbelievable story because he's playing at a high level. That's the story to us. This guy is executing at a high level, they're playing at a high level.
"Ron Rivera, who I have an immense amount of respect for, is doing a great job coaching that team and leading that team. We've got a big test in front of us, but there still is hope for (the) postseason, but we have to play better, certainly, than we did Monday night, and we all are aware of that."