Week 15 of the 2021 NFL season is in the books, and the NFC playoff picture continues to be in flux. The Dallas Cowboys jumped into the No. 2 seed, courtesy of a loss by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, with only the conference-leading Green Bay Packers ahead of them.
The San Francisco 49ers are two games behind the No. 5 seed Los Angeles Rams with three games left to play. However, the Bay Area squad continues to sit comfortably at the No. 6 spot after handling business over the weekend against the Atlanta Falcons.
Below is a breakdown of the current playoff picture in the NFC, with the first four teams listed being the current division leaders.
- Green Bay Packers, 11-3
- Dallas Cowboys, 10-4
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 10-4
- Arizona Cardinals, 10-4
- Los Angeles Rams, 10-4
- San Francisco 49ers, 8-6
- Minnesota Vikings, 7-7
Below are the top four teams in the hunt to make their way into the playoff picture.
- Philadelphia Eagles, 7-7
- New Orleans Saints, 7-7
- Washington Football Team, 6-8
- Atlanta Falcons, 6-8
If the season ended today, the 49ers would travel to Raymond James Stadium to play Tom Brady and the Buccaneers. At least one NFC West team would be guaranteed to be ousted during the Wild Card round, with the current playoff picture setting up the Arizona Cardinals to host the Rams.
"I've noticed that, actually, within the past couple weeks, that I've started paying attention to scores a lot more," 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk said this week. "Even in the stadium, when they said Arizona lost (on Sunday), I was happy about that one, even though it wasn't too much a difference for us. But just seeing the Cardinals lose, that was a good one."
The Niners will travel to Nashville, Tennessee this week to face the Titans on Thursday night. They will then host the Houston Texans at Levi's Stadium before closing out the regular season against the Rams at SoFi Stadium.
There is even a scenario where the 49ers still win the NFC West. However, that will require the Cardinals to lose their remaining games and the Rams to drop at least two of their final three, including what could be a pivotal Week 18 matchup against the 49ers.