Some of the remaining NFC playoff picture questions could be answered by the time the San Francisco 49ers kick off against the Arizona Cardinals at Levi's Stadium on Sunday. The game is scheduled to begin at 1:25 p.m. PT. By then, the team should know who won the game between the Minnesota Vikings and Chicago Bears.
A Vikings loss will guarantee the 49ers the No. 2 seed in the NFC. A Vikings win means the 49ers would need to beat the Cardinals to secure that spot.
San Francisco also has a shot at the No. 1 seed in the NFC. They would need to beat the Cardinals and get help from the New York Giants, who play the Philadelphia Eagles. The bad news is that the Giants have little to play for. A win or loss won't impact their playoff position.
The other bad news is that the 49ers won't know the outcome of the Eagles-Giants game before their own kickoff. Both games begin simultaneously.
If the Eagles are losing in the second half of Sunday's game, could that impact how Shanahan uses his personnel against the Cardinals, assuming they are beating Arizona handily?
"We'll see how it plays out, and we'll see what the situation is," Shanahan told reporters on Wednesday. "I know one thing: We would love to be the one seed, but right now, we've got the two seed, and we want to make sure we stay the two seed. In order to do that, we need to win.
"Maybe if Minnesota lost before us, that wouldn't be the case, but I'm counting on us having to win to get that, and we're not going to know until the game's over whether we have a chance at the one seed. So the way it plays out, to me, there's only one thing that guys should be worried about, and our team should be talking about, and that's beating Arizona."
Shanahan added that he does not like getting score updates for other games in these situations.
"I might look at the scoreboard here and there for a replay and following the score, but we'll see," Shanahan admitted.
