49ers Playoff Picture: San Francisco Postseason Deep Dive and Rooting Guide

The San Francisco 49ers and the Faithful have rooting interests in key NFL Week 14 games that will shape the 2025 NFC playoff race. Here's how this weekend's matchups impact the 49ers' postseason positioning, seeding, and path to the playoffs.

NFL Week 14 of the 2025 NFL regular season continues with 10 teams essentially battling for seven NFC postseason spots. The fight for seeding remains fierce, and while the exact final field has yet to be set in stone, the playoff picture is quickly taking shape. As such, we have completed our first NFL Playoff deep dive of the 2025 season. The NFC Playoffs will likely feature one team each from the NFC East and NFC South, two from the North, and three from the West.

For the 49ers, who hold the No. 7 seed with a record of 9-4, and the franchise's fanbase, this bye week offers an opportunity to sit back, relax, and root for mass chaos to unfold. San Francisco will already pass the Packers or Bears in the NFC playoff picture no matter the outcome—not that it particularly matters, since there's another month of regular season football yet to be played. But with just a half-game separating the Niners from both the conference and division leads, while in possession of strong tiebreakers, the San Francisco 49ers are playing with house money this weekend.

NFC North: The Bears-Packers Showdown

The marquee matchup of the weekend pits the 9-3 Bears against the 8-3-1 Packers on Sunday afternoon in a game with significant playoff implications—though its impact on San Francisco remains questionable. Chicago holds the top seed and controls its own destiny, but Green Bay is a seven-point favorite, which tells you exactly how Vegas views these two rivals.

The Bears have put together quite a season, scoring more points in 12 games under new coach Ben Johnson than they managed in 17 games last year. However, Chicago has been overly dependent on turnovers and simply doesn't look like your typical one seed.

Their remaining schedule—Browns, Packers, 49ers, and Lions—includes one very manageable opponent followed by three legitimate contenders. Chicago is favored by seven over Cleveland next week.

Green Bay faces the 10-win Broncos as 1.5-point favorites next week before a rematch with the Bears, then a usually dangerous Ravens squad and the Vikings. Given San Francisco's history of sending Green Bay home in the postseason, the Packers certainly don't want to see the 49ers in January. With the tie keeping them a half-game back, Green Bay is more likely headed for a 2-3 seed or wild card spot than the top seed. The outcome of this game will likely impact the 49ers in some capacity this offseason, but specifically from a playoff picture perspective—it appears to be a relative wash. I will err towards supporting the less-talented, underdog team to emerge victorious. Either way, it's must-watch TV and will be appropriately broadcast in FOX's prime late slot across the United States, outside of the Los Angeles and Arizona television markets.

49ers rooting interest: Bears over Packers. Impact: Debatable

The Lions sit at 8-5 after Thursday night's must-win against Dallas, but they've gone just 4-4 in their last eight games after a 4-1 start. Detroit travels to Los Angeles next week, where the Rams are 4.5-point favorites.

The Lions then face Pittsburgh, which is fighting for a division spot, followed by Minnesota, which handed them a loss earlier this season, and Chicago, which the Lions demolished 52-21 in their first meeting. At 1-3 in the division with four conference losses, the Lions likely won't win any tiebreakers. At best, Detroit is headed for a wild card berth and faces a better than 60 percent chance of missing the playoffs entirely—a challenging task for a team with numerous questions, but still a squad you would rather avoid in the postseason.

NFC East: Eagles Searching for Stability

The Eagles enter Week 14 with a record of 8-4. Philadelphia started strong but lost two straight in October and then found themselves in another two-game skid thanks to losses against the Cowboys and Bears. The Eagles face the Chargers on Monday night as 2.5-point favorites before traveling to Las Vegas as 12.5-point favorites. Philadelphia still has to play the Bills in Buffalo, but otherwise, the Eagles face the Commanders twice to end the season.

The team's schedule looks good on paper, but in the NFC East, nothing comes easy. Philadelphia appears destined for the No. 3 seed and will likely land somewhere between two and four. Their only shot at a first-round bye requires multiple teams to fall apart.

49ers rooting interest: Chargers over Eagles. Impact: Minor.

Dallas clawed back into contention with three straight wins—including home victories over the Eagles and Chiefs—before Thursday's tough loss to the Lions left them at 6-6-1. The Cowboys are 6.5-point favorites over the Vikings next Monday night, then face the Chargers, Commanders and Giants. Dallas needs three wins for a very outside shot at the playoffs, while four wins would give them a 50-50 chance at either a late wild card spot or the division title if Philadelphia falters.

NFC South: Last Team Standing

Tampa Bay leads the NFC South at 7-5 after holding off the Cardinals in a three-point game last week. The Bucs lost four of five prior to that victory, resulting in losses to the Patriots, Bills, Rams, and Lions in a brutal stretch. Tampa Bay is an 8.5-point favorite at home against the two-win Saints on Sunday and a 5.5-point favorite over Atlanta next week. The Bucs still have two games against Carolina, just a half-game back, with a game against the Dolphins in between.

The Bucs' remaining schedule appears favorable, but the two matchups with the Panthers could prove crucial. Tampa Bay will likely finish as the four seed, battling Philadelphia for the third overall seed.

49ers rooting interest: Saints over Buccaneers. Impact: Minor.

Carolina entered its bye week at 7-6 after stunning the Rams last Sunday. The Panthers are no pushovers—they've beaten Green Bay and Dallas—but they've also been blown out by better teams and found a way to lose to the Saints, who Carolina faces next week as three-point favorites. With two games against the Bucs and one against the Seahawks remaining, Carolina needs three wins for a strong playoff shot. Win out, and they take the NFC South.

The NFC South remains a last-team-standing division in the post-Brees, post-Brady era. At least this year's winner will finish above .500, though all four teams have been outscored over the course of the season.

NFC West: Three-Team Dogfight

The 49ers are currently in third place at 9-4 in a surprisingly powerful NFC West division. During their bye week, they hope a division rival stumbles prior to San Francisco facing the 1-11 Titans next Sunday as a 12.5-point favorite. The Niners will look to extend their winning streak to four games before closing the season with three straight playoff teams: the Colts, Bears and Seahawks.
In a fantasy/dream scenario, the Seahawks and Rams both lose today, catapulting San Francisco into the No. 2 overall slot with control of its destiny. Worst case: both teams win, and little changes from the current status quo. Either way, San Francisco has nothing to lose this weekend.

San Francisco has roughly a 20 percent chance to win the NFC West, which would require help and a closing run that would likely deliver a first-round bye. Overall, the Niners have about a 95 percent chance of reaching the playoffs. Four wins would secure either the division or the top wild card slot. Three wins keep them favorites for the five seed. Two wins likely drop them to six. Theoretically, even one victory—if it's the right one—could give the 49ers a 70 percent shot at a wild card berth.

The Rams currently hold the tiebreaker over their fellow 9-3 Seahawks and control their destiny for the two seed—which would almost certainly become the top seed and a first-round bye. With just two divisional wins, both remaining Cardinals games carry extra weight. Los Angeles is a 10-point favorite in Arizona today before hosting the Lions as a 4.5-point favorite next week. The Rams still have their Thursday night showdown against Seattle, followed by the Falcons on Monday night.

Of the three NFC West contenders, the Rams appear to have the smoothest road ahead. But another performance like last week's loss to Carolina would prove catastrophic.

49ers rooting interest: Cardinals over Rams. Impact: Major.

Seattle has put together a surprising campaign at 9-3, but the Seahawks have lost to the wrong teams—the 49ers, Rams and Bucs. Seattle doesn't hold many tiebreakers at the moment, though that could change with key victories down the stretch. The Seahawks travel to Atlanta as a 6.5-point favorite today, but then Seattle faces a tough closing stretch. The Seahawks are 3.5-point favorites against the Colts before games against the Rams, Panthers and 49ers to end the year.

49ers rooting interest: Falcons over Seahawks. Impact: Major.

Theoretically, the Seahawks would win the NFC West if they ran the table, but it's more likely Seattle will be working to rack up wins—especially against the right teams—to overcome their current tiebreaker deficiencies. Both the Rams and 49ers will be rooting for the Falcons in the early window.

49ers Playoff Watch List

The 49ers have rooting interests in five games this weekend. Two of these matchups are extremely critical to San Francisco's playoff positioning: Seahawks at Falcons at 10 a.m. PT and Rams at Cardinals at 1:25 p.m. PT. If the San Francisco 49ers strike gold on both, the franchise would jump to the top of the NFC West and control its playoff destiny.

Three other games carry additional rooting interests for the 49ers. The Saints at Buccaneers kickoff at 10 a.m. PT, followed by the Bears at Packers at 1:25 p.m. PT. The Eagles then cap off NFL Week 14 with a showdown against the fellow 8-win Chargers on Monday Night Football