An extremely rare opportunity was there for the taking on Saturday night for the San Francisco 49ers, who had the chance to secure home field advantage all the way through the Super Bowl with a win over the Seattle Seahawks.
Instead, the 49ers will have to take the long road if they want to make their way back to Levi's Stadium for a home field Super Bowl in February.
A win over the Seahawks would have given the 49ers the number one overall seed, a much-needed first-round bye, and the opportunity to play every playoff game at home due to Super Bowl LX being held in their home stadium on February 6. But now they await their fate after a 13-3 home loss to the Seahawks, knowing only that they'll be opening on the road as either the number five seed or the number six seed, depending on the outcome of tomorrow's game between the Arizona Cardinals and Los Angeles Rams.
But if any team could pull off what lies ahead for the 49ers, perhaps it's this particular group of players, who have overcome the odds all season in scrapping their way to a 12-5 record while dealing with significant injuries. They sounded ready for the task after their loss on Saturday.
"Oh, we're ready for it," head coach Kyle Shanahan said in his post-game press conference. "I mean, yeah, it would have been nice to have a home game here, or both home games, and get a bye. But it is what it is. This team's been through a lot this year. Now we gotta do it the hard way, and we'll embrace the s*** out of doing it the hard way and look forward to it."
The most likely outcome for the 49ers appears to be a six-seed, which would come their way if the Rams defeat the 3-13 Cardinals at home on Sunday. The 49ers would face either the Philadelphia Eagles or the Chicago Bears as a six-seed depending on the results of Sunday's games, and if the Cardinals pulled an upset, they'd face either the Carolina Panthers or Tampa Bay Buccaneers as a five-seed.
Either way, the 49ers say they'll be able to pick up the pieces from Saturday's loss and give their best against whichever team they play. They'd certainly appreciate more rest given the fact they've had to play consecutive games on short weeks and are currently dealing with more injuries to key players in left tackle Trent Williams (hamstring) and wide receiver Ricky Pearsall (knee, ankle), who didn't play against the Seahawks, as well as linebackers Dee Winters (ankle) and Tatum Bethune (groin), who sustained injuries during Sunday night's game. But they'll have no choice but to hit the road next week and try to make the best of their situation.
"We don't know who we're playing yet, but we've had two short weeks in a row and so it's time to get our bodies back, our minds right for a hell of a journey ahead," running back Christian McCaffrey said. "Just take it one game at a time. You don't have time to sulk over things."
Losing the number one seed was a disappointment for the 49ers, but the adversity they're facing now and have faced all year could give them some motivation as they try to bounce back
"Obviously that was our goal but we can't dwell on it," quarterback Brock Purdy said. "We have a pretty quick turnaround here and we've got to go win next week. But our team has been through so much adversity, guys going down, next guy up, you know. People have counted us out and that's fine and they can say what they want, but for us to go on the road and find a way to win, we've done it before and that's going to be our goal."
The Cardinals and Rams kick off at 1:25 local time on Sunday, and there's no doubt the 49ers will be watching with great interest. At least one player made his rooting interest clear on Saturday night.
"I'm just cheering for (Cardinals safety) Budda Baker to have three pick-sixes tomorrow," tight end George Kittle said. "That's it. And (tight end) Trey McBride to have 200 yards and three touchdowns. That would be awesome."
But whatever happens on Sunday with the Cardinals, Rams, Bears, and Eagles, the 49ers could take everything from this point on as one more opportunity to prove people wrong. Not many people will be jumping on their bandwagon after the loss to the Seahawks, so any wins from this point would fit the pattern of what this team's accomplished so far.
"This whole season's been difficult for us and we've continued to beat the odds, continued to show people that we're a real football team," McCaffrey said. "We didn't show it today, we know that, but I love the guys in the locker room and how we've responded all year... I'm going to come back ready to go and I know everybody in that locker room will as well."