49ers’ Super Bowl path clears as Cowboys, Eagles falter

It would have been preposterous a month ago to envision a scenario in which the 49ers could avoid the Philadelphia Eagles and the Dallas Cowboys in the NFL playoffs. That would have seemed like the dream situation for the 49ers during a time, not long ago, when it looked as if those three teams were the best in the NFC. But it has happened, and maybe the 49ers are not so lucky, after all. The best four teams remain in the NFC, and the first round of the playoffs made it clear that neither the Eagles nor the Cowboys belong in that group. The 49ers will not have an opportunity to end the Cowboys' season for a third consecutive season. The Green Bay Packers took care of that Sunday with a beatdown of Jerry Jones' beleaguered team. On Monday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers dispatched the Eagles, 32-9, from the postseason. When the 49ers traveled to Philadelphia on Dec. 3, the Eagles were 10-1 and the 49ers were two games behind in the race for the NFC's No. 1 playoff seed. Philadelphia was widely considered the best team in the NFL at that point. But the Eagles lost that game, 42-19, and might have lost their spirit, too. They looked like a completely broken team in December and January....