That's exactly what happened after the Rams beat the Seattle Seahawks 28-12 on Sunday night. Seattle fell to 10-3, allowing the 11-2 49ers to regain the division and conference lead.
The Seahawks fall back down to the No. 5 seed in the NFC playoff standings while the Green Bay Packers take over the No. 2 seed from Seattle.
San Francisco has three more games remaining on its schedule, including an important Week 17 road matchup against the Seahawks. Next up will be back-to-back home games against the Atlanta Falcons and the Los Angeles Rams before that trip to CenturyLink Field.
NFC division leaders with bye weeks
1 Seed: San Francisco 49ers (11-2)
2 Seed: Green Bay Packers (10-3)
NFC division leaders in the Wildcard round
3 Seed: New Orleans Saints (10-3)
4 Seed: Dallas Cowboys (6-7)
NFC Wildcards
5 Seed: Seattle Seahawks (10-3)
6 Seed: Minnesota Vikings (9-4)