San Francisco 49ers make the playoffs

San Francisco 49ers make the playoffs

Only three of the NFC playoff positions are set (Niners, Seahawks, Panthers). Two additional ones will be the winners of Chicago/Green Bay and Philadelphia/Dallas. Those winners will fill the third and fourth seeds. The final playoff team will be either the Saints or the Cardinals.

The actual positions of the 1, 2, 5 and 6 seeds will depend on next week:

The Saints could finish as high as the #2 seed, or as low as "out of the playoffs."

The Niners could be as high as the #1 seed, or as low as the #6. (They do not have the tie-breaker against the Saints.)

Even the Seahawks could drop as low as #5 in a certain combination of results, although they will lock in the #1 seed if they beat the Cardinals.

The Cardinals could miss the playoffs even if they beat the Niners and finish 11-5, because they do not have the tie-breaker against the Saints.