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NFC playoff picture, Week 14: 49ers back on top after Seahawks loss

By John Buhler

Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers. (Photo by Stephen Lew/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Jimmy Garoppolo, San Francisco 49ers. (Photo by Stephen Lew/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) /
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The San Francisco 49ers are back on top in the NFC after beating the New Orleans Saints and the Seattle Seahawks lost. Here is an updated playoff picture.

Everything that needed to happen for the San Francisco 49ers to be back in first place in the NFC playoff picture happened on Sunday. The 49ers, who had lost to the Seattle Seahawks at home earlier in the season, saw their division rival lose on the road to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday Night Football. Earlier, Jimmy Garoppolo and the 49ers took care of business in The Big Easy.

San Francisco went from the top Wild Card team in the NFC to the top of the conference on Sunday. The 49ers got their 11th win of the season thanks to a last-second field goal by Robbie Gould against the New Orleans Saints at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. For now, the NFC runs through Santa Clara.

While the same six teams that were in playoff position last week remain there in the NFC, there has been a little jostling among that half-dozen. Unless the Dallas Cowboys or the Minnesota Vikings fall off a cliff in the final three weeks, we pretty much know which six teams will be getting into the playoffs.

Through the first 14 weeks of the 2019 NFL season, here is the updated playoff picture. Who is getting in and who will be left out? Let’s find out now.

NFC playoff picture, through Week 14

  1. San Francisco 49ers: (11-2)
  2. Green Bay Packers: (10-3)
  3. z-New Orleans Saints: (10-3)
  4. Dallas Cowboys: (6-7)
  5. Seattle Seahawks: (10-3)
  6. Minnesota Vikings: (9-4)

z – Clinched division

San Francisco leads the NFC West by a game with an 11-2 mark. The 49ers have a game lead over the Green Bay Packers for home-field advantage in the NFC, as well as the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Saints, who are also a game back. Seattle is one game back of San Francisco, but has the head-to-head tiebreaker over the 49ers and still have one more game left with them.

Green Bay leads the NFC North at 10-3 and would be the No. 2 seed in the NFC if the season ended today. The Packers have a one-game lead over the Vikings in the division and are only one game back of the 49ers for the best record in the conference. They edge out the Saints for the No. 2 seed because they have a better record in-conference when compared to New Orleans.

The Saints have clinched the NFC South for the third straight year, as they were the first team to punch their ticket into the postseason. However, their home loss to the 49ers knocks them back to being in a position to play on Wild Card weekend. The Packers’ better NFC record gives them the edge in terms of getting a first-round bye at this time.

Somebody has to win the putrid NFC East this year. Right now, it would be the 6-7 Cowboys, who have a half-game lead over the 5-7 Philadelphia Eagles for the division lead. Should the Eagles beat the New York Giants on Monday Night Football, they will be tied atop the NFC East. Although, Dallas won the previous meeting between the two, so they would get the nod as of now.

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The No. 5 seed would go to the Seahawks at 10-3, who would have a one-game lead over the Vikings for that No. 5 spot. Minnesota has a one-game lead over the Rams for the last spot into the NFC playoff picture. The only other team in the NFC with at least seven wins is the Chicago Bears, the team that beat Dallas at home on Thursday Night Football.

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