The 49ers took care of business in Arizona on Thursday night with a 28-25 win over the Cardinals. With an early finish to Week 9, the 49ers and their fans get to scoreboard watch as the season hits the halfway mark and the postseason draws closer.
With playoff positioning in mind, here are the three games that matter most to the 49ers in Week 9:
Buccaneers at Seahawks
This game is important for two reasons. The biggest reason is that the Seahawks are in second place in the NFC West behind San Francisco with a 6-2 record. They hold the No. 5 seed in the NFC ahead of the Vikings and Rams. A loss for the Seahawks moves the 49ers one step closer to securing a division crown early.
The second reason this game is big for the 49ers is Seattle is their next opponent. The Seahawks head to Levi’s Stadium for Monday night football . in Week 10, and their showing against the Buccaneers could have implications for that contest, especially if new Seahawks wide receiver Josh Gordon gets action in his first week with the club. A week of Gordon getting acclimated to the new offense will make an already good Seattle offense more difficult to defend for San Francisco.
Packers at Chargers
It’s been an up-and-down year for the Packers offensively, but they’ve posted 73 points their last two games and might be hitting their stride heading into November.
They’re sitting at 7-1 and hold the No. 3 seed in the NFC before Week 9 begins in earnest. The margin of error for the 49ers is slim with New Orleans and Green Bay both directly behind them. San Francisco also plays the Packers at Levi’s Stadium in Week 12. There’s a chance they either have the same record or are within a game of each other during that Week 12 matchup.
A Green Bay loss means the 49ers can get an additional game of separation, and one game is a huge swing during a 17-week NFL season.
Vikings at Chiefs
Minnesota has quietly cruised to a 6-2 start, and look like a legitimate threat in the NFC despite their spot at the No. 6 seed. They’ve won their last four games, and a 10-point win over Washington on Thursday Night Football in Week 8 was the closest one.
The Vikings are crushing teams and would be terrifying in a postseason game despite having Kirk Cousins at quarterback. Any chance they slide out of the playoff picture is good for San Francisco. With Minnesota on the road visiting the Chiefs, possibly with Patrick Mahomes back under center, this could be a week they take a step backward in an extremely tight NFC playoff race.
Patriots at Ravens
This game doesn’t have any playoff implications for San Francisco since both teams are in the AFC. However, the Patriots are the only other undefeated team in the NFL.
San Francisco holds the NFC crown for the last undefeated team, and a New England loss would give the 49ers the league-wide honor of being the final team without a loss.
It’s not super likely that the Patriots go into Baltimore and lose. They’re favored by 3 points, and generally the Pats hit their stride right around November 1. If New England doesn’t flip a switch and struggles with Baltimore to open the second half of their season, it could shuffle the deck in terms of Super Bowl favorites in the AFC.
Rams and Saints idle
Two teams that would’ve typically been on this list are on bye weeks.
The Rams, since losing to the 49ers in Week 6, have rattled off back-to-back wins by a combined score of 61-20. They’ve started to gain their footing and cannot be written off in the NFC West race.
The Saints are the No. 2 seed behind the 49ers in the NFC. What the Saints (and Packers) do moving forward is almost as important as what San Francisco does in its game. There’s no need to worry about the Saints in Week 10 though since they’re out of action until Week 10.
