The San Francisco 49ers got to sit back and watch Week 9 NFL action and hope for some beneficial results.
They got mostly bad news as the dust settled on Sunday’s slate of games, and they didn’t move up or down in the NFC West.
In some bad news, the Arizona Cardinals throttled the Chicago Bears 29-9 in Arizona. That victory moved the Cardinals to 5-4 overall, putting them a full game up on the 49ers in the division with the head-to-head tiebreaker in hand at least until they play again in Week 18.
In more neutral news, the Seattle Seahawks took a loss at home to the Los Angeles Rams. Seattle is now in last in the division at 4-5, while the Rams moved to 4-4 and into a tie for second place with the 49ers. LA is technically ahead of the 49ers because they hold the head-to-head tiebreaker.
With the win by the Cardinals, the 49ers were locked in to third place in the division. At 5-4, Arizona was guaranteed to hold at least a share of first place, but the Rams-Seahawks loser was going to end up in last place with the 4-4 49ers holding firm in third.
We can also virtually rule out any chance of San Francisco securing the No. 1 seed in the NFC this season after the Detroit Lions obliterated the Green Bay Packers 24-14 in a game that wasn’t nearly as close as the final score. Detroit is now 7-1 overall and doesn’t seem primed to lose as many games as they’ll need to lose for the 49ers to eclipse them.
The rest of this season is officially about the NFC West for the 49ers since they’re now fighting uphill for the division. Seeding may matter down the line, but for now their four losses are two more than four of the seven playoff teams.
San Francisco will be in action on the road in Week 10 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
