49ers Beat the Cardinals 38-13 to Clinch the No. 2 NFC Playoff Seed

The 49ers took care of business against the Cardinals while also getting valuable playing time for Elijah Mitchell and Deebo Samuel.

Practice session is over for the San Francisco 49ers.

At least, that is what their game against the Arizona Cardinals looked like. The intensity just was never there. What looked like a potential battle on the Cardinals' opening offensive series ended up being just a prayer.

The 49ers decimate the Cardinals 38-13 to clinch the No. 2 NFC playoff seed.

Attaining the No. 1 seed ended up dying for the 49ers as soon as the Giants benched all of their key starters. The Eagles won that game easily to keep their hold of the top seed, so the road to the Super Bowl goes through Philadelphia.

For yet another game, the 49ers offense looked awesome. Brock Purdy was efficient and strong throughout the game, while the running duo of Christian McCaffrey and Elijah Mitchell was back in full domination again. Mitchell scored two touchdowns in his return and looks to be in flawless form. The 49ers defense also got back on track, but that was to be expected against an offense fielding back up players.

A couple of season benchmarks were reached by a couple 49ers players. Brandon Aiyuk broke 1,000 yards receiving for the first time in his career and George Kittle finishes with a career high in touchdowns with 11. The 49ers finish the regular season on an incredibly high note of a 10 game winning streak. What's even better than the impressive performance and win is the fact that the 49ers emerged, as of now, with ZERO injuries to key players. That is tremendous.

Tip of the cap to Kyle Shanahan for getting his star players out of the game in the third-quarter when it became clear the 49ers were in control. He was able to get players like Mitchell and Deebo Samuel some playing time so they are not rusty going into the Wild Card round. I didn't agree with the decision to play Samuel, McCaffrey, and Mitchell given they are barely recovered. But clearly it paid off to get these guys into the game and build momentum for themselves next week. 

Playoff mode is officially activated for the 49ers. This team is a force that no one will want to face. The 49ers will go home and await to see who their opponent will be next week. It will be either the Packers, Seahawks, or Lions.

Whoever they end up facing, they'll surely be a heavy favorite to win and advance.