49ers Officially Clinch the No. 1 NFC Playoff Seed After Eagles Loss

The path to the Super Bowl grew exponentially easier for the San Francisco 49ers.

The path to the Super Bowl grew exponentially easier for the San Francisco 49ers.

After defeating the Washington Commanders and with the Philadelphia Eagles losing to the Arizona Cardinals, the 49ers have officially clinched the No. 1 NFC playoff seed. It was a scenario that seemed fairly unlikely to occur this week. Not because the 49ers weren't going to beat the Commanders, but they needed the Eagles to lose to the Cardinals at home.

Fortune is on the side of the 49ers as the Cardinals go into Lincoln Field to pull the upset. Who would've thought that of all teams to help the 49ers earn the No. 1 seed that it would be an NFC West rival? The 49ers should be sending the Cardinals an abundance of thanks and maybe even a late Christmas gift. Because of them, the 49ers end the year of 2023 as the top seed of the NFC.

The 49ers will now have home field advantage throughout the playoffs, and most importantly they earn a first-round Bye week. That Bye week is the most critical for the 49ers. Not only do they get to be expedited to the divisional playoff round, but they get a chance to rest and give their currently injured players time to recover and return. The 49ers already had a great chance at making the NFC Championship.

Now, they are clear-cut favorites to do so, especially with the Eagles continuing to look weak. It's tough to imagine any team in the NFC derailing the 49ers. The only way the 49ers falter will be by their own doing. No other playoff contending team has the means to do so right now. We might just end up seeing a rematch of Christmas day between the 49ers and Baltimore Ravens after all.