San Francisco, CA
Who Do the San Francisco 49ers Play Next Week? Potential Opponents and Scenarios in 2024 NFL Playoff Bracket
The San Francisco 49ers had the luxury of spending Wild Card Weekend sitting on their sofas watching the chaos of the NFL playoffs with the rest of us. However, next week the 49ers will return to the field at home in Levi’s Stadium for a Divisional Round matchup, but who will they be facing?
With the assistance of the free PFN NFL Playoff Predictor, let’s examine San Francisco’s playoff scenarios in terms of its potential Divisional Round opponents and its path into the NFC Championship Game.
Who Will the San Francisco 49ers Face in the NFC Divisional Round?
After Sunday’s action, we already know that the 49ers will face the Green Bay Packers next Saturday evening. The No. 7 seed Packers upset the No. 2 seed Dallas Cowboys on the road at AT&T Stadium.
The way the NFL playoff bracket works means that the No. 1 seed in each conference will host the lowest-remaining seed from Wild Card Weekend. With the Packers being the No. 7 and lowest seed, we know that they will head to Santa Clara.
MORE: Comparing Jordan Love and Aaron Rodgers
San Francisco is playing in its third straight postseason, having lost in the NFC Championship Game in each of the last two years. The difference this year is that the 49ers are the No. 1 seed, having been the No. 5 seed in 2021 and the No. 2 seed in 2022. That gives them a tremendous advantage with home-field advantage and the bye on Wild Card Weekend.
If San Francisco is to win against Green Bay next week, it would be assured of hosting the NFC Championship Game the next week. The highest-seeded team in each matchup is always the host, so as the No. 1 seed, the 49ers will have the honor if they win in the Divisional Round.
As things stand entering Monday morning, San Francisco would host one of the Detroit Lions, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, or Philadelphia Eagles if they were to make it to the NFC Championship Game.
However, the Packers proved on Wild Card Weekend that they’re not going to go away quietly with a 48-32 win over the Cowboys. Green Bay has also beaten San Francisco in four of their last seven meetings, giving them a 38-33-1 advantage in the all-time records. Included in those four wins are three victories in games played at Levi’s Stadium.
MORE: Jordan Love Nearly Perfect in Playoff Win
The positive spin on that for the 49ers is that in the last two postseason meetings, it has been San Francisco that has come out on top. In January 2022, the 49ers won a tough battle 13-10 in Lambeau Field when the Packers were the No. 1 seed. Back in January 2020, No. 1 seed San Francisco defeated No. 2 seed Green Bay 37-20 in an NFC Championship Game demolition.
This matchup is steeped in history, with the first matchup of the two teams having taken place way back in 1950 — a 25-21 Packers victory up in Wisconsin.
Their first postseason meeting was in the 1995 NFL season. That matchup carries some intriguing symmetry with the Packers going into Candlestick Park to face a 49ers team coming off a Wild Card Weekend bye. Green Bay will hope history repeats itself after they left that game with a 27-17 victory.
In all, they’ve met nine times in the playoffs, with San Francisco having a slender 5-4 advantage. That comes on the back of a four-game postseason win streak over the Packers. However, the 49ers have never gone on to secure a Lombardi Trophy after overcoming the Packers earlier in the playoffs, twice losing in the Super Bowl.
Want to predict the results of the 2023 NFL postseason with our FREE NFL Playoff Predictor? How about looking into in-depth breakdowns of team depth charts or the NFL playoff schedule? Pro Football Network has you covered with all that and more!
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San Francisco, CA
Sea lion pup found in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset malnourished but ‘feisty’
A California sea lion pup found last week on a San Francisco street corner is malnourished but “active and quite feisty,” The Marine Mammal Center said Monday.
The sea lion, believed to be about 10 months old, had apparently wandered into city’s Outer Sunset neighborhood and was discovered early Thursday morning, authorities said.
The pup was spotted near 48th and Irving Streets, one block from Ocean Beach and Sunset Dunes park. A trained responder from the Marine Mammal Center was joined by San Francisco park rangers and police officers to safely corral the pup, now named ‘Irving’, into a carrier crate.
Dubbed ‘Irving’ by his rescuers, Irving weighed in at 40 pounds and is considered malnourished, the Marine Mammal Center said.
“The sea lion is active and quite feisty which is a positive initial sign in terms of general behavior,” the center said in a news release on Monday.
During an exam by veterinarians, a series of blood samples were also taken to determine whether there’s any underlying ailment.
Irving is being tube fed a fish smoothie blend two times per day to boost hydration and weight; offers of whole herring will also begin shortly.
The quick actions by police, recreation and parks staff and Ocean Avenue Animal Hospital gave the young sea lion a second chance at life, said Lauren Campbell, animal husbandry manager at The Marine Mammal Center.
“As a roughly 10-month-old pup in his first year of learning how to forage on his own, this animal has a long road to recovery due to his severe malnutrition,” Campbell said. “We are hopeful that in the coming weeks with continued specialized care that this pup starts to make positive strides toward recovery and release.”
Irving will be held in the Center’s Intensive Quarantine Unit until clearing medical protocols, before likely being transferred this week to a traditional rehabilitation pool pen. A long-term prognosis and potential release timeline are not currently known.
San Francisco, CA
Giants Head Home to San Francisco After Shutout Loss
After Sunday’s 3-0 loss to the Washington Nationals, the San Francisco Giants headed back to the West Coast. They’re going back to the Bay Area, too.
The Giants have a date with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a three-game series at Oracle Park starting Tuesday night.
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So, San Francisco probably wanted to get out of Washington, D.C., with a win. That didn’t happen at Nationals Park on Sunday afternoon.
Nationals reliever Andrew Alvarez, the third pitcher used by the team on Sunday, picked up the victory with 4 1/3 innings of work. Giants starter Robbie Ray absorbed the loss, falling to 2-3 this season.
Ray worked six innings, giving up seven hits, three runs (all earned), walking one, and striking out seven Nationals. If the Giants’ offense had found a way to tack on some runs, then Ray’s outing wouldn’t have looked so bad.
The Giants’ bats, though, had eight hits. The big number for Giants manager Tony Vitello to look at in the box score after this one was, well, pretty big. San Francisco left 10 runners on base on Sunday, going 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. This indicates that San Francisco had plenty of opportunities to score some runs.
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They just didn’t get the job done.
Let’s go to the bottom of the fifth with the Giants and Nationals in a scoreless tie. With nobody out, the Nationals’ Keibert Ruiz connected for his third double this season. Nasim Nuñez scored to put Washington up 1-0.
With one out, Curtis Mead sent a Ray pitch over the left-field wall, a two-run blast that gave the Nationals a 3-0 lead.
San Francisco had a scoring threat in the top of the eighth inning. With runners at first and second base and nobody out, Casey Schmitt grounded into a double play. Matt Chapman, who was on second base, went to third. But the Giants were unable to bring him home.
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Rafael Devers and Drew Gilbert went 2-for-4 at the plate for the Giants, producing half of the Giants’ hits.
The Giants fall to 9-13 this season, sitting in fourth place in the National League West Division. The Nationals’ record goes to 10-12, good enough for third place in the National League East Division.
All eyes now turn toward Oracle on Tuesday night. It’ll be a chance for two longtime rivals to renew their rivalry.
Baseball fans know that the Giants-Dodgers matchups usually are must-see TV.
That’s probably going to be the case once again as Giants fans watch their team battle the Dodgers. Those lucky to have tickets to the three-game series at Oracle Park will show up in Giants colors, hoping to see Los Angeles head back to Southern California with either a series loss or a Giants’ sweep.
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Buckle up, Giants fans. It’s about to get rowdy at Oracle Park.
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San Francisco, CA
Why do gray whales keep dying in San Francisco’s waters?
The 4,140-sq-km bay is the largest estuary on the west coast of the US. Before 2018, this species of whales wasn’t known to stop seasonally or consistently in the bay, bypassing it on their migration route down to Baja California and back up the Arctic, said Josephine Slaathaug, who led a recent study on gray whale mortality in the bay.
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