What is next for San Francisco 49ers and who to root for Week 18

With a loss against the Seattle Seahawks, the San Francisco 49ers officially lost the one seed and a chance at a bye week. They will be playing next week, but it’s not quite determined who they will play and when. A few games on Sunday will determine this.

Who the San Francisco 49ers will play in the Wild Card Round

The 49ers will either be the five or six seed. They will be the five if the Los Angeles Rams lose to the Arizona Cardinals. However, if the Rams beat the Cardinals, the 49ers will be the sixth seed in the NFC.

A few notable starters, such as Davante Adams and Kevin Dotso,n will be out, but Matthew Stafford is going to play, and he is competing for the MVP. Arizona has not won a game in a few months their front office would like to lose for draft pick purposes and they are heavy underdogs in this game. 

The most likely outcome is that the Rams will be the fifth seed and they will get to face the NFC South winner. Meanwhile, the Bears will take on one of the Philadelphia Eagles or Chicago Bears. While the 49ers beat the Bears and lost to the Bucs, most fans would rather see the Bucs, so the 49ers will be rooting for the Cardinals, even if that is unlikely. 

Chicago plays the Detroit Lions, and if they win, they will get the two-seed. That would mean that the Philadelphia Eagles will host the 49ers in the Wild Card Round. If the Bears lose and the Eagles win, the 49ers would head to Chicago to take on the Bears. 

Then, if the Bears and Eagles lose, the 49ers would head to Philadelphia. Philadelphia is taking on the Washington Commanders, and they have not won in about as long as the Cardinals. They are also looking at starting Josh Johnson again this week, which should ensure one more loss.

So, with the Rams and Eagles being near locks to win, it will come down to the Bears. The Lions are not bottom dwellers like the other two, and we know Dan Campbell will play to beat the Bears. 

Detroit is not quite a playoff team, but they can compete with any playoff team, so they could end up giving Chicago a run for their money. 49ers fans are going to want Detroit to show up and play well. While it is not easy to beat a team twice, with the second being in their home, they would like to avoid the Eagles, who have a defense that can compare to Seattle. We saw what happened against that type of defense.

Read More