Here’s how the 49ers can clinch the No. 2 seed in NFC

The San Francisco 49ers are playing for playoff positioning at this point of the regular season.

Although the San Francisco 49ers still have an outside shot at the No. 1 seed in the NFC, getting the No. 2 seed might be the more realistic goal for them the rest of the way.

After improving to 10-4 on the season, San Francisco clinched the NFC West crown with three games left to be played. While they could still technically get the No. 1 seed, do you really see the Philadelphia Eagles losing anytime soon? Philadelphia is 12-1 through 13 games. Barring any tie-breaking procedures, Philadelphia gets the No. 1 seed with another win or so, in theory.

Though home-field advantage feels like a pipe dream for the 49ers, they can earn the No. 2 seed.

How San Francisco 49ers can earn the No. 2 seed in the NFC playoffs

Where things stand now, the 49ers’ biggest competition for the No. 2 seed would have to be the NFC North-leading Minnesota Vikings. Minnesota entered play on Saturday afternoon two games back of the Eagles in the NFC race at 10-3. That mark also put them half a game ahead of the 10-4 49ers. Since the 49ers do not play the Vikings head-to-head, other tiebreakers would be used.

With the 49ers playing a third-place schedule this year, drawing the Chicago Bears, the Miami Dolphins and the Washington Commanders to round out their competitive balance portion, they are not facing NFC contenders such as Minnesota, Philadelphia or the Dallas Cowboys. So what this will come down to is win-loss percentage in conference play. San Francisco is a strong 8-2.

Given that their only two losses in-conference on the year were to the Chicago Bears in Week 1, a team that has already been eliminated from the postseason, and the Atlanta Falcons in Week 6, a team that is 5-8 and still very much in the mix to win the NFC South, neither of those defeats will really have as much of an impact as one would think. San Francisco only has two NFC games left…

Should the 49ers beat the Washington Commanders on Christmas Eve in Week 16 and finish the year out strong with a divisional win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 18, San Francisco would have gone a remarkable 10-2 in NFC play. They only team who could top them in that regard would be the Eagles, who enter Week 16 with a 7-1 mark in-conference. Not a bad spot to be in…

With the 49ers having the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, San Francisco is guaranteed a top-three seed in the NFC playoff picture because nobody can finish better than 10-7 in the NFC South, and even though the Falcons beat the 49ers weeks ago, the best the Dirty Birds can do is go 9-8 and hope that is good enough to somehow win the division.

So knowing it is going to be a No. 1, a No. 2 or a No. 3 seed, 49ers fans should pay close attention to things pertaining to the Eagles, Vikings and Cowboys. Following along with the Cowboys really does not matter because they can only overtake the 49ers if the Eagles collapse down the stretch. In truth, Minnesota is the one team San Francisco would need to monitor to earn that No. 2 seed.

Because the Cowboys and the Vikings are one game worse in-conference at a 6-3 mark, the 49ers would win the head-to-head tiebreaker if they finished with identical records at season’s end, for now. Simply put, the 49ers get the No. 2 seed by being one game better overall over the NFC North-leading Vikings. If they are tied at season’s end, San Francisco has the better NFC record.

Wins over Washington and Arizona pretty much guarantee the 49ers would be a top-two seed.