How could the 49ers miss the playoffs? If the Seahawks beat the Bengals this weekend, and then go 6-3 for the remaining 9 games the Seahawks would finish 9-7. To do that, they would have to go 3-3 against the Cowboys, the Ravens, the 49ers, the Redskins, the Eagles, and the Bears. It could happen, I guess. They did beat the Giants. I just don’t see them winning three of those games. In my eyes they would have to get lucky twice to win two of them. They have to get lucky just to beat the Bengals this weekend.

Let’s compare this to the 49ers remaining schedule. Let’s pretend the 49ers lose at home to the Browns this weekend. I figure this is just as likely as the Seahawks beating the Bengals. The 49ers would have to go 3-6 in the next 9 games, to not finish 9-7 or better. For this to happen, the 49ers would have to go 3-2 or worse against the Cardinals, Rams, and Seahawks while losing all the rest of their games. Compare this to Seattle’s challenge of going 6-3 just to get to 9-7. I guess 3-2 against the rest of our division schedule could happen, but I don’t think it’s also likely we lose the rest of our games. That would be a complete 180 reversal from the progress we’ve seen so far.

The Cardinals are 1-5 right now, they would have to beat the Ravens and then go 7-2 for the rest of the season to get to 9-7. That’s not even likely enough to consider. The Rams are even worse off; they are 0-6. They would have to beat the Saints on Sunday and then lose no more than 1 game the rest of the season. Let’s put it this way, if they lose to the Saints they would have to beat us twice, the Seahawks twice, the Cardinals twice, the Bengals, the Steelers, and the Browns.

In short, the remaining schedule favors the 49ers. Even if fortunes turn for one weekend, so that the Browns beat us and the Seahawks find a way to win against the Bengals, we are still in perfectly good shape to make the playoffs. Most teams have to fight all 16 games to make the playoffs, and I fully expect the 49ers to that. Remember also, in order for any of these scenario’s to work for the Seahawks they have to beat the Bengals and the Browns have to beat the 49ers this Sunday. If neither of those things happens, the numbers change to 7-2 for the Seahawks and 2-7 for the 49ers. If things go the way I think they will, in a couple weeks I’ll be checking to see how the 49ers get a bye week.