I posted a comment on the "pick one thing to improve" thread that really took me back...  In making the comment, I realized that I had inherently ASSUMED that the 9ers ARE going to the playoffs.  So that led me to ask the question: what does the math say?  Follow me after the jump to check it out.

Currently, the NFC West looks like this:

• SF 7 - 1
• Seattle 2 - 6
• Arizona 2 - 6
• St. Louis  1 - 7

With the next 8 games to play, 5 of them are against NFC West opponents and 3 are against what most would call "strong" teams - NYG, Ravens, and the Steelers.

While I don't want to jinx the whole thing, assuming we win 4 of the 5 against the NFC West teams, and pull out one win from the other 3, we end the season at 12 - 4.  Assuming the rest of the NFC West win HALF their remaining games, the division looks like this:

• SF 12 -4
• Seattle 6 -10
• Arizona 6 -10
• St. Louis  5 -11

Taking this a step further, when would it be mathematically possible to clinch the division title?  I'm no Florida Danny, but according to this article, they could lock down a playoff birth in TWO WEEKS... and the Division Title in just 4... 

WOW.  Could our "dink and dunk" 49ers with a rookie head coach really be the FIRST to lock down a birth?  Here's hoping!